Federally funded agricultural research generates outsized economic benefits that extend for decades, as illustrated in a report released by the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation. The report was released as Congress works on federal spending for fiscal 2021 and additional economic stimulus to address the COVID-19 pandemic-generated economic downturn.

“Agricultural research is the gift that keeps on giving,” SoAR president Thomas Grumbly said. “Innovations developed today will feed our nation and the world for generations, but scientists need grants to cultivate those advances. Federally funded agricultural research has long been the bedrock for scientific enterprises; we need to keep researchers hard at work now more than ever.”

The "Innovation to Profit" report explores how federally funded research has strengthened the bottom line of farmers and ranchers by reducing costs and risks, increasing profits and laying the groundwork for new products and industries. Research examples that have provided significant boosts to the agriculture sector include:

Related:Report shows how ag research funding can supercharge U.S. industry

In the 1940s, almost 40% of American research and development spending was focused on agriculture, but today, it accounts for only 2%. The report explains that innovations can take years to develop; with so many current troubles, farmers need research investments now to stay afloat in the future.

At the start of 2020, COVID-19 was not among the biggest worries for the agriculture sector. Instead, farmers and food producers were concerned about recovering from a tumultuous 2019 in which more than 20 million acres of U.S. farmland were destroyed by floods. Overall, 2019 was both the second-wettest and second-hottest year on record, generating 14 weather and climate disasters that caused more than $1 billion in economic damage to the U.S. economy. The results for farmers were disastrous. Family farm bankruptcies in 2019 were up 20% compared to 2018.

The agricultural research funding drought is evident in the Agriculture & Food Research Initiative (AFRI), USDA’s flagship program for competitively awarded research grants. The program was launched in the 2008 farm bill, which authorized the funding level at $700 million, yet every year budget politics prevent the program from hitting that level. Its current fiscal year level is only $425 million. The White House budget proposal for fiscal 2021 would provide $600 million -- a welcome boost -- but Congress has yet to negotiate a final dollar amount.

“Our nation’s food and agricultural sectors rely on scientific breakthroughs,” National Pork Producers Council chief executive officer Neil Dierks said. “In the pork industry, destructive diseases continue to emerge. We need scientists to provide cutting-edge solutions and forecast what will come up next. Agricultural research helps farmers keep us all well fed.”

“Our farmers are struggling, and many of them face the prospect of losing farms that have been in their families for generations,” American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall said. “In order for farms to not only weather this storm today but be competitive in the global marketplace going forward, they need partners ready to invest in innovative thinking. The U.S. still holds the top spot for the most productive agricultural research system in the world, but public spending on domestic research and development has fallen over the last decade. We need to correct that so that agricultural research can continue to unlock ground-breaking solutions.”