AG RESEARCH Act
Key claim: The AG RESEARCH Act would fund USDA Agricultural Research Service deferred maintenance and create a NIFA grant program covering federal cost-share for construction, modernization, and equipment at agricultural research facilities, with priority for the most critical ARS structures.
Abstract
(S2589 · 118th Congress) Augmenting Research and Educational Sites to Ensure Agriculture Remains Cutting-Edge and Helpful Act or the AG RESEARCH Act This bill provides funding for maintenance at agricultural research facilities. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must (1) revise its review process for evaluating proposals for agricultural research facilities to include consulting with representatives of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) peer review panels; and (2) establish a grant program within NIFA to provide agricultural research facilities with a federal share of the cost for the construction, alteration, acquisition, modernization, renovation, or remodeling of the research facilities or the equipment necessary for agricultural research. Additionally, the bill provides funding for the grant program and for USDA to provide direct payments to research facilities of the Agricultural Research Service for addressing deferred maintenance. USDA must give priority to the most critical structures in accordance with the Agricultural Research Service Capital Investment Strategy (April 2012). Latest action (2023-07-27): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Why this matters
USDA’s Agricultural Research Service faces a substantial deferred maintenance backlog at aging facilities that support crop, livestock, and food safety research underpinning farm productivity. By funding ARS repairs and creating a NIFA cost-share grant program for university and partner research facilities, the bill would affect the long-run pipeline of agricultural innovation that flows to farmers and, indirectly, to consumer food prices and supply resilience.