Sources of Public Agricultural R&D Changing
Kelly
Day Rubenstein, Paul
Heisey, and David
Schimmelpfennig
Public (Federal and State) research and development
(R&D) have driven much of the growth in agricultural
productivity through development of higher yielding
crop varieties, better livestock breeding practices,
and other improvements in farm production. Public-sector
research in the USDA Land-Grant System also includes
research on forestry, human nutrition, the environment,
and rural development.
Total expenditures on agricultural
research in the public sector increased from about
$4.5 billion in 1995 to $4.6 billion in 2005, when
adjusted for inflation. Research expenditures at
State-level institutions, such as land-grant universities,
accounted for most of the growth in public R&D;
expenditures increased at about 2 percent annually
between 1970 and 2005, in real terms. The rate of
increase for research expenditures at Federal agencies
was 0.2 percent annually.
Considering research expenditures
only in terms of the broad category of public research,
however, does not give a complete picture of changing
funding sources. The changes reflect differing rates
of growth over time in the many sources of funding
which, besides USDA and State funding, includes
funding from other Federal sources, industry, and
other miscellaneous sources, such as private foundations.
Federal and State institutions
both fund and conduct public R&D. State Agricultural
Experiment Stations’ (SAES) and other cooperating
institutions’ expenditures accounted for 72
percent of all public agricultural R&D in 2005,
while expenditures at USDA agencies made up the
remaining 28 percent. Internal sources account for
almost all of USDA’s inhouse research expenditures.
USDA administers several instruments
used for “extramural” (outside the Department)
research programs, largely at State land-grant institutions.
“Formula funds” are distributed to SAES
based on a State’s population (and related
factors), for use at the SAES’ discretion.
In 2005, formula funds from USDA accounted for $221
million of State-level expenditures. USDA’s
National Research Initiative (NRI) awards research
funds through a competitive process. In 2005, NRI
research grants made up 2 percent of total public
agricultural R&D expenditures ($89 million).
Another 2 percent of expenditures came from “special
research grants” designated (or earmarked)
by Congress.
While USDA’s contribution
to State-level R&D expenditures has diminished
over time, funds from other Federal agencies have
increased. These funds, which are generally awarded
competitively, tripled between 1980 and 2005 in
real terms, to $678 million in expenditures for
2005. Between 1980 and 2005, expenditures arising
from industry and other non-Federal funds grew by
around 70 percent, reaching $695 million in 2005.
The increasing presence of nontraditional
sources of agricultural research expenditures sometimes
leads to creative collaborations to advance mutual
goals. For example, a small State investment in
an Iowa State University’s bioinformatics
program (the merging of information science and
biotechnologies) helped secure $3 million in additional
grants from the National Science Foundation and
a major industry leader.
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