NIFA: future of agricultural research
Oct 29, 2009 10:37 AM, By David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial Staff
Shaping the farm bill
Going into the 2008 farm bill debate, the land-grant university community had proposed major changes in the management of research and education through USDA. Most of those changes made it into Title Seven, the “research title” which covers the gamut of federally-supported agricultural research, education and Extension. The biggest, says Coston, was the formation of NIFA.
“It’s very important to elevate science and education in agriculture to a status level equivalent to National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. We wanted the nation to view agriculture-related work in the same vein.”
Along with that, “we proposed that NIFA be administered by an ‘eminent scientist’ — someone with impeccable credentials. The NIFA director — who is a presidential appointment — has been named: Roger Beachy, who’s been the head of the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.”
In promoting the idea of NIFA, “there was a good, strong push from the country’s land-grant community. Ultimately, I don’t think it was a massive struggle. We did have to spend a lot of time speaking to everyone about why this was the way to go. But after a while, everyone seemed to buy in — including legislators from densely populated areas.
“When we spoke, we’d say ‘agriculture is related to health. What people eat is important. If we’re producing high-quality, highly nutritious food, it’s good for the country.’ I think we did a good job of tying together varied rural and urban interests.”
