Tom Harkin: “today, Senator Talent and I, along with a group of our colleagues, are introducing the National Institute of Food and…”

“today, Senator Talent and I, along with a group of our colleagues, are introducing the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Act of 2006. In the 2002 farm bill, a research, education and economics task force within the Department of Agriculture, USDA, was established to evaluate agricultural research. A key recommendation of this task force was to create a National Institute for Food and Agriculture, NIFA, within USDA in order to support fundamental agricultural research to ensure that American agriculture remains competitive now and in the future. This bill does exactly that. The NIFA would be a grant-making agency that funds food and agricultural research through a competitive, peer-reviewed process. These funds would be in addition to, not as a substitute for, current research programs at USDA's Agricultural Research Service, ARS, and Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, CSREES. American agriculture must ensure that our Nation continues to produce safe and nutritious food for an increasing population. Other challenges in the areas of food and agriculture are problems we are facing right now: renewable energy, rural development, overweight and obesity, and environmental challenges. Investment in fundamental research remains our best hope to finding solutions to problems confronting American farmers and consumers of food and agriculture products now and in the future.…”