$300B Farm Bill Includes Boost in Funding for Biofuel and Agricultural Research

Last week, Congress approved the $300 billion "farm bill" with large bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate (318-to-106 and 81-to-15, respectively). The wide margins belie that fact that the bill remains somewhat controversial outside of Congress for its lack of reform of farm and crop subsidies. President Bush vetoed the bill today, citing concerns about its continued support of large subsidies for agricultural producers despite record profits for the farming industry. With veto-proof majorities in both houses, however, the bill is likely to survive.
 
Despite being dubbed the farm bill, farm programs only account for 12 percent of spending in the bill. Many TBED-related programs are expected to receive funding increases if the bill becomes law.
 
Under the new legislation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service would be replaced with a National Institute for Food and Agriculture. This institute would assume oversight over the department's research, extension and education programs and help to promote USDA's science programs. The House Committee on Agriculture has said that this new body would finally give the department a grant-making agency with the same kind of visibility as the National Institutes of Health.
 
Six new program offices within the institute would design USDA programs, establish research priorities and coordinate and track developments in agricultural research. These specialized offices would include:

• Renewable Energy, Natural Resources & Environment
• Food Safety, Nutrition and Health
• Plant Health and Production & Plant Products
• Animal Health and Production & Animal Products
• Agriculture Systems and Technology
• Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities

The USDA's National Research Initiative would be rechristened as the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), which would award grants to address critical issues in U.S. agriculture. Its grants would be used to provide competitive grants to colleges and universities, agriculture experiment stations and other organizations conducting research in high-priority fields. The farm bill would authorize funding for the initiative at $700 million per year, with 60 percent of appropriated funds dedicated to basic research and the remaining 40 percent for applied research programs. AFRI also would be charged with stimulating entrepreneurship, supporting business development, expanding access to capital, and building rural entrepreneurial networks.
 
The farm bill would also invest an additional $1 billion in renewable energy research, development and production, according to a press release from the House Committee. That amount includes $320 million in loan guarantees for biorefineries producing advanced biofuels and $250 million for a new program to assist businesses and agricultural producers transition to renewable energy systems. The Bioenergy Program would receive $300 million to provide incentives for expanding the production of biofuel crops, and a new Biomass Crop Assistance Program would encourage the production of feedstocks and support systems for renewable energy production. Tax credits for corn ethanol production would be reduced and redirected toward incentives for cellulosic ethanol.
 
Other parts of the bill would fund infrastructure improvements in rural communities, support rural entrepreneurship programs and extend broadband access in underserved regions. More information about H.R. 2419 is available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02419: