C-FARE Info

Information on FY2013 Agriculture Budget

Today the President released his FY 2013 Budget Proposal. Information on USDA can be viewed here - http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/agriculture.pdf. Language related to USDA AFRI: “Increases the 2012 funding level for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative to $325 million and targets areas that are key to American scientific leadership: human nutrition and obesity reduction; food safety; sustainable bioenergy; global food security; and climate change.”

USDA REE Action Plan

Catherine E. Woteki, Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics (REE) and Chief Scientist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), posted a new REE Action Plan. The plan is located here - http://www.ree.usda.gov/ree/​news/​USDA_REE_Action_Plan_02-2012.pd​f.

AFRI Stakeholder Listening Session

In an effort to improve the quality of the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, NIFA is again holding a public meeting and soliciting public comments for consideration in the development of future AFRI program solicitations. The AFRI Stakeholder Listening Session will be held on Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 8 am–5 pm at USDA–NIFA, Waterfront Centre, 800 9th Street, SW, Room 1410, Washington, DC 20024. To learn more about and/or register for the session, please visit: http://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/afri/afri_listen_session.html.

USDA relocating NASS analysts to regional centers

From the Hagstrom Report 2/6/2012 – “The Agriculture Department, the primary source of U.S. crop and livestock data, will move analysts from state offices into nine National Agricultural Statistics Service regional centers in an effort to provide more in-depth analysis while saving money, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture today, according to a Reuters report.

The centers, due to open in 2013, are the latest change in USDA reporting as the agency adjusts to federal budget cuts.

“We’re going to remain the gold standard,” said Vilsack in announcing the regional centers, according to the Reuters report.

The secretary said the move “will give us the opportunity to dive more deeply into data” and provide more accurate data.

Congress allotted $158.6 million for the National Agricultural Statistics Service this fiscal year, $7 million less than USDA requested but a 1 percent increase from the previous year, when funding was cut by 3 percent in an effort to reduce the federal deficit, Reuters said.