[Agriculture Fact Book 98]

Investing in the Future Through Agricultural Research, Education, and Economics

USDA leads the world in basic and applied research, as it looks for ways to solve problems challenging America’s food and fiber production system, and for ways to improve food supply, safety and quality. Five major challenges face U.S. agriculture in the next decade: (1) maintaining an agricultural system that’s highly competitive in the global economy, (2) balancing agricultural production and the environment, (3) providing a safe and secure food supply for all citizens, (4) maintaining a healthy, well-nourished population, and (5) increasing economic opportunities and improving the quality of life of all Americans. USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission helps meet these challenges.

Four USDA agencies make up the mission: the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), the Economic Research Service (ERS), and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Together, these agencies have the Federal responsibility to discover and disseminate knowledge that spans the biological, physical, and social sciences related to agricultural research, economic analysis, statistics, extension, and higher education. The Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act, enacted in June 1998, establishes an Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems targeted toward critical emerging agricultural issues related to future food production, environmental protection, or farm income.

Getting Your Money’s Worth. How does the responsibility translate into results that benefit Americans?

In the international trade arena, USDA research is an important tool for stimulating the Nation’s economy. For example, the protocol developed for detecting corn seed bacterial disease early and accurately eliminates foreign quarantine barriers and rejected shipments--keeping markets open for U.S. farm products. Another example: U.S. rice establishes the quality standard for the most important small grain in the world. USDA research advances in agricultural biotechnology can help improve crop quality and yields of rice, as well as reduce losses from pest damage. This helps the United States build an agricultural system that is highly competitive in the global economy.

REE is also rising to the challenge of balancing agricultural production and the environment. For example, USDA agricultural research is behind Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a system that relies on a variety of natural techniques as alternatives to chemical pesticides in order to reduce health risks, sustain natural resources, and create new economic opportunities. USDA’s goal is to have IPM in practice on 75 percent of U.S. agricultural acres by the year 2000. Another example is the research behind the development of biodegradable 100-percent cornstarch cutlery, which is stronger and better for the environment than petroleum-based plastic utensils.

In an effort to meet the challenge of providing a safe and secure food supply for all citizens, USDA scientists created a product that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration called PREEMPT. This product can help poultry producers reduce Salmonella contamination in chickens and offers a better and safer product.

REE is delivering on its commitment to a healthy well-nourished population with the production of a substance called Z-trim which can be used in a number of food products as a fat replacement that tastes good.

Delivering the Goods. How does USDA take these technologies and products from the labs to the marketplace?

REE works with land-grant institutions and industry to move research results into the marketplace to boost economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for all Americans. REE works in partnership with the State agricultural experiment station system, based at land- grant universities to carry out a balanced program of fundamental and applied research. This critical connection--with extension educators identifying and communicating agricultural, environmental, and community problems to researchers at campuses and experiment stations-- helps to provide cutting edge technologies and new products.

USDA uses Cooperative Research And Development Agreements (CRADAs) to get many of its research accomplishments to farmers, business people, and consumers. Under these agreements, USDA and its private sector partners agree to develop certain technologies jointly so they can be commercialized. With more than 650 such partnerships, USDA leads all Federal research organizations in CRADA activity. CRADAs combine government expertise with entrepreneurial ability, allowing government and small business to do more than they could alone. CRADAs maximize resources and deliver results, giving farmers and consumers products they need, and giving small business and rural America Federal partnerships that enhance products and stimulate the economy.

USDA also collaborates with other Federal Departments on research and technology transfer activities with far-reaching benefits. For example, cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) includes close coordination of human nutrition research done by the two Departments. The CRADAs and the Federal partnerships are examples of how REE can stimulate economic opportunity and improve the quality of life of Americans.

Putting It All Together. To build an informed citizenry, and to provide the information base for market decisions, REE also coordinates economic and social research. This research supports programs and policies across USDA, providing data, information, and economic and statistical analyses on a variety of topics: rural development, the environment and natural resources, food safety, food prices, farm labor, farm income, financial conditions, commodity markets, and international trade. Forecasts and estimates for over 165 different crop and livestock commodities are provided annually to farmers, ranchers, and other agribusinesses. This information helps policymakers, Congress, and the public make informed decisions about issues related to food and fiber production.

REE also focuses on practical education that Americans can use in dealing with critical issues that affect their lives and the Nation’s future by linking research, science, and technology to the needs of people where they live and work. REE offers information on issues ranging from community economic development and health care concerns to food safety, water quality, children, youth and families, and sustainable agriculture. For example, REE programs reach over 5.4 million youth in the United States and the Territories. CSREES’ Families, 4-H, and Nutrition programs empower youth to become responsible contributing members of their communities while the Ag in the Classroom program reaches K-12 students. Programs focus on healthy learning experiences, increased self-esteem, enhanced problem-solving skills, and agricultural literacy. Almost 700,000 volunteers contribute to these programs, which also draw on teachers, State and local government officials, agricultural organizations, and agribusiness, further enhancing their effect.

In a society in which information access is crucial, REE is working with local communities to connect them to the information superhighway. From there, citizens have access to much of the information the four REE agencies generate and to the vast resources available at the National Agricultural Library (NAL)--the largest agricultural library in the world and one of three national libraries of the United States. As the Nation’s chief resource providing agricultural information, NAL offers researchers, educators, policymakers, farmers, consumers, and the general public approximately 48 miles of bookshelves to peruse in a 14-story building, as well as access to the library’s 2 million volumes through its computerized network or electronic bulletin board.

Research--A Sound Investment. REE serves people along the entire food and fiber chain--from the farm gate to the consumer’s kitchen table. Sound science provides new technology and information useful to Americans as well as people all over the world in their daily lives. The REE agencies develop new products and new uses, explore profitable marketing strategies, develop technologies to improve farming and processing efficiency, increase food safety, improve human nutrition, and conserve and enhance natural resources. Studies demonstrate that consumers reap the benefits of investing in agricultural research; every tax dollar invested in the U.S. agricultural system has paid back at least $1.35. Information about the REE mission and its respective agencies--Agricultural Research Service; Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; Economic Research Service; and National Agricultural Statistics Service--is available on the REE World Wide Web home page at http://www.reeusda.gov/ree/

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