Dr. Mark Keenum Commentary on US Agricultural Research
In a May 29, 2018 article in TheHill.com, Dr. Mark Keenum, MSU President and Chairman of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Board of Directors, presented a strong case for increased funding for public agricultural research in the US. Highlights from his article follow.
• Impressive gains in US agricultural production that positioned the US as a global leader have begun to slow and global competition is on the rise.
• Since 2000, American public investment in agricultural research and development has flat-lined so that America’s share of global public research and development is about half of 1960's levels.
• Countries like China, Brazil, and India now spend $2.33 on agricultural research for every dollar the US spends.
• The European Union just announced that it will nearly triple its agricultural research budget so its farmers can better compete in global markets.
• US leadership is especially needed now to provide the research needed to support the development of new products and technologies to combat the ever-present spread of pests and diseases that affect US farmers’ livelihoods.
• Even though the private sector is increasing its research and development activities that build on the developments resulting from publicly funded efforts, it cannot and should not be expected to bear the load alone.
• The new farm bill presents a key opportunity for Congress to provide the resources needed to support the agricultural innovations that are needed for US farmers to meet the challenges that will support their continued contributions to the US economy, national security, and global competitiveness.
In a Nov. 2017 article posted on this website, this issue was addressed using published data from USDA-ERS economists. High points from that article follow.
• Between 1970 and 2008, the public sector conducted about 50% of the food and agricultural research and development (R&D) in the US. By 2013, that share had fallen to under 30% due to declining public spending and increasing private sector spending on agricultural R&D.
• In countries with substantial public sector spending on agricultural R&D between 1990 and 2006, the US led with 20-23% of the global total; by 2013, the US share had fallen to 13%. This resulted from a combination of declining US public spending and increased public spending in developing countries.
• Agricultural output in the US grew by 169% between 1948 and 2013, and this was due to innovations in animal and plant breeding, nutrient use, pest management, and improved farming practices that resulted from agricultural R&D.
• Of the $16.3 billion spent on agricultural R&D in the US in 2013, the Federal Government portion ($2.8 billion) accounted for 17.2%, the States’ land grant universities and agriculture experiment stations portion ($1.0 billion) accounted for 6.1%, and the private sector portion ($12.4 billion) accounted for 76.3%.
• Private sector R&D has tended to focus on commercially useful applications that provide a return on investment. When private agricultural research entities cannot recoup their R&D investments by charging for an innovation, there is little or no incentive to conduct this R&D. Thus, the public sector is left with the task of conducting fundamental agricultural R&D research that cannot be turned into profit in the short-term. This means that the public sector (which does not have to recoup R&D costs) can complement private sector R&D by providing innovations that may not otherwise have been developed because of prohibitive upfront costs; i.e., public agricultural R&D can stimulate/support private R&D.
• Transforming advances in fundamental sciences from public institutions into commercial opportunities for the private sector will require close collaboration between the two.
• Public R&D resources are allocated to socially important issues such as environmental quality, natural resources, economics, and statistics for which there is little financial incentive for private sector R&D. These issues are fundamentally important for the continued advancements in agricultural productivity and the sustainability of US crop production.
US producers and their commodity groups and supporting organizations must continue to be diligent and proactive in ensuring that the agricultural sector of the US economy is at the front of the line when decisions are being made about the dissemination of public R&D dollars. Agricultural production is a major strength of the United States, and only continued and even increasingly stronger support of public research and development in the agricultural sector will ensure that it remains so.
Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, June 2018, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net