Highlights
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) R&D would total $2.4 billion in
the latest House plan, a substantial increase of $136 million or 6.1
percent in contrast to a requested cut (see Table).
-
The House would add $213 million to the Administration’s request,
mostly to reinstate earmarks that USDA had proposed to eliminate, including
$88 million for Special Research Grants.
- The House would match the USDA request of $180 million for the National
Research Initiative of competitively awarded extramural research grants,
up nearly 10 percent from this year.
- The House would
fully fund the requested $178 million to complete animal research and
diagnostic facilities at the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames,
Iowa, that would be the heart of
a USDA-wide food and biosafety initiative.
On July
7, the House of Representatives reported its version of the FY 2005
Agriculture appropriations bill, providing funding for the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) and other food-related agencies. The bill is expected
to go to the full House for approval later this month. The
House would give USDA a total R&D budget of $2.4 billion in FY 2005,
an increase of 6.1 percent or $136 million that stands in sharp contrast
to a requested cut (see Table).
USDA R&D in FY 2005 House Appropriations
In contrast to
a requested cut of 3.5 percent down to $2.2 billion, the House would
fund USDA R&D at $2.4 billion, a 6.1 percent increase over this year’s funding level.
In February, USDA proposed to eliminate $220 million in FY 2004 R&D
earmarks, and hold other USDA R&D funding flat overall. The request
contained a major facilities proposal of $178 million to complete animal
research and diagnostic facilities at the National Centers for Animal
Health in Ames, Iowa,
with cuts in other R&D programs. The House found enough money to
restore most of the earmarked funding, fully fund the animal research
facilities request, and add research funding for other priority areas
in order to bring USDA R&D just a few million dollars short of an
all-time high in inflation-adjusted dollars. (For full details of the
President’s request for USDA R&D, see Chapter
11 of AAAS
Report XXIX: R&D FY 2005.)
The House appropriation of $178 million in new funds for the Ames facility would continue strong USDA and congressional
attention to homeland security since the terrorist attacks of 2001.
In the first few years after the attacks, USDA facilities funding went
primarily to improve security at agricultural research facilities, many
of which house dangerous pathogens, but now the focus is shifting to
creating new scientific capabilities for homeland security-related research.
The renovated National Centers for Animal Health will serve as the nation’s
premier animal research and diagnostic laboratory and will enhance the
nation’s ability to respond to attacks on the food supply. The $178
million is contained in the $202 million House appropriation for Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) Buildings and Facilities, nearly quadruple this
year’s funding level, with the remaining $24 million parceled out to
eight congressionally earmarked construction projects at USDA laboratories
that USDA was instructed to begin planning for in the FY 2004 omnibus
appropriations bill. In addition to the construction funds, the House
would agree to a $37 million request for new intramural research on
food and agriculture defense, and $18 million for homeland security-related
extramural research grants.
Total ARS R&D would climb 9.7
percent to $1.3 billion because of the Iowa
facilities appropriation, but ARS funding for the conduct of R&D (excluding
facilities) would decline slightly to $1.1 billion. ARS funds intramural research
through a nationwide network of intramural laboratories and agricultural
experiment stations, including research on congressionally designated topics.
USDA’s extramural
research grants, nearly entirely to colleges and universities, are administered
by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES).
Total CSREES R&D would be $625 million
in the House Agriculture bill, a modest increase over FY 2004 but $113
million more than the request. The difference comes from the insertion
of $120 million in congressional earmarks that the Administration proposed
to terminate. The House would provide $88 million for Special
Research Grants, down from the current-year level of $111 million
but up dramatically from the request of $3 million. This program has
traditionally been home to congressionally designated, performer-specific
research projects. The House bill would fund 131 itemized projects,
all but four of which are earmarked for specific performers, and nearly
all of which were also earmarked for funding in FY 2004. Moreover, the
House bill contains 30 other earmarks totaling $35 million in other
parts of the CSREES budget.
At the same time,
the House would hold the line on competitively awarded research grants,
also administered by CSREES. The
National Research Initiative (NRI) would receive $180 million, the same
as the request and $16 million more than this year. The House would
also set aside nearly $40 million for competitive research grants within
the Integrated Grants program, as requested. USDA also provides formula
funds for agricultural R&D to qualifying institutions in programs
such as the Hatch Act, which would see a slight increase in funding
to $181 million in FY 2005.
The other major
USDA R&D agency is the Forest Service; it would have $328 million
for its R&D programs in FY 2005 under the House plan, an increase
of $12 million or 3.7 percent. Although the primary focus of its R&D
portfolio is forestry and ecosystems research, in recent years the Forest
Service has emphasized its fire science and wildfire management research
portfolio as well. Most of this research is performed in intramural
laboratories, although there is also an extramural fire science grants
program that would receive $23 million next year.
The House Agriculture
bill also contains some legislative provisions that are renewed annually.
One provision imposes a cap on indirect costs to extramural performers
for USDA R&D at 25 percent, far less than what most universities
recover for non-USDA grants but higher than the current cap of 20 percent;
another provision sets a lower ceiling of 10 percent for independent
nonprofit institutions engaged in cooperative R&D. Another provision
blocks funding for a mandatory competitive research grants program,
but allows USDA to use its discretionary grants programs such as NRI
and Integrated Grants to fund research on topics that the mandatory
program might have funded.
Impacts of the USDA R&D Portfolio
The House’s proposed FY 2005 increase for R&D would bring the USDA
R&D portfolio just a few million dollars short of its all-time peak
in inflation-adjusted dollars (see Figure 1). USDA R&D peaked in
FY 2003, but has been at historical highs for the past few years. Since
hitting a recent low in FY 1996, the funding trend has been generally
upward, first because the federal budget surplus made more discretionary
funds available to congressional appropriators, then in FY 2000 and
FY 2001 from the release of mandatory competitive research funds, and
then since FY 2002 because heightened concern about agricultural terrorism
and the security of USDA laboratories resulted in millions for security
upgrades and other homeland security-related investments.
USDA is the sixth-largest
supporter of R&D in the federal government, and its support is especially
important for key disciplines. USDA is responsible for just 6 percent
of all research support in the broad area of the life sciences, but
dominates funding for two disciplines within life sciences, agricultural
sciences and environmental biology. USDA funds more than 90 percent
of all federal support for the agricultural sciences, with the remainder
supported by the Agency for International Development (for international
agriculture R&D) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(for aquaculture and other marine-related R&D). USDA is also an
important supporter of chemistry and biology, and represents a majority
of federal support for economics through the Economic Research Service
(ERS).
Figure
1. (click on
the image to view or download a color, full-page PDF version of the
chart)
Next Steps
The full House
is scheduled to take up the Agriculture bill later this month. The Senate
has no plans to draft its version of the bill, making the bill a strong
candidate for a year-end omnibus appropriations bill. Final funding
levels for USDA may not be determined until after the November elections.
- July 9, 2004
(This analysis is one of a series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates
on FY 2005 congressional appropriations. The complete series of AAAS
R&D Funding Updates, including continually updated analyses of
R&D by agency in FY 2005 appropriations, is available on the AAAS
R&D Web Site (http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd) in the "FY
2005 R&D" or the "What's New"
sections.)
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program
1200 New York Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 326-6607; -6600
www.aaas.org/spp/rd
