Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, has announced the advancement of over $50 million in agriculture research funding for North Dakota as part of the Senate's FY 2024 Agriculture Appropriations bill. These funds will support various research initiatives and programs aimed at improving agricultural practices and addressing challenges in the industry.
Research Funding for North Dakota:
• Over $25 million allocated for agriculture research conducted by the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) across North Dakota.
• $20. 5 million dedicated to ARS funding for research initiatives led by North Dakota State University (NDSU).
• Focus areas of research include autonomous systems and agricultural data security, predictive crop performance, fusion machine learning, controlled environment agriculture, agricultural measurement and monitoring innovation, and the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in precision agriculture.
• $2. 5 million to continue an AgTech Cooperative Agreement between Grand Farm, NDSU, and ARS.
• $3 million for additional renovations at the ARS Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center in Fargo.
Establishment of an Agriculture Policy Research Center:
• Efforts are underway to establish a new agriculture policy research center at NDSU, with $2 million secured in the Senate's FY24 funding legislation.
• The center aims to address farm and agribusiness challenges through in-depth policy and economic analysis.
• It will complement similar centers at the University of Missouri, Texas A&M University, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Support for Farmers and Ranchers:
• Full funding for Farm Service Agency guaranteed and direct loans.
• $2 million for the Wetland Mitigation Banking program to help farmers remain conservation compliant.
• $2 million for the Water Bank program.
• $500,000 allocated for blackbird depredation in the Northern Great Plains through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
• $500,000 increase for APHIS work related to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), with a total funding of $18 million.
• Continued funding for the Cattle Contract Library Pilot Program.
Allocation of Agriculture Research Funding:
• $13.9 million for ARS Sugarbeet Research.
• $3 million for ARS Barley Pest Initiative.
• $5 million for ARS Genetic Oat Research.
• $5.6 million for ARS Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Research.
• $1.5 million for the Healthy Soils Initiative.
• $6 million (an increase of $500,000) for ARS' Pulse Crop Quality Initiative.
• $4 million for the Alfalfa Seed and Alfalfa Forage Systems Research program.
• $2 million for the Farm Business Management Program.
• $1 million for a new ARS Wheat Resiliency research initiative.
• $15 million for the Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative.
• $2.4 million for the National Sclerotinia Initiative.
• $2 million for the National Canola Research program.
• $3.5 million for the Small Grains Genomic Initiative.
• $5 million for the National Predictive Modeling Tool Initiative.
Senator Hoeven promised support for North Dakota farmers, ranchers, and rural communities through the agriculture appropriations bill, progressing in Senate committee and continuing in full Senate.
Photo Credit: US Senate
Categories: North Dakota, Government & Policy