Agricultural research, education, and extension developed as a mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the first 50 years of the department's existence. As currently organized, USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the in-house scientific research agency. The Economic Research Service (ERS) analyzes statistical indicators in all agricultural issue areas in order to support public and private decision-making. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which has field offices in most states and U.S. territories, collects and analyzes a broad range of data and administers the U.S. Census of Agriculture. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is the agency that channels a portion of annual USDA appropriations to states and U.S. territories to support higher education programs in agriculture, state and regional research, and continuing agricultural education and outreach to the public. When adjusted for inflation, appropriations for agricultural research, education, and extension have mostly remained level since the 1970s. Agricultural research, education, and extension at the federal and state levels are supported through a combination of direct appropriations (to ARS, ERS, and NASS) and block grants to states, competitive grants, and congressionally designated grants (all administered by CSREES). Although these funding mechanisms are widely acknowledged to have served agriculture well, the larger scientific community has consistently argued that a greater proportion of USDA research funding should be distributed through the competitive, peer-reviewed grant process. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) maintains that competitive grants reach a large pool of talented scientists and stimulate new research in high priority areas. Recent Administration proposals to redirect funds to competitive grants from the block-grant funded programs (in the absence of new money) have drawn vigorous criticism from the colleges of agriculture in the states, and Congress has not adopted them. The House and Senate Agriculture Committees passed legislation in 1998 intended to capture new funds for competitive grants from the mandatory side of the USDA budget. The appropriations committees, however, have consistently prohibited those funds from being used to support the competitive grants program for which they were intended. Under potential consideration in the expected farm bill debate in 2007 is a USDA task force recommendation (from 2004) to establish an independent, competitive grant-awarding National Institute for Food and Agriculture within the department, supported with new money. In the current pre-farm bill period, international trade issues and pressure for change in domestic farm support policies are causing many observers and policymakers to suggest that USDA should explore ways to support a broader range of U.S. producers than it currently does. Some have argued that USDA should invest more in research, rural development, and conservation programs, for example, and less in the traditional commodity programs. This report will be updated as necessary.

This volume compiles and reprints the responses of 37 organizations to a series of questions issued by the House Committee on Agriculture in anticipation of debates concerning the Research Title of the 1995 Farm Bill due for updating and revision. The questions address some of the following topics: the role of the federal government in agricultural research, coordination and relations with other federal agencies, the suitability of various regulations and procedures, setting research priorities, integrating federal-state-industry research pools, effectiveness of coordinating and advisory boards, efficiency and accountability in administration of these federal funds, partnerships with other types of organizations, guidelines for use of federal funds, land grant universities' roles, fund allocation formulas, and regional research and extension cooperation. The organizations that responded to these questions include the Department of Agriculture, the Coalition on Funding Agricultural Research Mission, professional societies such as the Phytopathological Society and the Entomological Society of America, individual higher education institutions like the Universities of Minnesota and Arkansas and Ohio State University, international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute, and Associations such as the American Feed Industry Association and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. (JB)

Three House of Representatives' subcommittee hearings were held in March, May, and July 1996 to evaluate the goals, priority setting, and advisory mechanisms of federal programs in agricultural research, education, and extension. To become competitive in global markets, farmers will need to rely on the research community to provide up-to-date technology and market information. The purpose of the hearings was to establish research priorities for the 21st century, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal research investment, and improve accountability through the establishment of a coordinated advisory and priority setting mechanism. Testimony was received from U.S. Senators and Representatives; Under-Secretaries from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); and spokespersons for agribusiness associations, agricultural science associations, research institutions, land grant universities, and the Extension Service. The following topics were discussed: the role of the National Center for Agricultural Utilization and Research (Peoria, Illinois) in commercialization of agricultural products; financial and political threats to the federal government's role in agricultural research and education; research priorities related to human nutrition, new agricultural and livestock pests and diseases, food safety, and farming's environmental issues; replacing petrochemical ingredients in industrial products with agriculture-based ingredients; proposed participants and processes in setting research priorities for government funding; importance of sustainable agriculture; the needs of rural families and communities that are not usually well supported in USDA budgets and extension programs; worldwide research on consumer food preferences; structure and funding of federally funded agricultural research programs conducted by land grant universities, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and the agribusiness industry; and the role and methods of the Cooperative Extension Service in disseminating research-based information to farmers. (SV)