Science Policy Report

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04 August 2021

In This Issue:

Policy News

Science and Society News

International Corner

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

Policy News

Chavonda Jacobs-Young, a scientist who has been at USDA for nearly two decades, is the Biden administration’s pick to oversee the department’s research agencies. Currently the administrator of the Agricultural Research Service, Jacobs-Young will be nominated to become undersecretary for research, education, and economics and USDA's chief scientist, roles in which she has been serving in an acting capacity. Dr. Jacobs-Young is the first woman and person of color to lead this agency, which manages an annual budget of $1.82 billion. Read the full article.
 

A group of senators finalized legislative language Sunday evening for the long-awaited bipartisan physical infrastructure deal, bringing the Senate one step closer to passing a top priority for President Joe Biden. The finished product comes after Senate negotiators and their staff worked throughout the weekend on text for the bipartisan agreement, which includes $550 billion in new spending on roads, bridges, highways, broadband and water infrastructure. While the bill includes some funding for energy research, the agriculture research infrastructure request the Societies and other ag stakeholders have been working on, was not included. Read the full article.
 

Public investments in food and agricultural research have arguably not only led to a secure food supply for the United States, but they’ve also made this nation a world leader in food and agricultural productivity. In the U.S., ag, food and related industries contribute $1.1 trillion annually to the nation’s economy, supporting 22 million jobs. In Kansas, ag is 54% of the state’s economy and accounts for 21% of the workforce. Ernie Minton, dean of K-State College of Agriculture and director of K-State Research and Extension, writes that in order for the U.S. to continue to compete in the global marketplace and ensure our national security, we need to invest in the infrastructure of our public research institutions. Read the full article.
 

President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science met some hostile questions at a Senate confirmation hearing today. Senator John Barrasso (WY), the senior Republican on the Senate energy committee, questioned whether Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, a soil scientist at the University of California, Merced, has the qualifications to lead the agency, which is the United States’s single biggest funder of the physical sciences and spends less than 11% of its $7 billion annual budget on biological and environmental research. Read the full article.

Science and Society News

Join ASA, CSSA, and SSSA at the 2021 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City or Virtually Nov. 7-10 to share new ideas for food, feed, fuel and fiber production, and natural resources protection. Learn more and register here. 
 

Bountiful harvests of corn and other major crops rely on a mysterious phenomenon known as hybrid vigor. When highly inbred varieties are crossed, their offspring are taller, hardier, and bear more grain. Now, researchers report that this vigor is somehow influenced by microbes in the soil, perhaps via a plant’s immune system. Read the full article.
 

“Hawaii’s food system is broken,” says Constanze Niedermaier of Common Ground, a new platform to find regeneratively grown Hawaiian foods. The islands export 80% of their crop, and import 90% of their food products, despite being a fertile land which has the potential to grow an abundance of its own needs. That’s why Niedermaier and others have come together, backed by a group of like-minded eco-forward investors, to create a hub for local food entrepreneurs: The Common Ground is a physical space in Kauai that serves as a base for a new food community focused on regenerative agriculture on the islands. Read the full article.
 

Agroforestry, the intentional planting of perennial plants on farmland to create environmental, economic and social benefits. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) is looking to expand the number of farmers who grow perennial crops on river-adjacent land. These buffers will help clean and restore not only the waters of Pennsylvania, but those downstream, including Chesapeake Bay, while sequestering carbon, increasing biodiversity and pollinator habitat, and even producing a profitable crop for farmers. Read the full article.
 

The true cost of food is even higher than you think, a new report says. The United States spends $1.1 trillion a year on food. But when the impacts of the food system on different parts of our society — including rising health care costs, climate change and biodiversity loss — are factored in, the bill is around three times that, according to a report by the Rockefeller Foundation, a private charity that funds medical and agricultural research. Read the full article.
 

Following a long and distinguished career of leading agricultural and biomedical research administration, Dr. Sally Rockey, executive director of the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), announced her plan to retire at the end of the year. Rockey joined FFAR in 2015, as the organization’s inaugural Executive Director. During her tenure, Rockey oversaw the awarding of more than 200 grants advancing food and agriculture research, totaling over $650 million. Read the full article.
 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change grabbed the world’s attention in 2018 when it released a sobering report that warned—in no uncertain terms—world leaders needed to take drastic and immediate steps to blunt the most catastrophic impacts of global warming. Policymakers responded with a range of emotion, from denial to outrage. But the message was clear. Next month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—or IPCC for short—plans to release another report. And again, scientists, lawmakers and activists are bracing themselves for the news. Read the full article. 

The Sustainable Agronomy Conference provides Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs) and Agri-Sales Professionals with the opportunity to more fully understand and implement sustainable agronomy in the field. The 2021 conference includes a four-part virtual Conservation in Action Tour by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC). Each of the four tours will include a video from the field that includes interviews with farmers, CCAs, researchers and other experts, followed by a live panel discussion/Q&A. Join for Session Four: Managing Scarce Water Resources August 10, 2021, 11am-1pm CT. There's still time to register for this FREE event and you have access to all recordings through Oct 24! Visit the conference website to for the full program and to register.
 

The 6th Soil Health Institute Annual Meeting, an engaging virtual event bringing together the leading voices in soil science and agriculture, is one week from now. Don’t miss your chance to gain new research insights on soil health and practical applications for advancing the adoption of soil health systems that are the foundation for regenerative agriculture. Registration is free and required to attend. Learn more and register here.
 

International Corner

African smallholder farmers are increasingly on the lookout for technologies to improve their yields. Finding new ways to grow more and healthier food has become a priority for Africa’s smallholder farmers, who are battling climate change-induced extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods and high temperatures. Conservation agriculture (CA) is one of the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) tools that farmers are adopting to grow food even in harsh conditions. Many scientists have praised conservation agriculture as a method of farming that can help farmers to reduce water use while boosting soil fertility and crop yields. Read the full article.
 

Millions of acres of Brazil's forest and grasslands have been cleared over the past 30 years to grow soybeans, making the country the world's biggest soybean producer. But the deforestation that facilitated Brazil's soybean boom is now undermining it, bringing hotter and drier weather that makes soybeans less productive, according to two recent studies. One paper published in the journal World Development concluded that hotter temperatures which result from clearing natural vegetation already are costing Brazil's soybean farmers more than $3 billion each year in lost productivity. Read the full article.
 

In 2018, farmers in a village near the shores of Kenya’s Lake Victoria decided to plant trees on public lands and small farms. With the help of nonprofit groups, the community planted hundreds of trees, turning some of the barren hillsides green. Many individual farmers now practice alley cropping, in which millet, onions, sweet potatoes and cassava are planted between rows of fruit and other trees. The trees provide shade and shelter to the crops, and their deeper root systems help the soil retain moisture. Read the full article.
 

France passed a wide-ranging law to tackle climate change, creating a raft of bans, incentives and quotas on transportation, housing and consumption that are meant to lower greenhouse gas emissions and cut waste, despite criticism from environmental groups that the measures aren’t ambitious enough. The law comes amid extreme weather episodes that have exacerbated worries about the impact of global warming, especially in Europe, which recently unveiled an aggressive blueprint to pivot away from fossil fuels, and where countries like Germany and Belgium were hit last week by deadly floods that thrust climate change to the top of the political agenda. Read the full article.
 

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) grants program is open to applicants residing in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. OFRF offers funding for research on organic production systems and the dissemination of these research results to organic farmers and agricultural and research communities. Proposals MUST be farmer-led or meaningfully involve farmers or ranchers in project design and implementation. Unless otherwise noted in the RFP, projects MUST take place on certified organic land, ideally on working organic farms or ranches. Farmers, ranchers, and early career researchers are eligible to apply for funding. Letter of intent deadline, August 20. Read the full announcement.
https://ofrf.org/research/grant-awards/apply-for-funding/ 

The Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge is a national business competition that showcases U.S. startups developing innovative solutions that address challenges facing America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, looks to identify the top entrepreneurs who are addressing both traditional challenges farmers face on their operation, such as access to labor, optimizing yield, and reducing operating costs, and new challenges facing farmers and rural communities. Deadline, August 20. Read the full announcement.
 

The North Central Region SARE (NCR-SARE) Research and Education (R&E) Grant Program is a competitive grant program for researchers and educators involved in projects that explore and promote environmentally sound, profitable, and socially responsible food and/or fiber systems. Research and Education projects include a strong outreach component and significant farmer/rancher or other end-user involvement from the inception of the idea through the implementation of the project. Deadline, October 7. Read the full announcement.
 

The Partnership Grant program is intended to foster cooperation between agriculture professionals and small groups of farmers and ranchers to catalyze on-farm research, demonstration, and education activities related to sustainable agriculture. Examples of appropriate projects include:  developing a curriculum about food storage for farmers and processors, on-farm testing of cropping system strategies or grazing systems, cooperative efforts to develop new marketing approaches, or investigations into new approaches to processing and/or adding value to sustainably produced farm products. Deadline, October 21. Read the full announcement.
 

The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of support for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM or STEM education. NSF actively encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, persons with disabilities, veterans, and undergraduate seniors to apply. Deadline, October 18-22 (varies by program). Read the full announcement. 
 

Sources: The White House; Politico; Farm Progress; Science; Forbes; Civil Eats; Washington Post; FFAR; Scientific American; Soil Health Institute; Alliance for Science; NPR; ScienceNews; New York Times; OFRF; Farm Bureau; SARE; NSF;

Vision: The Societies Washington, DC Science Policy Office (SPO) will advocate the importance and value of the agronomic, crop and soil sciences in developing national science policy and ensuring the necessary public-sector investment in the continued health of the environment for the well being of humanity. The SPO will assimilate, interpret, and disseminate in a timely manner to Society members information about relevant agricultural, natural resources and environmental legislation, rules and regulations under consideration by Congress and the Administration.

This page of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA web site will highlight current news items relevant to Science Policy. It is not an endorsement of any position.