NIFA (and its First Director, Roger Beachy) Introduced at Gala DC Event

On October 8, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) formally launched USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). NIFA was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill to replace the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and is responsible for USDA’s formula and extramural competitive research programs. The event, which included numerous references to the promising research being conducted by plant scientists, featured Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and OSTP Director John Holdren, along with USDA’s Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics Rajiv Shah and the first NIFA Director Roger Beachy.

Secretary Vilsack noted that this will be a “new era of agricultural science” and spoke of the need for USDA to do transformative, outcome-driven research that addresses core challenges such as global food security and hunger; climate change; energy; childhood obesity; and food safety. Holdren, President Obama’s science advisor, built on the Secretary’s remarks stating it is inspiring that USDA now has the resources and freedom to do so much more than it has previously been able to do. While acknowledging that the USDA has not in the past “had a seat at the table” with other leading science and technology agencies, Holdren asserted that “it does now.”

Under Secretary Shah said USDA is committed to world class research and scientific discovery; however, when asked about the Administration’s commitment to funding agricultural research he said investment is needed, but refrained from offering a specific number. Notably, Congress has given final approval to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Agriculture Appropriations conference agreement that would provide NIFA with a healthy increase over FY 2009, including a $61 million increase (30%) for NIFA’s competitive research program—the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative—providing it $262.5 million for FY 2010.

In his first public appearance as the new NIFA Director, Beachy again emphasized USDA’s commitment to transformative research and the Department’s goal of attracting the “stars of science” to work with USDA. Beachy, the former President of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, MO, also referenced the recently released National Research Council report, A New Biology for the 21st Century. This report highlights the research challenges ahead for food, energy, health, and the environment, and Beachy pointed out how those areas align with USDA’s research strengths and priorities.

The October 8 event concluded with a second panel comprised of high-ranking guest speakers from other federal agencies: Kristina Johnson, Under Secretary for Energy at the Department of Energy; Cora Marrett, Acting Deputy Director at the National Science Foundation; Sally Rockey, Acting Director for the Office of Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health; Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; and Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the Department of State. The various representatives spoke only briefly about how each agency can work with USDA (although most already do in some capacity) and congratulated USDA on the launch of NIFA. The representation from across the government at the NIFA launch is an important signal that the Administration intends for USDA to collaborate with other federal agencies at even higher and more extensive levels than it has previously.

Although this event did not announce major new funding initiatives, the public forum and presence of high-ranking officials from throughout the Administration brought renewed attention to USDA’s research mission and the Department’s call to the research community to work with USDA to help broaden its stakeholders and meet the nation’s research challenges.

USDA’s press release following the event is available on line. Additional information about NIFA is available on line also.