Research
The Senate Appropriations Committee finished work on its FY 2012 agriculture spending measure that would allocate a total of $19.780 billion for spending by USDA and the FDA. The total is less than FY 2011 spending, but almost 14 percent more than the House-passed agriculture appropriations bill.
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) received a total of $2.309 billion in funding. Though the Senate restored $100 million in funding to ARS from the House bill, it is still down 12 percent from FY 2010 levels. NIFA’s key grant program was funded by the Senate at $266 million, the same as FY 2011 levels and $41 million more than the House measure.
Soft Wheat Quality Lab
ARS’ Soft Wheat Quality Lab (SWQL) had a stakeholders call to discuss the leadership and future of the Wooster SWQL. Ed Souza resigned as research head to work for private industry, and while the agency has said they plan to hire a replacement, recruitment is on hold until the 2012 ARS budget is settled. In addition, former Midwest-area director Frank Flora has retired. In the interim, Dr. Peg Redinbaugh will serve as director and Midwest-area director Larry Chandler has oversight responsibility for the continuity of programs at Wooster.
NAMA SWQL Grant
The NAMA grant for the Ed Souza genomics project, approved at the March Soft Wheat Division meeting, will be delayed for at least a year as recommended by Ed Souza and Gina Brown-Guedira.
Food and Drug Administration
The FY 2012 bill provides $2.497 billion for the FDA, as compared to $2.447 billion in FY 2011, not including funding collected through user fees. The FDA is the only non-security agency to receive increased funding in this bill. This funding level takes into consideration the federal government’s responsibilities to protect public health and safety, especially in the areas of food, drugs, medical devices and biologics. An increase is provided the FDA to begin implementation of the recently passed Food Safety Modernization Act.
NAMA has, and will, continue to educate lawmakers and the Administration officials on the essential need to invest in agricultural research to improve yield, nutritional quality and disease resistance. In that vein, NAMA teamed with growers, bakers and researches to lobby Capitol Hill with a unified message of the need for continued funding for these important programs.
Last updated September 2011
Prepare by Sherri Lehman, Director of Government Relations, 202.484.2200, ext. 13, slehman@namamillers.org
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