The NIFA ReportA Tale of Two
BranchesDaniel Schmoldt
National Program Leader
Outline
National Institute Transition
2008 Farm Bill authorized creation of a new agency, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (the National Institute) All current authorities administered by CSREES
have been transferred to the new agency. The transition was completed October 1, 2009
The National Institute will raise the profile of agricultural science, including research, education and extension. A presidentially-appointed director will lead the National Institute.
National Institute Transition
A coordinating committee, comprised of CSREES staff, was created to help guide the transition
The coordinating committee presented its options for the organization of the National Institute
The final decision on the organization of the National Institute rests with the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Under Secretary and the new Director of the National Institute.
National Institute Switch
Office of the REE Under Secretary
The 2008 Farm Bill authorizes creation of the Research, Education, and Extension Office (REEO) to coordinate the science activities across USDA
PLANT HEALTH AND PRODUCTION AND PLANT PRODUCTS ANIMAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS FOOD SAFETY, NUTRITION, AND HEALTH RENEWABLE ENERGY, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY AGRICULTURE ECONOMICS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES
Under Secretary = USDA Chief Scientist REEO will assist the Under Secretary in
developing a roadmap for agricultural research, education, and extension, and coordinate those functions across the mission area and all USDA research
Personnel
USDA Priorities Global Food Security and Hunger - NIFA supports
new science to boost U.S. agricultural production, improve global capacity to meet the growing food demand, and foster innovation in fighting hunger by addressing food security for vulnerable populations.
Climate Change - NIFA-funded projects generate knowledge to develop an agriculture system that maintains high productivity in the face of climate changes. This will help producers to plan for and make decisions to adapt to changing environments and sustain economic vitality, and can take advantage of emerging economic opportunities offered by climate change mitigation technologies.
USDA Priorities Sustainable Energy - NIFA contributes to the
President's goal of energy independence with a portfolio of grant programs to develop biomass use for biofuels, designing optimum forestry and crops for bioenergy production, and to produce value-added bio-based industrial products.
Childhood Obesity - NIFA-supported programs ensure that nutritious foods are affordable and available, and provide guidance so that individuals and families are able to make informed, science-based decisions about their health and well-being.
USDA Priorities Food Safety - NIFA food safety programs work
to reduce the incidence of food-borne illness and provide a safer food supply by addressing and eliminating causes of microbial contaminants, educating consumer and food safety professionals, and developing food processing technologies to improve safety.
FY 2010 NIFA Budget
Mandatory ProgramsMandatory Programs ($1000) FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010
Risk Management Education $5,000 $5,000 $5,000
Biomass Research and Development 0 20,000 28,000
Biodiesel Fuel Education Program 1,000 1,000 1,000Organic Agriculture Research and Extension
Initiative 3,000 18,000 20,000
Community Food Projects Program 0 10,000 5,000
Specialty Crop Research Initiative 30,000 50,000 50,000
Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center 0 1,000 1,000
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program 0 18,000 19,000
Outreach and Technical Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Ranchers and Farmers 0 15,000 20,000
Total, Mandatory Funding 39,000 138,000 149,000
AFRI Authorizations: Agriculture and
Food Research Initiative = NRI ($500M ) + Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems ($200M)
Integrated = 30% of funds Research = 60% basic + 40%
applied Six science program areas
PLANT HEALTH AND PRODUCTION AND PLANT PRODUCTS
ANIMAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS
FOOD SAFETY, NUTRITION, AND HEALTH RENEWABLE ENERGY, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND
ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY AGRICULTURE ECONOMICS AND RURAL
COMMUNITIES
AFRI – Types of Proposals Single Function
ResearchEducationExtension
Integrated, Multi-Functional Conferences Coordinated Agricultural
Projects
Comments from the Director: Where NIFA is
HeadedBoth high crop yields and safe and sustainable practices are critically important, and both deserve USDA’s continued full support.
What you have told us, almost to a person, is that we won’t accomplish much if we try to do everything. Your advice was to sharpen our focus – don’t be afraid to take on big, bold issues like food safety or global food security, but pick a reasonable number of topics to tackle because we are an agency with limited financial and human resources.
Comments from the Director: Where NIFA is
HeadedWhat you told us was that we weren’t working at scales large enough to make the kind of impact we want–large scale initiatives that draw scientists from a range of disciplines and the totality of public and private research institutions, focused on a few achievable outcomes can be more successful than a hundred pilot projects on a many different projects.
And while contributing to scientific knowledge is critically important…this is not sufficient. The scientific knowledge learned from these efforts must be translated into real solutions for real people.
Comments from the Director: Where NIFA is
HeadedBut instead of focusing on many different problems at once, we should be figuring out how those many problems resolve into a limited and discrete set of issues and tackle the underlying causes that can ultimately contribute solutions to the wider array of problems.
In short, science at, and funded by, USDA needs to be focused, leverage other resources, and concentrate on select priorities at a large scale to produce useful outcomes. Our success in science ultimately will be matched by impact in society.
Comments from the Director: Where NIFA is
HeadedMore of our awards will have
requirements for an education and/or outreach through extension; they will require creating opportunities to recruit more students in the excitement of research in agriculture; we won’t be funding as many small, individual-investigator grants as in the past.
Comments from the Director: Where NIFA is
HeadedThese five areas represent our vision for
USDA science, and identify the expectations we have for what USDA science will accomplish for the American people:1. Global Food Security and Hunger2. Climate Change3. Sustainable Energy4. Childhood Obesity5. Food Safety
January 6th Announcement
AFRI RFAs in February 2010 will commit up to $800 million in funding for new grants, contingent on annual appropriations in following years (Huh? Only $262M)
AFRI will support work in the following 2008 Farm Bill “priority science” areas : plant health and production and plant products; animal health and production and animal products; food safety, nutrition, and health; renewable energy, natural resources, and environment; agriculture systems and technology; and agriculture economics and rural communities. Programs focused on these areas will use a disciplinary-based approach to building a foundation of knowledge critical for solving current and future problems.
January 6th Announcement
AFRI will support interdisciplinary, multi-functional projects in five “societal challenges”: Keep American agriculture competitive while
ending world hunger Improve nutrition and end child obesity Improve food safety for all Americans Secure America’s energy future through renewable
biofuels Mitigate and adapt agriculture to variations in
climate Five separate RFAs, with multi-institutional,
integrated grants up to $25M over 5 years with possible renewal grants for some programs
January 6th Announcement
$5M for NIFA Fellows program $800M - $262M = $538M (÷4)
$133M in large grants for 2010 (half of AFRI)
Timing for grant preparation (minimum): 9 weeks for programs with letters of intent; 90 days for large, complex projects; 4 weeks for others
Specialty Crops – Legislative Definition
Specialty crops are defined in law as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.
SCRI Legislation
SCRI Legislation
SCRI Program Summary
SCRI 2008-2009 Results
2008 2009Applications
paneled231 209
Total funds requested
$266M $317M
Panels 3 5
Awards 27 (9) 35 (11)
Success rate 9% (31%) 13% (40%)
Range $350K – $6M $423K – $5.2M
SCRI 2008-2009 Results
Total Funds Awarded
PB&G PM PP&PE Tech Food Safety
$28,365,000 $3,786,571 $4,836,260 $10,438,688 $6,128,772 $3,174,709$46,653,354 $8,470,733 $11,976,052 $14,019,209 $7,225,477 $4,961,881
Things to Remember Big funding changes ahead for NIFA Some large projects will be initiated with
out-year funding commitments (Centers, Consortia??)
Both Farm Bill (disciplinary science) and Administration (societal challenge) priorities are accommodated
Summing discretionary, mandatory, and future commitments = $2B in 2010
Stay tuned, and hold on, it’s going to be a wild ride