Fiscal Year 2016 Outside Witness Testimony prepared for U. S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies March 23, 2015

James D.  Anderson, Ph.D., President, Friends of Agricultural Research – Beltsville, Inc. (farbbusiness@yahoo.com)

Fiscal Year 2016 Outside Witness Testimony prepared for U. S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

March 23, 2015

Mister Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to present our statement supporting funding for the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and especially for its flagship research facility, The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland.  Overall, the facility includes the research operations of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center. We strongly recommend full fiscal-year 2016 funding support for the research programs of The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

Beltsville research has consistently led the way to agricultural progress for well over a century. Whether measured as crop yield per acre, milk and meat yield per animal, or average output per farm worker, the productivity of U.S. agriculture is among the highest in the world. Economic analyses have found consistent evidence that dollars invested in agricultural research return high yields per dollar spent. Net social returns from agricultural research in the United States are estimated to be in the order of 35 percent or more annually. Those returns include benefits not only to the farm sector but also to the food industry and consumers in the form of abundant commodities and food at affordable prices.  Still at the threshold of its second century, The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center stands unequalled in scientific capability, breadth of agricultural research portfolio, and concentration of scientific expertise.  Its location and close proximity to other Federal research agencies, the University of Maryland and other major research and educational institutions provide a rich opportunity for joint research activities and the leveraging of resources.

We turn now to selected items within the President’s FY2016 budget request. We are especially pleased that the President’s budget includes $37.1 million to renovate and modernize of Building 307, a recommendation that we also included in our testimony for the Fiscal Year 2015 budget.

The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center has moved successfully in recent years to consolidate space and reduce costs.  Further progress will be vastly aided by the renovation of Building 307.That valuable building was vacated some years ago because of deterioration. The proposed funding will support the design and construction of laboratory space and offices needed to consolidate research now housed in small, aging, energy-inefficient buildings on the research campus. Approval of funding for this purpose is highly recommended.

We also are very pleased the President’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget includes increases in critically important research initiatives, which would lead to creating new jobs, enhancing American agriculture competitiveness in the global economy, assuring future food security, protecting crops and animals from diseases and reducing their vulnerability to climate change, while improving the economic and environmental sustainability of American agriculture.   The scientists of the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center are recognized world leaders in the scientific disciplines that are necessary to successfully execute the President’s proposed research initiatives.  Specifically, we would like to highlight the following initiatives which would enhance the Center’s research programs. 

Translational Livestock Genetics:

The proposed budget provides $854,450 of new funding to intensify animal production using modern high throughput trait analyses and advanced genomic tools. The goal is to improve genetic selection of cattle and other ruminants through integrating traditional selection methods with modern DNA marker-based tools. New lines of animals would have greater growth, enhanced adaptation to extreme environments, better survival, and greater fertility.  Other expected benefits are improved efficiency of nutrient-use in dairy cattle to lower feed costs and nutrient losses associated with milk production.    

Antimicrobial Resistance:

The budget provides $1,800,000 of new funding to protect public health by improving our understanding how antimicrobial resistance occurs in animals and the environment. Among expected benefits could be novel approaches to boosting animal natural immune systems for resistance to parasitic infections, gut stabilization against pathogens, or novel strategies using antimicrobial growth promoters to limit the consequences of host reactivity to pathogens, and to improve health. 

Improving Agricultural Sustainability:

A total of $900,000 in new funding is provided for the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center to pursue research on benchmark watersheds, experimental pasture lands and research farms to strengthen the long-term Agro-ecosystems Research Network and to establish long-term experiments in agricultural sustainability. Using remote sensing, land surface modeling and ground-based observations, this research aims among other things to monitor the magnitude of agricultural drought and its impact on crop condition and yield as well as characterize the multiple-scale impacts of conservation practices on water quality. 

Combating  Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria:

The budget provides $900,000 of new funding to The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center to investigate protecting public health by preventing antibiotic resistance. This research aims at developing genetic biotechnologies that include novel antimicrobials for improved animal health and product safety, also for using functional genomics to control disease in animals, particularly in poultry.  

Pollinator Health and Colony Collapse Disorder:

A total of $900,000 in new funding is requested to develop, in cooperation with

industry, best management practices for beekeepers. This research uses integrated laboratory and field approaches that among other things may lead to better diagnosis and mitigating disease, counteracting negative impact of environmental chemicals, and improved bee health through better nutrition.

Vertical Farming:

The budget has $264,546 of new funding to provide new methods and technologies for insect and disease control related to greenhouse production.     

Big Data:

The budget also requests $180,000 in new funding for the Center to create a new research project that will facilitate the creation of scientific networks with shared research strategies and build a linked data collection through the Long-term Agro-ecosystems Research Network. Big Data is an emerging scientific field fueled by advances in data collection, transfer, curation, sharing, storage, and visualization. Big Data makes it possible to analyze data sets that are too large for analysis with traditional data processing applications.  The benefits can be numerous. In the environmental sciences, this technology allows scientists to discover new correlations and trends that may make it possible, for example, to prevent water contamination or other undesirable environmental changes.   

In summation, Mr. Chairman, we re-confirm that The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center has forged a well-earned, distinguished reputation for successfully translating basic research into agricultural and human nutrition solutions and advances that benefit all of society. Beltsville has become an indispensable national leader in the long agricultural research continuum that allows us to become ever-better stewards of land and water resources, to introduce new products based on agricultural commodities, and to make food and agricultural products more affordable, safer, and more readily abundant for all Americans. Again, we recommend full funding for research programs of The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes our statement. Thank you for consideration and support for the educational, research, and outreach missions of The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

Sincerely,

James D. Anderson, Ph.D.

President, Friends of Agricultural Research-Beltsville

Call for Support for full funding in 2013 for the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC)

We have never more needed the research capabilities of ARS than now, just as we now are faced with reductions in program budgets - some wrapped in the guise of a novel idea that research for the common good can all be privatized. We need more funding for food, fuel, feed, fiber, forage, forest, and flowers - not less. There are more people in the world to feed - not less. there is howsoever less arable land - farm land is not an infinite resource. There have been no new basic food crops domesticated in the last ten thousand years, but there are quickly changing cultivation conditions that are impacting the ones we have.

The letter below is written on behalf of USDA BARC. I ask for your support for the programs of the US National Agricultural Library, Please write your state representatives and senators in Congress and mention that you want ARS and NAL fully funded - no more short cuts on long term food production and safety  research, Almost a dozen facilities have been closed, and perhaps as many as ten more on the way to closing. Perhaps we could close a military base somewhere ion the world and fund all of USDA ARS and maybe its regulatory sister agency APHIS to boot.

I continue to work with other volunteers as an advocate for the people and programs of USDA-ARS BARC and for the National Agricultural Library, Below is an open letter to Congress prepared by the Friends of Agricultural Research - Beltsville (FARB) who lend constant support and guidance to my work with the National Agricultural Research Alliance _ Beltsville NARA-B.

James D.  Anderson, Ph.D., President, Friends of Agricultural Research – Beltsville, Inc.

Fiscal Year 2013 testimony prepared for U. S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development,

Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

March 13, 2012

Mister Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to present our statement supporting funding for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and especially for its flagship research facility, the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), in Beltsville Maryland. We strongly recommend full fiscal-year 2013 funding support for research programs at Beltsville.

We begin our recommendations, Mr. Chairman, by drawing attention to Agriculture Secretary’s Tom Vilsack’s February 13, 2013, remarks on the proposed FY 2013 budget: "USDA has supported farmers, ranchers and growers so that last year they enjoyed record farm income. …To help sustain record farm income, we will invest in research and development to improve agricultural productivity. [And continue] support for in-house research and the land grant universities. We'll continue our efforts to combat destructive pests and disease that threaten crops and livestock.

Following a Department-wide review of operations, we created a Blueprint for Stronger Service to make USDA work better and more efficiently for the American people. We found savings in areas like technology, travel, supplies and facilities. We've been able to avoid the interruptions in service that come with furloughs and employee layoffs. “

The Blue Print for a Stronger Service holds out substantive agency-wide impacts for the Agricultural Research Service as a whole as well as for Beltsville in particular.  The agency is streamlining its business operations, consolidating activities such as human resources and procurement into three “business service centers.”  In FY11, ARS cut its travel costs by approximately 28 percent from the past year, and the ARS printing fund has been cut by more than half.  While continuing to serve the research needs of American agriculture and the nation, ARS is committed to “doing more with less.”

We strongly endorse the remarks of Secretary Vilsack and the purposes and goals of the Blue Print for a Stronger Service.  Overall, ARS will close 12 of its research programs at 10 locations in 2012, none of them at Beltsville--a recognition of the outstanding research conducted at Beltsville.  

Beltsville -- the nation’s premier agricultural research center -- has spearheaded technical advances in American agriculture for over 100 years. Beltsville celebrated 100 years of research leadership and technical advances in 2010.  The long list of landmark research achievements over that time is truly remarkable. Still at the threshold of its second century, Beltsville stands unequalled in scientific capability, breadth of agricultural research portfolio, and concentration of scientific expertise. Under the leadership of Director Dr. Joseph Spence and with its powerful scientific capability, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center is distinctively, indispensably prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.

Toward that end, the scientists of Beltsville have developed a new, bold vision for the future. Titled Innovation and Integration: Agricultural Research for a Growing World, this visionary document stems from the realization that broader, multidisciplinary approaches will be needed to address new, perhaps unforeseeable agricultural challenges of the future. New approaches will be needed to reach beyond the confines of traditional research approaches tied to narrow issues or specific commodities. Traditionally, for instance, plant scientists may have worked in some combination with animal scientists or with human nutritionists. Only rarely, however, have scientists combined efforts across many disciplines to solve problems.  Given its broad research portfolio and its many disciplines, Beltsville is perfectly situated for broad, multidisciplinary approaches to flourish. Thus, in every way, Beltsville remains and will continue to be a national Center of Excellence for the highest agricultural research priorities.

We are aware of the financial constraints facing our country. We are aware, too, of urgent demands for funding among compelling national priorities. Securing ample, safe, and nutritious food -- food security -- has always been the most compelling of human priorities. That is true today, and it will be no less so in the years ahead. Commentators such as Robert Samuelson speculate that as much as oil, scarce food could shape global politics for decades to come. In summation, Mr. Chairman, we strongly support adequate funding for Beltsville. We would respectively suggest that adequate funding for the Agriculture Department’s flagship research center is central to maintaining national and world food security.

Priorities in the President’s FY-2013 Budget Request—

Now, Mr. Chairman, we turn to key research areas highlighted in the President’s proposed budget. We strongly recommend this proposed funding. Our recommendation is consistent with the remarks of Secretary Vilsack.

We were pleased to see that the FY2013 budget includes increases for environmental stewardship; crop breeding and protection; animal breeding and protection; food safety; and human nutrition.  Obviously, these are areas of great concern to all Americans, and they are certainly among the highest priorities for agricultural research today.  All of these research areas are strengths of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and they will benefit well from the unique facilities and scientific expertise at the Center.  We encourage you to seriously consider funding the proposed budget and to ensure that Beltsville receives the funding that it needs to address these critical research needs.

Although funds are not requested for major facilities projects in the FY2013 budget, we would like to bring to your attention the urgent need for renovation of Building 307 on the Beltsville campus.  The Center has aggressively moved to consolidate space and reduce costs and has been very successful at doing so.  However, these plans require the renovation of a building -- Building 307 -- that was vacated some years ago in anticipation of a complete renovation.  In the past, Congress approved partial funding for this renovation, and those monies were retained pending appropriation of the full amount required for the renovation.  Unfortunately, those funds now have been lost to ARS.  Consequently, renovation of this vacant, highly useful building is on indefinite hold.  While we realize that funding is extremely tight, we confirm that Beltsville urgently needs a renovated Building 307 for adequate, high quality lab space.  Moreover, a renovated Building 307 would not only yield substantial energy savings, but also would allow Beltsville to move forward with other long-delayed relocation and consolidation plans.

In summation, we would highlight these spheres of excellence:

Animal Breeding and Protection: Beltsville conducts extensive research on animal production and animal health. The research center is the foundation of genetic improvement in dairy cow production. Beltsville is examining ways to prevent resistance to drugs for animal parasite prevention and control.

Crop Breeding and Protection: Beltsville scientists have an extensive record of ongoing research relating to protecting crops from pests and emerging pathogens. Beltsville has distinctive expertise for identifying pathogens, nematodes, and insects that destroy crops or make crops ineligible for export. Beltsville houses the Germplasm Resource Information Network, the U.S. coordinating body to identify and catalog plant germplasm.

Child and Human Nutrition: The Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC) is the nation’s largest, most comprehensive federal human nutrition research center; unique activities include the What We Eat in America survey, which is the government’s nutrition monitoring program, and the National Nutrient Databank, which is the gold standard reference of food nutrient content that is used throughout the world. These two activities are the basis for food labels, nutrition education programs, food assistance programs including SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, school feeding programs, and government nutrition education programs.

Global Climate Change: Beltsville became actively engaged in climate change research long before climate change became a topic of intense media interest. Beltsville scientists are at the forefront of climate change research -- understanding how climate change affects crop production and the effects of climate change on growth and spread of invasive and detrimental plants (such as weeds.) A central aim is finding ways to mitigate negative effects of climate change on crops. Beltsville houses unequalled facilities for replicating past climates or climates that may exist in the future.

Plant, Animal, and Microbial Collections: Beltsville houses matchless national biological collections that are indispensable to the well-being of American agriculture. In addition to the actual collections, Beltsville scientists are internationally recognized for their expertise and ability to quickly and properly identify insect pests, fungal pathogens, bacterial threats, and nematodes. This expertise is crucial to preventing loss of crops and animals, ensuring that invasive threats to American agriculture are identified before they can enter the country, thus helping to protect homeland security, and ensuring that American exports are free of pests and pathogens that could prohibit exports. Also, Beltsville houses the National Animal Parasite collection and has the expertise to identify parasites that are of importance to agricultural animals.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes our statement. Thank you for consideration and support for the educational, research, and outreach missions of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

Sincerely,

James D. Anderson,

President, Friends of Agricultural Research-Beltsville

USDA BARC: Public Testimony to Congress on behalf of the people and programs of the National Agricultural Research Center

Friends of Agricultural Research – Beltsville, Inc. (FAR-B)
P. O. Box 1061
Beltsville, MD 20704-1061
http://www.far-b.org/
Dedicated to Promoting the Research and Education Mission of the Henry A. Wallace
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland

Written Public Testimony for Fiscal Year 2011
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development,
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations United States House of Representatives

Submitted by Vernon G. Pursel, President, Friends of Agricultural Research–Beltsville
March 18, 2010

Madam Chair, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to present our statement regarding funding for the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and especially for the Agency’s flagship research facility, the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), in Maryland. Our organization--Friends of Agricultural Research - Beltsville―promotes the Center’s current and long-term agricultural research, outreach, and educational missions. In this request, we support $13 million of increases proposed in the President’s budget for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Also, we ask restoration of $111,000 of decreases proposed for the U.S. National Arboretum, Washington, DC, and $2,918,000 of decreases proposed for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. These actions, if approved, would restore the increases for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center to $13 million.
Before turning to explanatory specifics, please allow us to note for the record that during this calendar year the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center will mark a great historical milestone, a milestone to celebrate the many great and small accomplishments that BARC research has contributed to the nation’s agricultural bounty and to the overall march of scientific progress. A century has passed since 1910, the year research at Beltsville began with the assembly of a dairy cattle herd for research purposes. The ensuing BARC story is by all rights a great national story—a story of world-class accomplishment. BARC Director Joseph Spence and his staff are planning worthy events to commemorate the centennial year.
The Friends of Agricultural Research - Beltsville (FAR-B) is honored to be both a participant in the centennial planning process and a contributor to coming events. We would be pleased, Madam Chair, to answer any questions, to collect any information or documents the Subcommittee might wish regarding the centennial.
We now turn to the specifics of our testimony for FY-2011. Most Fiscal Year 2011 increases in the President's budget for BARC appeared (sometimes under slightly different headings) in our testimony for Fiscal Years 2009 or 2010. We strongly support all the proposed increases.
Animal Breeding and Protection, $1,500,000. The promise of understanding the genome of plants and animals is being fully exploited at Beltsville. In groundbreaking research conducted here, scientists have been able to quickly and accurately identify dairy bulls that will produce daughters that are the most efficient milk producers. Now a simple test at birth can predict at twice the former accuracy and at a cost of about $250 the potential of a bull to sire high producing cows. Traditionally, bull prediction methods have required farmers to maintain and study cows for several years, at a cost up to $50,000 per bull. The potential for developing and expanding this breakout technology is huge and at great savings to farmer and consumer alike.
Colony Collapse of Honey Bees, $500,000. The loss of honey bees has and will continue to have a major effect on American agriculture. Crops such as almonds are entirely dependent on the honey bee for pollination. Research conducted at Beltsville is regarded as the most significant and effective at addressing the issue of colony collapse disorder and the funds will make use of the recently reported DNA sequence of nosema, a pathogen that is associated with colony collapse disorder. BARC scientists determined the DNA sequence for nosema.
Crop Breeding and Protection, $1,250,00. A number of crops of great agronomic importance to the United States are at risk from emerging diseases that can devastate crop yield. Research to identify germplasm that is resistant to these emerging diseases is being conducted at BARC. The research combines BARC’s unique germplasm resources with outstanding breeding research ability to develop improved crop varieties with resistance to emerging diseases.
Food Safety, $1,500,000. The Beltsville Area has established the largest single food safety unit in ARS. This research unit will focus on a number of issues, including safety of fruits and vegetables and food safety issues related to organic agriculture. The ability exists at BARC to raise crops and animals under farm conditions, and then to process, store, and package the resulting products. The ability to propose and test interventions that greatly reduce pathogen exposure in foods, and ultimately in people, is a unique feature of the food safety research program at BARC.
Global Climate Change, $800,000. BARC has unique growth chambers that can measure and observe plant growth at every stage or part from root to stem, and under every conceivable atmospheric condition. BARC is using these chambers to measure the effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 and changes in environmental temperatures. Studies are underway not only on agronomically important crops, but also on invasive weeds. BARC research shows that environmental changes may enhance the rapid growth of invasive plants, thus threatening to exacerbate already costly problems for American agriculture.
Human Nutrition, $5,400,000. Obesity negatively impacts the health and productivity of the American public. Moreover, obesity comes with greatly increased risk of chronic diseases that dramatically add to the economic costs of health care. The Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC) is researching barriers and facilitators that may discourage or encourage Americans from following recommended Dietary Guidelines; that is, why adults and children from major U.S. racial/ethnic groups may or may not follow dietary guidelines. A major research emphasis is to prevent obesity through a better understanding of why people make the food choices they do. This research also will help USDA design and implement more effective food assistance programs. Furthermore, this research will help to define the progress of efforts to prevent obesity in children because it takes advantage of the unique national food consumption survey “What We Eat in America”, conducted by BHNRC and is the nation’s nutrition monitoring effort.
Local Food Systems, $500,000. BARC scientists are working with farmers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to learn how to improve on-farm conservation practices that will improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. The research goals—targeting the entire range of Eastern Shore farming practices—include reducing fertilizer and pesticide usage. A central goal is to create agronomic and animal waste management practices that will reduce fertilizer usage and control pollution runoff. Biocontrol studies are searching out ways to minimize the need for pesticides. Scientists also are using advanced remote sensing and hydrological technologies to protect the health of the Chesapeake watershed. Because BARC is a working farm and has established collaborations with producers on the Eastern Shore, BARC is an ideal place to study the utilization of farm-generated waste products. Farm-generated waste products can be environmentally harmful, have little or no value to the farmer, and be costly to dispose of. Work at Beltsville has led to the effective development of technologies and products that take waste by-products and convert them to valuable new products. Examples include biofuels and plastics made without petroleum.
Plant, Animal, and Microbial Collections, $1,250,000. BARC maintains and expands the Federal government’s unique collections of biological materials and organisms that are of utmost importance in identifying pests and parasites in the United States and are critical for preventing unwanted pests from entering the United States through imports or by international travelers, as well as demonstrating that our exports are safe. These unique, irreplaceable collections include the invaluable reference collections of insects, nematodes, parasites, and fungi, and the national Germplasm Resource Information Network. These world-class collections and information systems attract leading experts from around the world in efforts to globally control diseases and pests. The continued availability of research in this general area of systematics is essential for trade, for homeland security, and for the protection of American agriculture.
Reduce World Hunger, $300,000. This research will collect phenotypic data and use genome sequence derived markers to characterize germplasm for traits of importance in food animals. Of most significance, this work will utilize BARC’s Animal Improvements Laboratory, which is a truly unique research operation that builds on 100 years of expertise at BARC.
Now we turn to proposed decreases, all listed as earmarks in the President’s budget. We recommend restoration of these funds.
Medicinal and Bioactive Crops, $111,000. This funding is critical to continue research on the beneficial boioactive components in plants and herbs. These components have been shown at BARC to enhance human health.
Biomedical Materials in Plants, $1,700,000. Plants can be used as factories to manufacture vaccines and other pharmaceuticals for animals and humans. This research focuses on development of alternative crops to produce these biomedical products.
Bioremediation Research, $111,000. Munitions storage sites and bombing ranges in parts of the U.S. have left huge tracts of soils and lands contaminated by highly toxic residues from such explosives as TNT. Those soils and lands now are limited environmentally for commercial or agricultural purposes. These funds support ongoing research to determine if forage plants can remove TNT and its metabolites from contaminated sites. Beltsville is a world recognized leader in the field of bioremediation. This work is not done anywhere else in ARS.
Foundry Sand By-Products Utilization, $638,000. Waste sands from the metal casting industry currently are dumped in landfills. This project is working with industry on guidelines for beneficial uses of these sands.
Potato Diseases, $61,000. These funds are used for research activities on genetic improvement of potato and reducing diseases of potato. While a small amount of money, these funds are used to supplement ongoing efforts in this important area.
Poultry Diseases, $408,000. Coccidiosis, a parasitic poultry disease, costs the industry almost $1 billion per year. This research focuses on understanding the genetics of both the parasite and the host chicken to identify targets that will allow better disease prevention and control.
Madam Chair, that concludes our statement. We again thank you for the opportunity to present our testimony and for your interest and support.

Sincerely,


Vernon G. Pursel, Ph.D.
President

American Food Security - Dr. Roger Lawson

Posted by permission of the author, Dr. Roger Lawson

"At the recent G8 summit world leaders again recognized the plight of farmers in the developing world and their inability to produce enough food to satisfy the needs of the more than one billion people who face starvation. Leaders of these rich countries pledged an additional $ 5 billion in aid over the next three years to supply the seeds, fertilizers, tools and other aid to small farmers in developing countries. The U.S is expected to commit an additional $ 3 billion.

What is missing from this food security equation is the answer to the future productivity of U.S agriculture in the rapidly changing global environment. Increased global warming with changing weather patterns are resulting in more severe droughts and floods and increased concentrations of carbon dioxide associated with burning fossil fuels. These changes are already having a profound effect on crop production and food security here at home.

The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland has been solving agricultural production problems for nearly 100 years. Once regarded as the flagship of ARS, the scientific staff today numbers 253 compared to more than 400 in the 1960’s. Maintaining a stable and productive U.S. food supply will require a new emphasis on research. Seeds and fertilizer, as will be supplied to the developing countries, will not solve the problems of providing a plentiful and nutritious food supply to U.S consumers.

Beltsville has developed a Center of Excellence on Climate Change where a diverse range of research that includes effects of climate change on crop yield and the development of new more climate-tolerant crops; development of more sustainable practices with reduced use of polluting nitrogen and other synthetic fertilizers; discovering the effects of climate change on reduced levels of vitamin E and other essential components in food and developing new technologies using satellite imaging to predict crop yields in a changing environment.

The challenge of food security must be addressed by Congress without further delay. If the U.S is to prepare for the current climate changes and the predicted increase in population of 130 million by 2042 that will require 30-40% more food, we must act now.
I urge all Marylanders to contact their State and U.S Senators and Representatives and Delegates and urge increased funding for the Center of Excellence."

Roger Lawson Ph 410 531-0075
10613 Steamboat Landing rlawson66@comcast.net
Columbia, MD 21044

The Crisis in the Science of Systematics

To deal with invasive species you first have to know what you have, what is crawling up your leg, or garden flower, or bedroom wall. This knowledge is found in the study and discipline of systematics. As with my last posting on food research, Food Security in the United States: Understanding and Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change in Agriculture , this area of public infrastructure is lacking in funding mostly because it is not sexy science and because we the public have not a clue as to why we should pay to support the rivet under the bridge, The Continuing Loss of Scientific Infrastructure - Decline of Systematics .

If we are to find away to cope with, and live with invasive species, let alone, reverse the economic and environmental harm, we need to know about the species in question; we need to be able to identify that which we would regulate,legislate, mitigate or eliminate.

Please write to your Congressional delegation and ask them to support funding as described at the end of this post, and while you are writing, do forget to ask for support of the climate research which impacts invasive species issues.

Climate change and systematics research need your help.

Write to me: ipetrus@msn.com and ask how you can help.

A Systematics Program at the Agricultural Research Service

I. The Crisis in the Science of Systematics

Systematics:
· Is the science that identifies and groups organisms by understanding their origins, relationships, and distributions.
· Is fundamental to understand life on Earth, crops, wildlife, and diseases.
· It provides the scientific foundation to recognize and manage invasive species.

Why is Systematics important?
- Identification of the world’s biological diversity is imperative for its conservation and sustainable use.
- Protecting America’s economy, environment, health, and security against invasive species requires a strong federal program in systematic biology to detect, identify, and predict the behavior and consequences of invasive species.

Examples of work on Systematics:

1. Who discovered the pathogen that is killing oaks (Sudden Oak Death), other trees and nursery plants in CA, OR and U.S.? Systematics!

2. Who discovered the disease that killed most elm trees in the U.S. cities? Systematics!

3. Who resolved the Anthrax scare of the substance mailed to Congress in 2001? Systematics!

4. Who discovered the type of avian influenza that can affect humans and cause a pandemic? Systematics!

5. Who saved the $6 billion a year wheat export in the U.S.? Systematics!

Systematics is a vital cornerstone for our work in biodiversity and invasive species. Lack of a strong systematics program is having major negative impacts in our Nation’s economy, environment, health, and security.

What is the problem?: The CRISIS in Systematics:
We lack systematists….people retire and are not replaced.
We lack training at universities and post graduate levels.
We lack permanent, life-long job opportunities in systematics.
Biological collections are incomplete and/or in poor condition.
Collections languish in substandard facilities, lacking adequate
buildings, staffing, and technology (buildings with climate control,
fire prevention, information technology hardware/software,
research labs, plans for continuation of operations in case of a natural or terrorist catastrophic event.
We lack a comprehensive national/global exchange of bioinformatics.

The Federal Interagency Committee on Invasive Terrestrial Animals and Pathogens (ITAP) Systematics Subcommittee (SSC) has just produced a situation report on systematics and invasive species. The report’s purpose is to increase awareness of the crisis in systematics and to advocate the need for a permanent, viable, and coordinated Federal Systematics Program. Copies of the report are available at http://www.itap.gov/nal_web/itap/docs/itap_report_mar23.pdf with hard copies available from the Systematics Subcommittee Executive Secretary Hilda Diaz-Soltero (hdiazsoltero@fs.fed.us).

INVASIVE SPECIES are A GROWING THREAT in:
Biosecurity
Human and animal health
Agricultural security and trade
Environmental security
Economic health

The cost of negative impact of invasive species has been estimated at $138 billion each year. The lack of a proper systematics program is one of the fundamental reasons why we are not successful in efforts to prevent, detect and control invasive species.

Where is the systematics crisis?: In the
federal government;
at universities, zoos and botanical gardens;
in other countries.

When is the crisis?: NOW.
- This is a long standing crisis that has been identified for decades
- No solution has been fully and successfully implemented
- The problem gets worse every year!

How to solve the problem? “Strengthen national and global systematics to predict, prevent, and manage invasive species to ensure biosecurity; public health; economic, environmental, and agricultural security; and sustainability.”

This Vision will be achieved when we have:
Systematics expertise in all groups of organisms.
An effective communication network linking Federal, academic, national and international taxonomic resources.
An integrated, web-based information system that links organismal biology, geography, and taxonomy with interactive keys and collections data.
Adequate human and physical resources for federal systematics collections.
A reinvigorated capacity and commitment by universities to prepare systematics professionals.
A culture that values and sustains its systematics resources.


II. Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Systematics Program Needs

A first step to address the Systematics crisis is to fund the ARS Systematics effort in the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) immediately.

A Survey federal systematics capacity and needs has been done.
Current funds at BARC for Systematics are $10.5 million in FY 09.
We need to enhance the following components of ARS Systematics Program

o Enhance research;
o Expand and improve specimen-based collections;
o Expand biodiversity informatics; and
o Educate future systematists.

The ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) houses 80% of ARS systematics programs. At present, 60 % of the ARS systematics scientists are eligible to retire.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has the potential to enhance its nascent, small systematics research effort to prepare the nation to better cope with avoiding the impacts of invasive species, in particular, to help prevent the entry of new invasives into the United States (US). Below are proposed areas of work that need to be conducted to accomplish that goal.

A. Research

1. Research problem #1: Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases
Description: Fungi cause devastating diseases on crop plants and forest trees such as the blight that killed all chestnut trees in North America and recently soybean rust. With global climate change the number of plant diseases is increasing causing an estimated $21 billion damage each year. Many plant-disease fungi were unknown prior to invading the US. Our primary defense against this devastation is the knowledge provided by systematics, yet the study of rust and anthracnose fungi has declined to almost nothing. Research is needed to characterize and rapidly identify fungi that attack crops and forests.
Annual Budget needed: $10 million.
Jobs created: Thirty (30) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff.
Savings to the federal budget: $400 million each year

2. Research problem #2: Systematics of scale insects and weevils
Description: Scale insects and weevils attack crop plants causing tremendous damage inside the US, while an equal number of exotic insects threaten agricultural commodities. A preliminary Internet site (Scale Net) exists with information about scale insects throughout the world but the work has not been finished. Weevils are in a similar situation: some species are known while other important species need considerable additional research. Despite their importance, the BARC systematics programs on scale insects and weevils have been abolished due to lack of funds.
Annual Budget needed: $ 12 million, including $2 million for Scale Net
Jobs created: Forty (40) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $ 600 million each year

3. Research problem #3: Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity
Description: Nematodes or round worms can reduce crop productivity by 50%, yet little is known about them. Last year a number of new invasive nematodes were discovered in the US and they have caused considerable crop damage. These nematodes have also created problems in the export of agricultural and forest products. Nematodes are useful in the biological control of insects. Only two research scientists in ARS study the systematics of plant-associated nematodes, yet hundreds of thousands of species exist.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10 million
Jobs created: Thirty (30) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $400 million per year

4. Research problem #4: Systematics of animal parasites
Description: With climate change, the number of animal parasites moving between hosts has shifted. As a result animal parasites not known in humans are becoming more common. The systematics program studying large animal parasites has almost been eliminated due to budget cuts. Human threats due to animal parasites can only be averted if parasites on non-host animals are known and characterized prior to their discovery in humans.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10 million
Jobs created: Twenty (20) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $200 million per year

5. Research problem #5: Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi
Description: Climate change will bring warmer temperatures and additional climatic extremes, particularly more extreme precipitation. These changes affect the fungi that produce deadly mycotoxins that enter the food stream, either directly or indirectly, and threaten human health. Knowledge of the systematics of these fungi is needed, including rapid means of detection through DNA barcodes and the ability to trace their movement from field to farm and to the consumer.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10 million.
Jobs created: Thirty (30) permanent positions for scientists and technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $250 million per year

The implementation of the complete research program described above has the potential to save the federal government $1.85 billion per year in the following:
(1) preventing entry of invasive species that can damage agriculture, the environment, animal and/or human health.
(2) identifying invasive species captured in early detection efforts and allowing for rapid response to eradicate or control them.
(3) identifying species that will become invasive if they enter the US, and allowing for sentinel programs to focus avoiding those species to enter; and
(4) providing managers with scientific information to identify potential invasiveness characteristics in plants for agriculture, biofuels production and/or environmental restoration.

B. Collections

Biological collections are crucial for the identification and documentation of new pest organisms as they are found in the United States. The Beltsville Agriculture Research Center houses and curates a majority of the crop-associated reference collections in the nation.
a) The US National Fungus Collections consists of one-million specimens that serve as the knowledge base for fungal systematics. Biological specimens are sent throughout the world, yet little funding exists to upgrade and authenticate these collections.
b) The USDA Nematode Collections provides a resource for plant nematode identification and research. Technical support is needed to provide the continual maintenance of the micro slides with mounted nematodes.
c) The US National Parasite Collection, part of ARS/BARC, is one of the largest parasite collections in the world with 95,000 lots of specimens. Currently housed in a “temporary” building, an urgent need exists to provide adequate housing and upgrade the facility.
d) Scientists at ARS/BARC curate many of the collections at the Smithsonian Institution, providing authentication of these specimens. Increased technical support is required to ensure that these biological collections do not deteriorate and are available to research scientists throughout the world.
e) The National Arboretum houses 600,000 reference specimens of agricultural and horticultural plants. These specimens document the living germplasm in the National Plant Germplasm System. Technical support is needed to ensure that these specimens are adequately curated and can be sent on loan to researchers.
f) Living collections include fungi, bacteria, viruses, other microbes and plant collections. Vital for systematics research programs, the existence of these biological collections are threatened once a scientist retires. Funds are needed to maintain and characterize these living collections.
Annual budget: $30 million to maintain and upgrade systematics collections
Jobs created: 40 biological technician positions and information technologists
Savings to the federal budget: $400 million per year

C. Informatics

Agriculture is threatened by many kinds of pests, primarily by small organisms such as fungi, insects, nematodes, and animal parasites. While information exists, obtaining access to these data is not easy. Funds are needed for information technology specialists working with systematics research scientists to develop increased capacity in bioinformatics. Interactive identification tools with descriptions and illustrations of critically important fungi will be provided to users through the Web. The resulting information is rapidly accessible and useful for the identification of disease and biological control agents. In addition, funds are needed to synthesize collection data into a cohesive informatics resource with correct names, descriptions and illustrations with host and geographic data. Performance will be measured by numbers of species with taxonomic keys, descriptions, and illustrations that are placed on the Web. In addition, the number of users will indicate the value of this information to the community.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10-15 million
Jobs created: 30 permanent positions for scientists and/or technical staff
Savings to the federal budget: $500 million

D. Buildings

Building Improvements: At present, the systematics collections at ARS/BARC are scattered over five buildings none of which is adequate for preserving these irreplaceable scientific resources. One of the collections is housed in a old “guinea pig” house. The facilities are not adequately, climate-controlled nor safe from fire. During the first year of this proposed program some minimum enhancements to the current buildings housing the systematics collections will be done. These enhancements will address fire safety, humidity and temperature control. Also, scoping will begin to construct a new building at ARS/BARC that will house all the biological collections.
Budget needed: $5 million
Jobs created: 20 positions, some in construction planning
Savings to the federal budget: $20 million

Building a New Facility: A new building is required to adequately house the ARS/BARC systematics collections as part of the systematics center of excellence. The building design and construction will be done in the second and third year of the program. This building must be climate-controlled in order to preserve the specimens in perpetuity and have room for the associated libraries and research laboratories and offices.
Total divided over three years. $40 million each year for three years
Jobs created: 40 positions, many in the construction industry

E. Education of systematists

There is a need to create a program at ARS to train systematists, both at the graduate and post graduate level. A fellowship program will be created for this purpose. Each trainee will work with a senior systematics scientist as a mentor. The goal is that trainees will graduate from their doctorate degrees and have a permanent position at ARS waiting for them to fill upon graduation. This will guarantee appropriate succession as our older researchers retire. At present, 60 % of the ARS systematics scientists are eligible to retire.
Annual Budget needed: $ 5 million, primarily as grants to students and postdocs
Jobs created: 5 permanent positions for program manager and technical staff, plus 70 grants to students and new scientists

III. Implementation Plan to Address ARS/BARC Systematics Program Needs

YEAR 1. Cost: $80 Million

Research ($50 million):
Initiate ARS systematics research in the following problem areas:
Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases ($10 million).
Systematics of scale insects and weevils ($10 million)
Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity ($10 million)
Systematics of animal parasites ($10 million)
Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi ($10 million)

Improve Collections: $10 million
Improve bioinformatics: $5 million
Improve buildings and infrastructure: $10 million
Create fellowship program to train systematists: $5 million

Total number of jobs created in year 1: 225
Savings to federal government in year 1: $2.77 billion


YEAR 2. Cost: $130 Million

Research ($50 million):
Continue ARS systematics research in the following problem areas:
Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases ($10 million).
Systematics of scale insects and weevils ($10 million)
Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity ($10 million)
Systematics of animal parasites ($10 million)
Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi ($10 million)

Improve Collections: $15 million
Improve bioinformatics: $10 million
Construct buildings and infrastructure: $50 million
Continue fellowship program to train systematists: $5 million

Total number of jobs created in year 2: 245
Savings to federal government in year 2: $2.77 billion


YEAR 3. Cost: $ 146 million

Research ($55 million):
Continue ARS systematics research in the following problem areas:
Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases ($11 million).
Systematics of scale insects and weevils ($11 million)
Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity ($11 million)
Systematics of animal parasites ($11 million)
Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi ($11 million)

Improve Collections: $15 million
Improve buildings and infrastructure: $10 million
Construct buildings and infrastructure: $50 million
Improve bioinformatics: $10 million
Continue fellowship program to train systematists: $6 million

Total number of jobs created in year 3: 245
Savings to federal government in year 3: $2.77 billion


YEAR 4. Cost: $146 million

Research ($55 million):
Continue ARS research in the following problem areas:
Systematics of fungi that cause plant diseases ($11 million).
Systematics of scale insects and weevils ($11 million)
Systematics of nematodes that reduce crop productivity ($11 million)
Systematics of animal parasites ($11 million)
Systematics of mycotoxin-producing fungi ($11 million)

Improve Collections: $15 million
Improve buildings and infrastructure: $10 million
Construct buildings and infrastructure: $50 million
Improve bioinformatics: $10 million
Continue fellowship program to train systematists: $6 million

Total number of jobs created in year 4: 245
Savings to federal government in year 4: $2.77 billion


YEARS 5 to 10. Cost: $102 to $107 million per year

Research: $60-65 million
Improve Collections: $15 million
Improve buildings and infrastructure: $10 million
Improve bioinformatics: $10 million
Continue fellowship program to train systematists: $7 million

Total number of jobs created every year: 225
Savings to federal government every year: $2.77 billion


IV. Summary

Agency: Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture
Program enhanced: Systematics
Program cost/investment for 10 years: $1.13 billion
Total number of jobs created in 10 years: 2,085
Savings to federal government in 10 years: $27.7 billion

Food Security in the United States: Understanding and Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change in Agriculture

As we prepare to spend billions, we should be aware that we have in place a national research arm with Congressionally mandated responsibilities to investigate climate change, including invasive species impacts, under the 1990 farm bill. The Department of Agriculture's long term research arm, USDA ARS, is a center of climate change research and below is a summary of funding efforts for which I am advocating. Any assistance would be appreciated including introductions to your state's congressional delegation, and letters of support to decision makers.

Commenting in support or with additional suggestions to this posting is encouraged.

The National Agricultural Research Alliance - Beltsville, NARA-B, continues to seek support for its work. http://www.nara-b.org/

Food Security in the United States: Understanding and Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change in Agriculture

I. Existing legislation on Climate Change
From the 1990 Farm Bill Title XXIV captioned Global Climate Change Prevention Act of 1990 (104. Stat.4058; 7 USC 6701-2), SEC 2403.

STUDY OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY.

(a) CROPS. --

(1) IN GENERAL. – The Secretary shall study the effects of global climate change on agriculture and forestry. The study shall, at a minimum address—

(A) the effects of simultaneous increases in temperature and carbon dioxide on crops of economic significance;
(B) the effects of more frequent or more severe weather events on such crops;
(C) the effects of potential changes in hydrologic regimes on current crop yields;
(D) the economic effects of widespread and increased drought frequency in the south, Midwest and plains states; and
(E) changes in pest problems related to temperature.

(2) FURTHER STUDIES – If the results of the study conducted under paragraph (1) warrant, the Secretary shall conduct further studies that address the means of mitigating the effects of global climate change on crops of economic significance that shall, at a minimum –

(A) identify whether climate change tolerance can be bred into these crops, the amount of time necessary for any such breeding and the effects on the income of farmers;
(B) evaluate existing genetic resources and breeding programs for crops for their ability to develop new varieties that can tolerate potential climate changes; and
(C) assess the potential for the development of crop varieties that are tolerant to climate changes and other environmental stresses, such as drought, pests, and salinity.

Legislative need:
The authorization for appropriation for the 1990 Farm Bill was from FYs 1991 through 1996 (7 USC 6710). It was subsequently amended to extend through FY 1997. New reauthorization for appropriations language to fund the 1990 Farm bill section above is needed. The reauthorization language you need to reinvigorate the Global Climate Change Prevention Act of 1990 would simply read as follows:

“SEC. ___ GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE. Section 2412 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6710), as amended by section 843 of Public Law 104-127 (110 Stat. 1170), is further amended by striking “1997” and inserting “2020”.”


II. Agricultural Research Service Climate Change Program Needs

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has the potential to enhance its nascent, small climate change research effort ($17 Million in FY 2008) to prepare the nation to cope better with the impacts of climate change and design ways to adapt to it. Below are proposed areas of research that need to be conducted to accomplish that goal. The Economic Research Service has determined that that for every research dollar invested in agricultural research returned about $10 worth of net benefits to the economy (Fuglie and Heisey 2007). We use this statement to provide the potential economic stimulus per year in each of the following research problem areas below.

1. Research problem: Food Safety
Description: Climate change will bring warmer temperatures and additional climatic extremes, particularly more extreme precipitation. How will this impact the epidemiology of food borne pathogens, given that E. coli and Salmonella outbreaks are directly related to temperature? A scientific assessment of the likely impacts and preventive measures is needed.
Annual Budget needed: $ 5 million.
Jobs Created: 45-58 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $470 million.

2. Research problem: Sustainability of Food Production
Description: Crop yields are often more determined by short-term stress episodes than by seasonal mean conditions. Global climate change is predicted to increase total precipitation, the frequency of droughts, as well as episodes of high temperature stress. These stresses could completely offset plants yield increases expected due to the rising carbon dioxide (CO2 ). Very little research on agricultural crops responses to drought and high temperature stress has been conducted at elevated CO2 levels, so the current crops yield projections are highly uncertain. Research is needed to reduce uncertainty and properly assess future agricultural crops yields.
Annual Budget needed: $10 million.
Jobs Created: 90-116 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $ 1 billion.

3. Research problem: Water supply for Agriculture
Description: Crop production is heavily dependent on irrigation. In turn, irrigation depends on the snow and ice collected on mountain ranges. Data suggest human-induced global warming has significantly shrunk the ice / snow pack in mountain ranges in the American West. Unless research identifies specific adaptation measures, water and food availability for humans will significantly decline.
Annual Budget needed: $15 million.
Jobs Created: 130-170 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $6 billion.

4. Research problem: Food Nutrition
Description: Rising levels of CO2 affect the nutritional quality of agricultural products. The protein production in plants for breads and cereals is reduced with increasing CO2. Positive effects on the anti-oxidants in strawberries have also been observed. There is a need to reassess the nutritional guidelines for humans.
Annual Budget needed: $10 million.
Jobs Created: 90-116 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $2.8 billion.

5. Research problem: Selection of plant varieties
Description: Initial data suggest that a selection among existing agricultural crop lines could be used to adapt crops to climatic extremes (drought, temperature) as well as to exploit the rising carbon dioxide to boost crop yields. No systematic evaluation of crop germplasm has been done. Without such an evaluation, crop yields and agricultural sustainability will be at risk.
Annual Budget needed: $10 million.
Jobs Created: 90-116 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $ 1 billion.

6. Research problem: Crop Losses due to Pests
Description: As carbon dioxide rises, will crops or weeds be favored? How will insects and pathogens spread with warmer winters? Initial data suggest that weeds will be more competitive than crops in most cases, causing further reductions in crop yields. There is no published data assessing the susceptibility of US agricultural production to weeds, insects and diseases with rising CO2 and climate change.
Annual Budget needed: $10 million.
Jobs Created: 90-116 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $800 million.

7. Research problem: Pest Management
Description: Agricultural productivity is highly dependent on the use of chemicals. Studies indicate that both agronomic and invasive weeds will be harder to control chemically as atmospheric CO2 increases. No data are available with respect to climate interactions with insecticides or fungicides. We need to understand how climate change will change the amount and efficacy of chemicals used in agriculture, and find measures to compensate for it.
Annual Budget needed: $10 million.
Jobs Created: 90-116 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $800 million.

8. Research problem: Invasive Species in Agriculture
Description: Introduced invasive species can wreck havoc on economic production and environmental sustainability, including billions of dollars in annual agricultural losses. The total cost of negative impacts of invasive species has been estimated at $138 billion each year (Pimentel,et al, 2005). Having few natural enemies in their introduced country, invasives are limited almost exclusively by climate. How will changing CO2 and increasing minimal temperatures favor the expansion and success of invasive species? For example, cheatgrass, an invasive that creates more frequent fires, is highly responsive to changes in CO2 that have occurred during the 20th century. Without a better understanding of how climate change will impact invasive species biology, accurate estimates regarding invasives environmental and economic impact will remain unknown. At present, there is few data on how climate change will affect invasives spread. No historical data are available to determine how current and past climates have altered the biological success of invasive species.
Annual Budget needed: $90 million.
Jobs Created: 800-1060 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $6.5 billion.

9. Research problem: Aerobiology
Description: Global climate change will result in changes in the production, distribution, dispersal, and potency of allergens produced by weeds, grasses and trees. Numerous uncertainties exist in predicting the effect of climate change on allergy incidence and severity. We need to reduce these uncertainties to have a response that minimizes the impact of plant-based allergies on public health.
Annual Budget needed: $20 million.
Jobs Created: 180-232 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $1.4 billion.

10. Research problem: Toxicology
Description: Plants produce a number of virulent poisons that can result in injury or death. For example, ricin is a well-known toxin produced by castor bean, a common roadside weed. The photosynthesis and growth of poisonous plants respond to temperature and CO2 changes. However, no data on their toxicology are available. Without such data it is unclear how climate change will affect the presence and strength of such poisons.
Annual Budget needed: $10 million.
Jobs Created: 90-116 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $350 million.

11. Research problem: Medicines/Pharmacology
Description: Plants remain a primary source for new and existing pharmacology. Initial data indicate that concentration and/or production of these compounds can be altered by CO2 and/or temperature. The basis for these changes is unknown. Without additional research it is unclear which plant-based medicines are likely to be impacted with climate change. Similarly, it is unclear which plant-based narcotics are likely to be benefited or any subsequent effects on their management and/or control.
Annual Budget needed: $20 million.
Jobs Created: 180-232 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $3 billion.

12. Research problem: Plant Species Shifts in Rangelands
Description: Rangelands will experience regional and local changes in temperature and precipitation. The CO2 has already increased to levels not experienced in the past million years and is projected to continue increasing far in the future. Plants have different sensitivities to temperature, precipitation and CO2, and research suggest that plant shifts favoring some species over others is underway in rangelands. Research is needed to better understand such plant species shifts which have a tremendous impact on land’s use. We need to use that knowledge to develop proactive management strategies that will help ranchers and public land managers adapt to climate change.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10 million.
Jobs Created: 90-116 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): 3 billion.

13. Research problem: Decision Support Systems
Description: Although the details of how climate change will develop at regional and state levels remains uncertain, there is wide agreement that weather patterns and climate in general are becoming more variable, and that what used to be extreme weather events are becoming more common. Ranchers and public land managers already struggle with managing under the uncertain climatic conditions which presently characterize rangeland agriculture. Research is needed to develop decision support systems that include weather forecasting, periodic monitoring, and integrated decision-making computer models which propose management options to help land mangers deal with increasingly unfamiliar and uncertain weather patterns.
Annual Budget needed: $ 10 million.
Jobs Created: 90-116 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $200 million.

14. Research problem: Agricultural Trace Gases
Description: Climate change is driven by the release of so-called trace or greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere, mostly from fossil-fuel burning. Agriculture is involved in all aspects of this problem, being directly affected by climate change. However, agriculture is also a sink or source of greenhouse gases, depending on the particular agricultural enterprise. At present approximately 40% of the greenhouse gases released each year into the atmosphere are captured by terrestrial ecosystems and fixed back into compounds that are not active as greenhouse gases. There is very limited information on how different agricultural practices can be modified to reduce agriculture’s negative contribution to the release of greenhouse gases. Research into how different agro-ecosystems and different management practices affect the exchange of greenhouse gases are needed to learn how agriculture can reduce its terrestrial emissions of trace gases to the atmosphere.
Annual Budget needed: $15 million
Jobs Created: 130-170 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $350 million.

15. Research problem: Nutrient Cycling
Description: The responses of agro-ecosystems are linked to the natural cycling of nutrients upon which plants rely for their growth and development. This especially applies to extensively-managed systems like rangelands where intensive agronomic practices like fertilizer and water additions are impractical. There is some indication that chronic increases of atmospheric CO2 currently underway and climate change will alter the nutrient cycling of agro-ecosystems, disrupting long-established patterns of nutrient cycling by plants and soil organisms. Many details remain to be clarified. The ultimate outcome will have significant implications for the plants and animals which have long adapted to these patterns. For instance, rising CO2, climate change and nitrogen deposition may have long-term impacts on soil fertility, which can affect which crops are suitable for a particular location, or which plant species will prosper and which species will decline in more natural agro-ecosystems like rangelands. Plant attributes like forage quality will decline as a result of reduced soil nitrogen in grasslands exposed to enriched CO2 atmospheres. Research is needed to determine what long-term impacts CO2 enrichment, nitrogen deposition and climate change will have on soil and plant nutrients. We also need to understand the processes responsible for cycling nutrients among the soil, the plants and the atmosphere.
Annual Budget needed: $25 million
Jobs Created: 214-290 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus (per year): $2 billion.

16. Research problem: Beneficial Organisms in Agriculture.

Description: The responses of agro-ecosystems are linked to the life cycles of beneficial organisms such as bees, earthworms, and micro-organisms that can fix nitrogen. There is almost no information on how these beneficial organisms will respond to rising CO2 or temperature / precipitation changes. Research is needed to understand how these changes are likely to affect the abundance and effectiveness of these organisms with respect to crop yields and agricultural sustainability.
Annual Budget needed: $20 million.
Jobs Created: 180-232 scientific and technical positions.
Potential Economic Stimulus: Unknown, beneficial organisms provide so many free goods and services that any change in their biology is incalculable.


III. Implementation Plan to Address ARS Climate Change Program Needs

A. Correlation between the 1990 Global Climate Change Prevention Act of 1990 and the proposed ARS Climate Change Program research problems.

Food Safety (#1) addresses (a) (1) (A) above.
Sustainability of Food Production (#2) addresses (a) (1) (A) and (a) (1) (B) above.
Water Supply for Agriculture (#3) addresses (a) (1) (C) and (a) (1) (D) above.
Food Nutrition (#4) addresses (a) (1) (A) and (a) (1) (B)
Selection of Plant Varieties (#5) addresses (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(B) and (a)(2)(C).
Crop Losses / Pests, Pest Management (# 6, #7) addresses (a)(1)(E) above.
Invasive Species in Agriculture (#8) addresses (a)(1)(E) and (a)(2)(C) above.
Aerobiology (#9) addresses (a)(1)(E) above.
Toxicology, Medicines/Pharmacology/Narcotics (#10, #11) addresses (a)(1)(E) above.
Species Shifts (# 12) addresses (a)(1)(B), (a)(1)(D) and (a)(1)(E).
Decision Support Systems (#13) (a) (1) (A)
Agricultural Trace Gases (#14) (a) (1) (A) and (a) (1) (B)
Nutrient Cycling (#15) (a) (1) (A), (a ) (1) (B), (a) (1) (C), (a) (1) (D)
Beneficial Organisms (#16) (a) (1) (E)

B. Annual Implementation Plan for ARS Climate Change Program

YEAR 1. Cost: $180 Million

Initiate ARS research in the following problem areas ($180 million):
Food Safety (#1) ($5 million).
Sustainability of Food Production (#2) ($10 million).
Water Supply for Agriculture (#3) ($15 million).
Food Nutrition and Quality (#4) ($10 million).
Crop Losses / Pests, Pest Management (# 6, #7) ($20 million).
Invasive Species in Agriculture (#8) ($90 million).
Selection of Plant Varieties (#5) ($30 million).


YEAR 2. Cost: $180 Million

Continue ARS research in the following problem areas ($120 million):
Food Safety (#1) ($5 million).
Sustainability of Food Production (#2) ($10 million).
Water Supply for Agriculture (#3) ($15 million).
Food Nutrition and Quality (#4) (10 Million).
Crop Losses / Pests, Pest Management (# 6, #7) ($20 million).
Invasive Species in Agriculture (#8) ($30 million).
Selection of Plant Varieties (#5) ($30 million).

Initiate ARS research in the following problem areas ($60 million):
Aerobiology (#9) ($20 million).
Toxicology, Medicines/Pharmacology/Narcotics (#10, #11) ($30 million).
Species Shifts (# 12) ($10 million).


YEAR 3. Cost: $ 225 million

Continue ARS research in the following problem areas ($155 million):
Food Safety (#1) ($5 million).
Sustainability of Food Production (#2) ($10 million).
Water Supply for Agriculture (#3) ($20 million).
Food Nutrition Quality (#4) (10 million)
Crop Losses / Pests, Pest Management (# 6, #7) ($10 million).
Invasive Species in Agriculture (#8) ($30 million).
Selection of Plant Varieties (#5) ($30 million).
Aerobiology (#9) ($5 million).
Toxicology, Medicines/Pharmacology/Narcotics, (#10, #11) ($30 million).
Plant Species Shifts (# 12) ($10 million).

Initiate ARS research in the following problem areas ($70 million):
Decision Support Systems (#13) ($10 million).
Agricultural Trace Gases (#14) ($15 million).
Nutritent Cycling (#15) ($25 million).
Beneficial Organisms (#16) ($20 million).


YEAR 4. Cost: $230 million

Continue ARS research in the following problem areas ($230 million):
Food Safety (#1) ($5 million).
Sustainability of Food Production (#2) ($10 million).
Water Supply for Agriculture (#3) ($20 million).
Food Nutrition and Quality (#4) (10 million)
Crop Losses / Pests, Pest Management (# 6, #7) ($10 million).
Invasive Species in Agriculture (#8) ($30 million).
Selection of Plant Varieties (#5) ($30 million).
Aerobiology (#9) ($5 million).
Toxicology, Medicines/Pharmacology/Narcotics (#10, #11) ($30 million).
Plant Species Shifts (# 12) ($10 million).
Decision Support Systems (#13) ($10 million).
Agricultural Trace Gases (#14) ($15 million).
Nutritent Cycling (#15) ($25 million).
Beneficial Organisms (#16) ($20 million).

YEARS 5 to 10. Cost: $250 million per year to continue research in 16 problem areas described above, including funds for inflation impacts on the program.


IV. Summary

Agency: Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture.
Program Enhanced: Global Climate Change.
Program cost/investment for 10 years. $2.9 billion.
Total number of jobs created in 10 years: 2480 (Public)-3200 (Private) (Note: The lower figure includes 1 PhD for 2 technicians, the second number includes only college graduates with a degree in science. Salaries are either from the Federal Register or from http://www.simplyhired.com/).
Potential Economic Stimulus in 10 years: $290-$300 billion.


V. Bibliography

Buzby J.C., Roberts T., Jordan-Lin C.T., MacDonald J.M. 1996. Bacterial foodborne
disease: MedicalCosts and Productivity Losses. Afgricultural Economics Report No. (AER741), 100 pages.

Fuglie KO, Heisey P.W. 2007. Economic returns to public agricultural research.
Economic Brief No. 10, USDA-AERS,

Hatfield JL., et al. 2008. The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources and Biodiversity. Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.3 Climate Change Science Program Office, Washington D.C.

NAST, National Assessment Synthesis Team. 2000. Climate change impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change. US Global Change Research Program, Washington DC 363 pages.

National Research Council 2002. Predicting invasions of non-indigenous plants and
plant pests National Academy Press, Washington D.C. 194 pages.

Newton PC.D., Carran R.A., Edwards, G.R., Niklaus P.A. 2007 Agroecosystems in a
ChangingClimate, CRC Press, 364 pages.

Pimental D, Zuniga R, Morrison D 2005. Update on the environmental and
economic costs associated alien-invasive species in the United States.
Ecological Economics. 52:273-288.

Ruth M, Coelho D, Karetnikov D 2007. The US Economic Impacts of Climate
Change and the Costs ofInaction. Center for Interative Enviornmental Research (CIER), University of Maryland, College Park, 48 pages.

Agricultural Food Research "USA ARS - BARC & NAL"Needs Stimulating

I have written, I suppose rather obtusely given the lack of any progress, on the need for fundamental, basic agricultural research of the infrastructure science variety. As a friend remarked recently, there have been no new food crops added to our menu in around 10,000 years. We therefore have to find ways to make what we have work with whatever the climate situation is at our time in history. But instead of funding this research in the next generation of food, we ignore the entire issue. Our National Agricultural Research Center , BARC, has lost almost half of its researchers in the last 20 years, and we continue to do nothing. Our National Agricultural Library, NAL, cannot even purchase foreign science journals to see what the rest of the world is doing. For some strange reason, we as a people think everything we need to know is on Google and that new crops can be had within an 18 month granting cycle at a university. We have lost our minds and soon, perhaps, our productive sources of food. I wonder if anyone is listening?

AGRICULTURE: World needs to breed climate-proof crops, experts say (Friday, February 27, 2009) The world has very little time left to develop new seed varieties to tackle climate change and stave off food shortages that could affect billions, experts said. People in Africa and Asia are most at risk from a lack of climate-proof crops, they said, speaking yesterday on the first anniversary of the opening of a "doomsday" seed vault on the island of Spitsbergen in the Norwegian Arctic. The vault, cut from icy rock 600 miles from the North Pole, opened on Feb. 26, 2008, and has doubled its holdings to 200 million seeds in the past year, representing 400,000 varieties. It is meant to be a fail-safe for national collections and to serve as a sort of Noah's Ark in case of a disaster such as nuclear war. The bank has the capacity to hold about 4.5 million samples, or 2 billion seeds. "We need some tremendous advances," said David Battisti, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington. "The whole world will be stressed at the same time" because of global warming. Crops can take a decade to breed and test. And crops cannot simply be moved to new areas as the climate warms because soils, pests, insect pollinators, daylight hours and other factors differ even if temperatures seem suitable (Alister Doyle, Reuters, Feb. 25). -- KJH

The Continuing Loss of Scientific Infrastructure - Decline of Systematics

The state of systematics in the nation and at the National Agricultural Research Center, BARC, is grim. Trying to build a coalition of support with zero funding is daunting. I seem to be talking to myself on Capitol Hill. Advocating on behalf of systematics is like lobbying for rivets underneath a bridge - no one cares until the bridge collapses, then everyone points fingers and bemoans the poor state of the failed infrastructure. Somehow, we as a people think that everything we need to know can be found on "Google", and that research which is not "sexy" is not useful and can be provided by someone else somewhere in the ether.

As to those involved with the impacts of invasive species, systematics is the core upon which all decision will be based. We can not legislate or regulate what we cannot identify.

An online-accessible report notes that "Beginning in 2005, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) called on Federal agencies to focus attention on integrated support and planning for their care and use of Federally held scientific collections."

I have linked to a report of the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections
(IWGSC) for the following information:


"We need to keep items collected in the conduct of research because advances in science depend on a strong and cumulative evidence base. Scientific collections comprise an important part of that base. To build that base, researchers use the scientific method, an approach that includes systematic accumulation of data, the testing of hypotheses, and scientific replication. It is only through repeated observation and documentation that a consistent evidence base is developed and a finding can stand the test of time."

"Immediate access to collections: Urgent problems can call for immediate access to scientific data."

"Maintaining scientific collections can provide users with immediate access to critical specimens."

"Replacement costs. The passage of time, technical challenges, or prohibitive costs make it all but impossible to replace the contents of a collection when it is needed at a later date. Some locales may be physically inaccessible for a variety of reasons."

"Irreplaceable object. Many specimens collected decades ago can no longer be recollected because the locality has either disappeared or a species has gone extinct."

"Critical Redundancy. Research organizations keep collections in different places and maintain large collections of similar specimens for several reasons such as in the event of natural disaster."

"Research is a distributed enterprise. Federal research serves a wide range of constituencies and issues. To serve their mission efficiently, researchers and the collections they use need to be located in many different places."

"Variation in nature. Studying the variability within and among biological populations and geological specimens often reveals the processes that underlie their nature; this study of variation is a basic component of the scientific method. Large sample sizes are often needed in order to make statistically significant interpretations."

"Safety in numbers. Scientific collections of living specimens reduce the risk of catastrophic loss by guaranteeing that a pool of genetic variability is available to protect and ensure diversity, and to ensure the reintroduction and replenishment of the genetic stock."