A coalition of 132 agricultural research stakeholder groups, including AIBS, has called on House and Senate leadership to prioritize and protect the vital investments in agricultural climate research, agricultural research infrastructure, and agricultural innovation included in the ‘Build Back Better’ infrastructure package.
The letter emphasizes that the “$7.75 billion in agricultural research investment, or just 0.2[percent] of the proposed original total reconciliation package, underlies the tools necessary to build climate resilience and food security for all Americans.”
“These proposed investments are a generational down payment to fill critical R&D gaps and climate-proof our food system — realizing agriculture’s beneficial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting carbon sequestration,” the groups note. “They provide funding for [U.S. Department of Agriculture] research, the land grant colleges and universities, as well as tribal colleges and universities, historically Black colleges and universities, and Extension programs throughout the nation. Without these investments, we will face food supply shortages as well as an inability to mitigate climate change by storing carbon in our soils and forests.”
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