USDA Budget Summary 2006 -- Research, Education, and Economics

RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND ECONOMICS

MISSION AND RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC GOALS

The Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area assumes Federal leadership responsibility for the discovery, application, and dissemination of information and technologies sp anning the biological, physical, and social sciences through agricultural research, education, and extension activities and economic and statistical analysis. The 2006 REE budget supports all five of the Department’s strategic goals.

Two key objectives in which REE plays an important role are: 3.2: Reduce the Number and Severity of Agricultural Pest and Disease Outbreaks and 4.2: Promote Healthier Eating Habits and Lifestyles. In order to address Objective 3.2, REE has expanded science-based technologies which will allow local, State and Federal officials to reduce the number and severity of agricultural and disease outbreaks. This will, in part, be accomplished through connection and data exchange among the Regional Diagnostic Network participants and the National Agricultural Pest Information System. REE also provides scientific information to protect animals from pests, infectious diseases, and other disease-causing entities that impact animal and human health, as well as engages in monitoring and testing through the National Animal Health Laboratory Network. USDA faces many challenges in reducing the number and severity of pest and disease outbreaks. Some challenges stem from external factors that, should they occur, could prevent achievement of the program goals. To address USDA Objective 4.2, REE conducts research that determines food consumption patterns of Americans, including those of different ages, ethnicities, regions, and income levels. REE agencies provide sound scientific analyses of the U.S. food consumption information to enhance the effectiveness and management of the Nation's domestic food and nutrition assistance programs.

REE responsibilities are carried out by four agencies:

· The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency in USDA in the area of natural and biological sciences. ARS has nine key objectives that support four of the USDA strategic goals. Examples from each of the four strategic goals include:
(Goal 1) provide science-based knowledge and technologies to generate new or improved high quality value-added products and processes to expand domestic and foreign markets for agricultural commodities; (Goal 3) provide science-based knowledge on the safe production, storage, processing and handling of plant and animal products; (Goal 4) improve the nutritional value of the U.S. food supply; and (Goal 5) provide science-based knowledge and education to improve the management of forests, rangelands, and pastures.

· The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is the Federal partner with land grant and non-land grant colleges and universities in carrying out extramural research, higher education, and extension activities. CSREES has thirteen key objectives which support all five USDA strategic goals. An example from each of the five strategic goals includes: (Goal 1) provide science-based knowledge and technologies to generate new or improved high quality products and processes to expand markets for the agricultural sector; (Goal 2) provide science-based technology, products and information to facilitate informed decision-making affecting the quality of life in rural areas; (Goal 3) reduce the incidence of food borne illnesses and contaminants through science-based knowledge and education; (Goal 4) promote healthier food choices and lifestyles through research and education; and (Goal 5) provide science-based knowledge and education to improve the management of forests and rangelands.

· The Economic Research Service (ERS) is the principal intramural economic and social science research agency in USDA. ERS’ key objective is the successful completion of pl anned research that enhances understanding by policymakers, regulators, program managers, and those shaping the public debate concerning economic and policy issues related to agriculture, food, natural resources and rural America. This key objective supports all five USDA strategic goals.

· The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts the Census of Agriculture and provides the official current statistics on agricultural production and indicators of the economic and environmental welfare of the farm sector. NASS has seven key objectives that support four of the USDA strategic goals. An example from each of the four strategic goals includes: (Goal 1) provide agricultural markets with unbiased data to operate efficiently with fair and equitable price discovery; (Goal 2) provide statistically sound information for economic and business decision-making at the local level in rural communities; (Goal 3) provide chemical usage statistics to enable informed decisions using science-based risk analysis; and (Goal 5) provide statistical data for improved management of soil, air and water.

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE (ARS)

ARS provides access to scientific data, conducts research to develop new scientific knowledge, and transfers technology to the private sector to solve technical agricultural problems of broad scope and high national priority. The agency houses the National Agricultural Library (NAL), the Nation's major information resource in the food, agricultural and natural resource sciences. ARS has over 100 locations throughout the U.S. and abroad. Beltsville, Maryland is the site of the world's largest multi-disciplinary agricultural research facility.

The ARS programs represented by Strategic Goal 1: Enhance Economic Opportunities for Agricultural Producers underwent a PART assessment for 2006. The program received a rating of “Moderately Effective” with high scores for program purpose and design, strategic pl anning, and management. The agency has developed performance measures using the Research and Development Investment Criteria and is working to develop baseline data as recommended by the PART reviews.

The 2006 budget requests $996 million for ARS Research and Information. Increases totaling $97 million are proposed to fund critical research priorities. These increases are offset by the elimination of $175 million in funding for all Congressional earmarks and $28 million in project terminations. Highlights of the proposals for the main program areas follow:

· Product Quality/Value Added. ARS research enhances the economic viability and competitiveness of U.S. agriculture by maintaining the quality of harvested agricultural commodities or enhancing their marketability; by expanding domestic and global market opportunities through the development of value-added food and non-food products and processes; by reducing the Nation’s dependence on foreign oil and improving the environment by developing alternate energy sources; and by increasing the use of agricultural crops as feedstocks for biofuels. The 2006 budget includes an increase of $2.5 million for bioenergy and biobased products research. Selected targets for 2006 include developing a system for more efficient harvesting and processing of biomass crops for energy production.

· Livestock Production. ARS conducts research that develops biotechnological methods to use animal germplasm and associated genetic and genomic repositories and databases to ensure an abundant and safe food supply of animal products. Research also provides the knowledge to assess scientifically farm animal well-being, reduce animal stress, increase animal health and improve the international competitiveness and sustainability of U.S. aquaculture. The 2006 budget includes $5.8 million for animal genomics and the preservation of animal germplasm. Selected 2006 targets include identifying regions of the poultry and cattle genomes that effect efficiency of food utilization.

· Crop Production. ARS safeguards and utilizes plant, microbial, and insect germplasm, associated genetic and genomic databases, and bioinformatic tools to ensure an abundant, safe, and inexpensive supply of food, feed, fiber, ornamentals, and industrial products. The agency conducts fundamental research on plants that forms the basis for greater crop productivity and efficiency, better product quality and safety, improved protection against pests and diseases, and sustainable practices that maintain environmental quality. The 2006 budget provides $7 million for crop genomics and preservation of crop genetic resources. This research will achieve the long-term performance measure of identifying the genes responsible for plant growth, product quality, and resistance to disease, pest, and weather losses.

· Food Safety. ARS research provides the means to ensure that the food supply is safe for consumers and that food and feed meet foreign and domestic regulatory requirements. Research also focuses on the reduction of the hazards of both introduced and naturally occurring toxicants in foods and feed, including pathogenic bacteria, viruses, parasites, chemical contaminants, mycotoxins produced by fungi growing on plants, and naturally occurring toxins produced by plants. ARS will continue to work with other USDA and Federal agencies to implement a comprehensive Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative. The 2006 budget includes an increase of $15 million to develop surveillance, sampling, and detection methods that rapidly and accurately detect and identify the most critical and economically important foodborne pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and chemicals of food safety concern. This funding supports the program’s long-term goals of developing and transferring to stakeholders methodologies, as well as intervention strategies, for improving the safety of the food Americans eat.

· Livestock Protection. ARS produces the knowledge and technology to reduce economic losses from infectious, genetic, and metabolic diseases of livestock and poultry and to eliminate the losses to animal production and products caused by arthropod diseases and arthropod borne trauma. This research also reduces the risk to humans of arthropod borne zoonotic diseases and enhances the safety of animal products. The 2006 budget includes an increase of $8.6 million for controlling emerging diseases and invasive species, a major portion of which is included in the Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative. Additionally, the budget seeks $7.5 million to implement an integrated bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) research program. ARS’ key performance measure is to provide the scientific information to protect animals from pests, infectious diseases and other disease causing entities that impact animal and human health. Targets for 2006 include developing systems for rapid response to bioterror agents, and implementing a vaccine research program for the control and eradication of biological threat agents. In 2004, ARS achieved its performance target for this measure by identifying eight resistance markers for various diseases, and by transferring three diagnostic tests to public and private institutions and other countries.

· Crop Protection. ARS provides the knowledge to reduce losses caused by plant diseases by defining practices that are effective, affordable, and maintain environmental quality. Research also provides the technology to manage pest populations below economic damage thresholds by the integration of environmentally compatible strategies that are based on an increased understanding of the pest’s biology and ecology. The 2006 budget includes a proposed increase of $17.7 million for emerging and exotic diseases and invasive species, and a $4.2 million increase for the National Plant Disease Recovery System. This increase will support the agency’s 2006 target of providing the information and technology necessary to support the exclusion, detection, and early eradication of invasive weeds, insects, and pathogens, as well as developing and releasing new varieties of plant stock with insect and disease resistance to producers.

· Human Nutrition. Six ARS centers conduct basic and applied research to identify and understand how nutrients and other bioactive food components affect the health of diverse populations, including children, the elderly, pregnant and lactating women, and healthy adults. The ultimate goal of this food-based agricultural research is to identify foods and diets, coupled with genetics and physical activity, that will sustain and promote health throughout life. The 2006 budget includes an increase of $6 million to improve the accuracy and ethnic representation of the “What We Eat In America” survey and an additional $2.3 million for nutrition survey research to determine the energy and nutrient content of foods consumed by U.S. minority populations, as well as research to address the obesity epidemic and promote a healthier lifestyle.

· Environmental Stewardship. This broad area of research emphasizes the development of technology and scientific knowledge that will allow producers to manage, conserve, and protect the Nation’s soil, water, and air resources while optimizing agricultural productivity. The 2006 budget proposes a $1.8 million increase in air and water quality research and $3.2 million for research in support of the President’s Climate Change Research Initiative.

· National Agricultural Library. The National Agricultural Library (NAL), one of four national libraries in the United States , provides access to scientific agricultural data. NAL provides agricultural information electronically and is expanding its efforts to catalog, manage, and disseminate agriculture-related data through the Internet. The budget requests an increase of $1.9 million to support the National Digital Library for Agriculture and improve information services.

· Buildings and Facilities. The 2006 budget seeks $58.8 million to complete the modernization of the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames, IA. Upon completion, the consolidated ARS/APHIS facility will consist of new research, diagnostic, and biologic laboratory facilities, along with new large animal housing facilities. Extensive site and infrastructure upgrades, miscellaneous office, animal care, and support facilities are integrated into the design. Additionally, $3 million is requested for repairs to the National Agricultural Library, and another $3 million is requested for pl anning and design at the Foreign Disease Weed Science Laboratory in Frederick, Maryland.

COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND EXTENSION SERVICE (CSREES)

CSREES has the primary responsibility for providing linkages between the Federal and State components of a broad-based, National agricultural research, extension, and higher education system. CSREES provides funding for projects conducted in partnership with the State Agricultural Experiment Stations, State Cooperative Extension Systems, land grant universities, colleges, and other research and education institutions. Federal funds are distributed to universities and institutions by statutory formula funding, competitive awards, and special grants. CSREES is responsible for administering USDA's primary competitive research grants program, the National Research Initiative (NRI), which supports investigator-initiated research with strong potential to contribute to major breakthroughs in agricultural science.

The CSREES programs represented by Strategic Goal 1: Enhance Economic Opportunities for Agricultural Producers underwent a PART assessment for 2006. The program received a rating of “Moderately Effective” with perfect scores for strategic pl anning and program management. The PART findings did not identify any significant policy or performance measurement issues.

The 2006 budget requests $1.041 billion for CSREES. Increases totaling $38 million are proposed. These increases are offset by the elimination of $181 million in Congressional earmarks. Highlights of the proposals for the main program areas follow:

· Formula Grants. The 2006 budget proposes a reallocation of research formula funds made to eligible institutions under the Hatch Act, McIntire-Stennis and Animal Health programs. No funding is proposed for the Animal Health formula grant program in 2006, and the other selected Federal formula payments will be phased out over a two-year period in order to use the funds to support competitive funding through the National Research Initiative and a newly created $75 million regional, State, and local competitive grants program. Extension and education formula payments made under several authorities, as well as research formula funding under Evans-Allen, will continue to provide support for current Federal-State collaborative activities.

· National Research Initiative (NRI). The NRI is the Nation’s premier competitive, peer-reviewed research program for fundamental and applied sciences in agriculture. The 2006 budget proposes $250 million for the NRI, an increase of $70 million above the 2005 estimate. The increase will fund initiatives in agricultural genomics, nanotechnology, food safety, water quality, pest related programs, and human nutrition and obesity. The budget also proposes to eliminate USDA specific limitations on indirect costs to put the NRI on an equal footing with other Federal competitive grant programs.

The NRI is broad in scope with programs ranging from fundamental science to farm management and community issues. Funding at the proposed level will support research that will make an immediate impact on such issues as emerging diseases and pests, biosecurity, farm management, air quality, and food and nutritional improvements. The NRI enables USDA to develop new partnerships with other Federal agencies on topics of mutual interest. Moreover, the NRI makes a major contribution to developing the next generation of agricultural scientists.

· Regional, State, and Local Grants Program. A new $75 million program to support State Agricultural Experiment Station-conducted research will be targeted to regional, State, and local issues. This competitively-awarded grants program will support system-wide research planning and coordination and research in areas such as new products/uses, social sciences, and the environment. This is the first phase of a two-year plan to shift funding from some formula based research programs.

· Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative. USDA, through the cooperative efforts of CSREES and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, has established a unified network of public agricultural institutions to identify and respond to high risk biological pathogens in the food and agriculture system. The core of the network comprises 13 animal diagnostic laboratories and 6 plant diagnostic laboratories. The laboratories are responsible for conducting standardized diagnostic tests for the identification of exotic and domestic pests and pathogens. The entire network will be supported with secure, two-way communications, and a comprehensive database on test procedures, experts, and past pest and disease problems. The network was established with $20 million in the 2002 Homeland Security Supplemental. In 2006, the budget provides $30 million for an enhanced network, as well as $5 million for a Higher Education Agrosecurity Program. The education funds are targeted toward supplying educational and professional development for personnel in securing the Nation’s agriculture and food supply by providing competitively awarded grants that focus on educational activities addressing biosecurity issues. CSREES’ 2006 key performance measure is to expand the ability to detect plant and animal diseases to protect the Nation from disease outbreaks. In 2006, targets to be achieved include expanding connection and data exchange between diagnostic network participants, and increasing network capacity to minimize or mitigate environmental risk associated with pest management. In 2004, CSREES surpassed its performance targets for this measure by ensuring that personnel at plant and animal diagnostic labs possessed expert training and proficiency testing where personnel had to detect three high priority plant diseases and six specific animal diseases.

· Higher Education Programs. CSREES offers a variety of higher education programs designed to ensure that undergraduate and graduate institutions in the food and agricultural sciences meet the challenges of recruiting and training qualified individuals needed to address current and anticipated agricultural workforce issues. Additional funding for fellowships at the Master of Science level is especially important for recruiting minority graduate students.

· Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). EFNEP is a unique program operating in 800 counties throughout the U.S. and the American territories of Samoa, Guam, Micronesia , Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The program assists low-income youth and low-income families with young children in acquiring the skills, attitudes, and changed behavior necessary to formulate nutritionally sound diets, and to contribute to their personal development and improvement of the total family diet and nutritional well-being. An increase of $5 million in the 2006 budget will allow for the participation of 1890 institutions and the expansion of this successful program to a greater number of people in more counties. This increased funding will also allow EFNEP to encourage States to incorporate new components, which will contribute to the decrease of obesity in the participant population.

· Outreach and Technical Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers. The Department encourages greater participation of African American farmers, tribal groups, Hispanic and other minority groups in the full range of commodity, loan, grant, and education programs offered to eligible individuals and community groups. The 2006 budget includes a recommendation to maintain Section 2501 funding at $6 million, the 2005 level. The funding supports the performance measure of increasing the number of socially disadvantaged minority farmers and ranchers who are knowledgeable and able to participate in USDA farm programs.

ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE (ERS)

The Economic Research Service (ERS) provides economic and other social science information and analysis on agriculture, food, environment, and rural development. ERS supplies such information and analyses for use by the general public and to help policymakers develop, administer and appraise agricultural and rural policies and programs.

The ERS budget reflects a net increase of $6.6 million including funds for pay costs and $5.8 million to support the following priority effort:

Consumer Data and Information System ($5.8 million). This initiative will continue the development of a data and analysis framework of the post-farm gate food system to identify, understand and track changes in food supply and consumption patterns for use in making policy decisions in the food, health and consumer arenas. Funds were provided in 2005 for implementing one element of the system, the Flexible Consumer Behavior Survey Module. The remaining components include:

· $3.6 million to create a Food Market Surveillance System of surveys and supporting analyses to identify food consumption patterns of customers and how these respond to changes in the food marketplace and in customers’ lifestyles over time. This knowledge will help producers better target their products to consumer behavior, while providing policymakers with a better basis for formulating effective nutritional policy.

· $1.0 million for a Rapid Consumer Response Module to develop nearly instantaneous information on consumer reactions to current market events and government policies, linking consumer reactions to actual food purchases, sales, consumption and price information. This module will be instrumental in helping policymakers to evaluate consumer reactions to crises and to formulate appropriate responses.

· $0.6 million to support additional staff and activities to insure the successful design and implementation of system surveys, as well as to develop and implement a web-based data dissemination program to make survey data more accessible to data users.

· $0.6 million for a behavioral economic research program to identify strategies for developing effective nutrition messages that motivate consumers to adopt more helpful diets.

ERS plans to measure the initiative in terms of its relevance, quality and performance through the use of a quantitative assessment tool in conjunction with a review by an outside panel.

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE (NASS)

The mission of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is to provide timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. NASS statistics provide the information necessary to keep agricultural markets stable and efficient, and to help maintain a “level playing field” for all users of agricultural statistics.

A PART review of NASS programs was conducted during formulation of the 2006 budget. NASS received a rating of “Moderately Effective.” NASS received a perfect score for its program purpose, design and management, and the agency is now working to establish an external, independent evaluation system, as was recommended in the PART findings.

The budget reflects a net increase of $16.7 million, which includes an increase of $1.3 million for pay costs and an increase of $15.4 million and 29 staff years for the following priority activities:

· Improved Agricultural Estimates ($7.0 million). This increase will build on 2004 and 2005 efforts to restore and modernize NASS’ core survey and estimation program, which covers most agricultural commodities produced in the U.S. and encompasses economic, environmental and rural data. Prior to 2004, this program had not received an increase in funding since 1990, leading to a reduction in the quality of survey data on which NASS estimates are based. The program is designed to provide several principal economic indicators and to meet the needs of USDA, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor, bankers, brokers, rural sociologists and other data users at an acceptable level of precision for State, regional and national level estimates. The initiative has three components: (1) restore sample sizes for greater statistical defensibility; (2) provide staff needed to manage surveys, review and summarize reported data, and other functions; and (3) meet research, training, travel, supplies and other direct expenses necessary to produce quality statistics. Funding for this initiative will allow NASS to continue to improve the statistical precision of its major surveys. Specifically, target precision levels for 83 percent of NASS’ major survey data will be achieved with this funding, a 12 percent increase over the fiscal year 2004 precision levels. NASS’ long-term target precision target is 90 percent.

· Locality Based Agricultural County Estimation Program ($1.9 million). This funding supports the NASS goal to improve statistically defensible survey precision for small area statistics. With this support, NASS can conduct proper follow-up data collection activities and redesign its survey systems to statistically improve its valuable county-level data, which is used by private industry, Federal, State, and local governments, and universities. The Risk Management Agency uses these statistics in indemnity calculations for Group Risk Plans and the Group Risk Revenue Plans as part of the risk rating process, which affects premium levels paid by producers. The Farm Service Agency uses the county acreage to weight posted county prices to National loan deficiency payments. In addition, agriculture input suppliers, agricultural marketing firms, and transportation companies who provide billions of dollars of goods and services to farmers and ranchers track county level data on livestock inventories and crop acreage yields and production. Furthermore, under the 2002 Farm Bill, producers updated their base acreage and yields by using the county-wide averages established by this program. The 2006 funding level will produce statistically defensible survey precision for one-third of the U.S. counties surveyed under this program.

· Census of Agriculture ($6.5 million). The Census of Agriculture provides comprehensive data on the agricultural economy with national, State, and county level details. This increase supports the normal increase in activity levels due to the cyclical nature of the 5-year Census program. Funding will be used to prepare for the 2007 Census of Agriculture and to conclude analysis and publication of the Census of Aquaculture in December 2006.