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BBCC
Member Agencies
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Agricultural
Marketing Service |
| The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is responsible for developing quality grade standards for agricultural commodities, administering marketing regulatory programs, marketing agreements and orders, and making food purchases for USDA food assistance programs. The AMS Livestock and Seed Programs oversees the Soybean Promotion and Research Program which includes the Bio-Based Products Initiative to promote use of soy biodiesel, and to expand use of soy-based bioproducts within the Federal procurement system. The Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program, a competitive matching grant program for state departments of agriculture and other state agencies, supports research to explore new market opportunities for U.S. food and agricultural products and encourage research and innovation aimed at improving the efficiency and performance of the marketing system. In recent years, FSMIP has funded several projects relating to bioenergy. The Transportation Services Branch monitors selected aspects of bioenergy as it relates to agricultural transportation issues. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Janise Zygmont |
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Marina R. Denicoff |
Agricultural
Research Service |
|
The Agricultural
Research Service (ARS), which is the in-house research agency
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, conducts research to
develop solutions to agricultural problems of high national
priority. This includes fundamental, long-term, high-risk
research that the private sector won't do, as well as more
applied, focused, problem-solving research. Research related
to biobased products focuses on developing feedstocks and
industrial products, including biofuels and bioenergy, that
expand markets for agricultural materials,
replace imports and petroleum-based products, and offer opportunity
to meet environmental needs. This includes developing, modifying
and utilizing new and advanced technologies to convert plant
and animal commodities and by-products to new products and
by developing energy crops as well as new crops to meet niche
market opportunities. |
| Agency
Contact: |
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Ron Buckhalt, Ph.D. |
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L. Frank Flora, Ph.D. |
| Robert L. Fireovid, Ph.D. |
Cooperative
State Research, Education and Extension Service |
| The
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service
(CSREES) mission emphasizes partnerships with the public and
private sectors to maximize the effectiveness of limited resources.
CSREES programs increase and provide access to scientific knowledge;
strengthen the capabilities of land-grant and other institutions
in research, extension and higher education; increase access
to and use of improved communication and network systems; and
promote informed decision making by producers, families, communities,
and other customers. CSREES advances research and development
in new uses for industrial crops and products through its Agricultural
Materials program, National Research Initiative, Small Business
Innovation Research Program, and other activities. Areas of
interest include paints and coatings from new crops, fuels and
lubricants, new fibers, natural rubber, and biobased polymers
from vegetable oils, proteins and starches. |
| Agency
Contact: |
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Carmela A. Bailey |
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Hongda Chen , Ph.D. |
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P. Daniel Cassidy, Ph.D. |
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William Goldner, Ph.D. |
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Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Ph.D. |
| Departmental Administration |
| The
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA) provides
leadership and oversight in acquisition, asset management, hazardous
materials management, internal energy conservation, recycling,
alternative fuels, and real property. The ASA serves as the
Department's Energy Executive and USDA's Environmental Executives.
The ASA has responsibility for coordinating environmentally
preferable and energy-efficient initiatives and serves as an
advocate for coordination of these initiatives in USDA facilities
and programs across the country. The Office of Procurement and
Property Management is the ASA office most closely linked to
biobased products and bioenergy. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Boyd Rutherford |
|
Shana Y. Love |
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Sharon Holcombe |
Economic Research Service |
| The Economic Research Service (ERS) is USDA’s primary source of economic information and research. ERS conducts a research program to inform public and private decision making on economic and policy issues involving food, farming, natural resources, and rural development. As USDA’s principal social science research agency, ERS provides information analysis on trade, markets, and resource and rural economics that includes renewable energy and biofuels. Each year, ERS communicates research results and socioeconomic indicators via briefings, analyses for policymakers and their staffs, market analysis updates, and major reports.
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| Agency
Contact: |
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Mary Bohman |
Farm
Service Agency |
| The
Farm Service Agency (FSA) supports the enhancement of America's
agriculture and the environment. FSA has four missions, to stabilize
farm income, to help farmers conserve land and water resources,
to provide credit to new or disadvantaged farmers and ranchers,
and to help farm operations recover from the effects of disaster.
The agency consists of six programs including farm commodity
programs; farm ownership, operating and emergency loans; conservation
and environmental programs; emergency and disaster assistance;
domestic and international food assistance; and international
export credit programs. The FSA administers two programs related
to Bioenergy: the Bioenergy Program and the Conservation Reserve
Research Pilots. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Edward Rall |
|
Steve Gill |
Foreign
Agricultural Service |
| The
Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) maintains 80 overseas posts
with the overall goal of supporting expanded U.S. exports of
agricultural, forest, and fish products. Reducing trade barriers;
collecting and disseminating global trade and market information
accomplish this; and developing markets through the use of promotion,
loan guarantees, food aid, and economic development activities.
Concerning bio-based industrial products, FAS works through
private industries to identify overseas market opportunities
for new products such as vegetable oil lubricants, soy ink or
biodegradable textile material made of corn, just to name a
few. FAS activities also indirectly help reducing production
cost of corn-based ethanol fuel in the U.S. through the promotion
and expanding the exports of ethanol by-products (DDG and corn
gluten meal) to overseas markets. FAS supports these activities
through the Market Access Program (MAP), the Foreign Market
Development (FMD) program and the scientific exchanges sponsored
by the International Cooperation and Development (ICD) programs.
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| Agency
Contact: |
|
Renee Schwartz |
|
Barbara Wojcik-Betancourt, PhD |
Forest
Service |
| The
Forest Service (FS) manages 192 million acres of National Forests
and Grasslands, provides resource science and technology development,
and assists states and private landowners in forestry activities.
Forest Service Research and Development (FS R&D) has a broad
research program in the management and use of these resources
for biobased products and Bioenergy. Specific research and technology
development focus areas are: * Small-diameter and low value
sources: developing and demonstrating economically and environmentally
sound strategies, operations systems and technologies for management,
harvest, and utilization, and value-added processing, and use
for Bioenergy; * New woody cropping systems: developing short
rotation woody crop systems, improving production efficiency,
lowering costs, ensuring environmental quality, improving conservation
and use of marginal lands, expanding new crop options through
developing science, new technologies, and guidelines for these
systems. * Additionally, other research areas include improved
transportation systems, fiber-reinforced cement products, uses
for waste wood and plastics, housing components, and small diameter
trees from overcrowded woodlands. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Bryce Stokes |
|
Marilyn A. Buford |
| |
| Global
Change Program Office |
| The
Global Change Program Office operates within the Office of the
Chief Economist and functions as the Department-wide coordinator
of agriculture, rural and forestry-related global change program
and policy issues facing USDA. The Office ensures that USDA
is a source of objective, analytical assessments of the effects
of climate change and proposed mitigation strategies including
biomass energy and bio-based products use. |
| Agency
Contact: |
| William
Hohenstein |
| |
| National Agricultural Statistics Service |
| The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts hundreds of surveys every year and prepares reports covering virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture-production and supplies of food and fiber, prices paid and received by farmers, farm labor and wages, farm finances, chemical use, and changes in the demographics of U.S. producers are only a few examples.
NASS is committed to providing timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. To uphold our commitment NASS will continue to:
Report the facts on American agriculture, facts needed by people working in and depending upon U.S. agriculture.
Provide objective and unbiased statistics on a predetermined schedule that is fair and impartial to all market participants.
Conduct the Census of Agriculture every five years, the only source of consistent, comparable, and detailed agricultural data for every county in America.
Serve the needs of our data users and customers at a local level through our network of State field offices and our cooperative relationship with universities and State Departments of Agriculture.
Safeguard the privacy of farmers, ranchers, and other data providers; we guarantee to keep data security and confidentiality our top priorities.
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| Agency
Contact: |
| Kevin Barnes |
| Mark R. Miller |
Natural
Resources Conservation Service |
| The
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) mission is to
provide national leadership in a partnership effort to help
people conserve, enhance, and protect sustain the nation's natural
resources and environment. NRCS's technical experts work through
conservation districts to help land managers take a comprehensive
approach to resource use and conservation. NRCS has stressed
two priorities for the biobased products and Bioenergy initiative:
First, expanded production of feedstocks for biomass/Bioenergy
should occur with due consideration and protection of natural
resources; and second, local communities should be instrumental
in organizing biobased product and Bioenergy enterprises which
are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.
|
| Agency
Contact: |
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Chuck Zelek |
Office
of Budget and Program Analysis |
| The
Office of Budget and Program Analysis The Office of Budget and
Program Analysis' (OBPA) major activities consist of coordinating
the preparation of the Department's budget estimates, legislative
reports and regulations. OBPA provides direction and administration
of the Department's budgetary functions including development,
presentation, and administration of the budget; reviews program
and legislative proposals for program and budget related implications;
and analyzes program and resource issues and alternatives. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Christopher Nelson |
|
Scott Williams |
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Ana Heller |
Office
of Communications |
| The Office of Communications (OC) provides leadership, expertise, counsel, and coordination for the development of communications strategies vital to the overall formulation, awareness and acceptance of USDA programs and policies. The USDA Office of Communications contributes to the momentum and attention being given to renewable energy in national, regional and trade print and broadcast media while at the same time, securing third party endorsements of USDA renewable energy-related policies. By helping renewable energy messaging reach a critical mass, we in turn help to create an environment for private investment, legislative change, and public policy support. The USDA newsroom is at www.usda.gov/newsroom. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Jim Brownlee |
Office
of Energy Policy and New Uses |
| The
Office of Energy Policy and New Uses (OPENU) provides leadership,
oversight, coordination, and evaluation for all USDA energy
and energy-related activities with the exception of those delegated
to the USDA Assistant Secretary for Administration. The office
analyzes existing and proposed energy policies, strategies,
and regulations concerning or potentially affecting agriculture.
It also evaluates the feasibility of new uses for agricultural
products. The director of the office also serves as permanent
vice chair of the BBCC. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Marvin Duncan |
|
Roger Conway |
|
Irene Xiarchos |
Office
of the Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics |
| The
Office of the Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics
Office of the Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics
( REE). The Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics
serves as the chair of the BBCC. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Joseph Dunn, Ph.D. |
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Risk Management Agency |
| The Risk Management Agency helps producers manage their business risk by providing effective, market-based risk management solutions such as crop insurance. These market-based risk management solutions are delivered by sixteen private-sector insurance companies that sell and service policies. RMA develops and approves policy terms and premium rates, administers the premium and expense subsidies, approves and supports risk management products and serves as the primary reinsurer for the sixteen insurance companies' crop insurance business. RMA funds educational and outreach programs on risk management solutions, the development of non-insurance risk management tools, and specific research used to determine the feasibility of future programs. The Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage pilot is an example of one innovative program using vegetation greenness and rainfall indices to provide livestock producers the ability to purchase insurance protection for losses of forage produced for grazing or harvested for hay.
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| Agency
Contact: |
|
Heyward Baker |
Rural
Business-Cooperative Service |
| The
Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) mission promotes a
dynamic business environment in rural America. The Business
Programs (BP) works in partnership with the private sector and
the community-based organizations to provide financial assistance
and business planning. BP helps fund projects that create or
preserve quality jobs and/or promote a clean rural environment.
The financial resources of RBS BP are often leveraged with those
of other public and private credit source lenders to meet business
and credit needs in under-served areas. RD promotes economic
development in rural communities by financing need facilities,
assisting business development and rural cooperatives, and planning
national strategies for economic development. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Chris Cassidy |
Rural
Utilities Service |
| The
Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is the federal "point" agency
for rural infrastructure assistance in electricity, water and
telecommunications. RUS makes low costs loans and grants to
help provide these services to rural communities. |
| Agency
Contact: |
|
Mike Kossey |
|
Sharon Ashurst |
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