The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the appointment of Manjit K. Misra as the new Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The NIFA Director leads the agency’s work in advancing agricultural research, education, and extension to solve societal challenges. Dr. Misra will start his new role on Monday, May 8, 2023.

Severe wildfires have become annual events in the United States. The years 2020 and 2021 were the worst in wildfire history in California. Other states – and countries – are at risk as well. Climate change is making wildfires more likely in some places. And with heavy populations residing in areas bordering wildlands and forests, many people are more likely to experience serious wildfires.

This week, ASA, CSSA, and SSSA offered comments to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) regarding implementation of funding received through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to support climate-smart agriculture and conservation that reflect the boots-on-the-ground realities facing producers enrolling and implementing conservation programs. We likewise were pleased to provide input from the scientific community on innovative means to quantify outcomes and tackle these challenges.

House Science Committee requests more information on open access

Congress Responds to OSTP Memo:

White House announces fertilizer grants, hunger and nutrition roadmap

What’s new: The U.S.

Given current global challenges, lawmakers have proposed allowing select land currently enrolled or soon-to-be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to be opened for crop production in the immediate future. In 2021, approximately 315,000 U.S. producers received CRP payments, accounting for roughly 22 million acres enrolled in the CRP program or 8.7% of U.S. cropland.

Seeing the rapidly increasing focus on agriculture as a climate solution, ASA, CSSA, and SSSA released a new climate solutions position statement, Advancing Resilient Agriculture: Recommendations to Address Climate Change, which outlines concrete actions policymakers can take right now to help U.S. agriculture mitigate climate change and adapt to its effects.

Over the past several weeks, both the House and Senate approved bipartisan legislation that would significantly grow the NSF budget - now they just need to reconcile the differences between the two bills. After a weeks-long debate, the Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act.

The Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AgARDA) is a pilot project created in the 2018 Farm Bill for a USDA-based “Advanced Research Projects Agency” like DARPA or ARPA-E but for agriculture research. The program is authorized at $50 million, but has not yet received funding through the annual Congressional funding process. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA enlisted a group of experts to develop an AgARDA Roadmap that could be used by USDA as a guide for how the program should be set up.