Recently, the House of Representatives voted in favor of the White House’s massive $9.4 billion proposal for funding cuts, following months of work by the Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate what it views as wasteful spending across the government.
This rescissions package would claw back money that has already been promised by Congress to a range of programs, funding everything from PBS to the U.S. Agency for International Development. All eyes are on the Senate to see if these cuts will go through.
To roll out this package, the Office of Management and Budget recently sent a series of social media posts highlighting what it viewed as the worst cases of “waste, fraud, and abuse.” On their list was $4 million allocated for legume systems research – taking aim at a small but highly impactful agricultural research laboratory in my home state of Michigan.
Michigan State University’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research, historically funded through USAID, essentially works to build a better bean. Since its inception, the lab’s work has contributed to increasing crop yields, drought tolerance, disease resistance, and storability for a range of crops, including navy beans, black beans, kidney beans, black eyed peas, and others.
Beans and other legumes are among the most nutritious foods a human can eat, and breakthroughs at the laboratory have had huge benefits for consumer health and nutrition. The lab’s innovations have also helped American farmers, contributing to profitability and business efficiency, as well as smallholder farmers in developing countries, where malnutrition is the number one driver of childhood mortality.
The Legume Systems Innovation Lab was just one of 17 Feed the Future Innovations Labs nationwide that specialized in a range of crucial agricultural issues, such as increasing production for grains, soybeans, fish, and horticulture crops, unlocking new treatments for livestock diseases, protecting food safety, improving policies to help private companies operate more effectively, and more.
It’s easy to be “in the know” about what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! Simply click here
Far from being wasteful, agricultural research like that done in these labs is a great use of taxpayer dollars, with multiple studies showing returns to the U.S. economy of as much as $30-$40 for every dollar spent on international agricultural research. Unfortunately, however, 16 out of 17 labs had their funding eliminated by the Trump administration. Here in Michigan, the Legume Systems Innovation Lab has been unable to operate since February.
So, what happens when international agricultural research comes under attack? Our lack of investment will have numerous repercussions, hurting farmers, consumers, and America’s position as a global leader in agriculture.
Farmers need constant access to innovation because pests and diseases evolve every year, and weather conditions are becoming increasingly volatile. Most of the genetic diversity of crops is found outside the U.S., so it’s critical for our scientists to conduct agricultural research overseas so that they can scan the world for new genetic traits needed to solve challenges here at home.
Failing to invest in science poses significant risks to our food security and national security. This year’s avian influenza outbreak and spike in egg costs is a prime example of how vulnerable our food system is to disease outbreaks and other risks.
Agricultural innovation is also good for business, and not just because it enables farmers to increase harvests and lower production costs. Many of the Innovation Labs were helping unlock new export markets for American goods, in some cases by working directly with U.S. companies.
The mission of the Innovation Labs has been to eliminate hunger, malnutrition, and poverty worldwide through innovation and agricultural development – a mission that has direct benefits to U.S. economic growth. When countries can rise out of hunger and poverty and feed themselves, their appetite also increases for American goods. History shows that this strategy of supporting global economies through agriculture can be extremely successful – today, 11 out of 15 of our top trading partners were once recipients of U.S. foreign assistance.
In Michigan, the Legume Systems Innovation Lab was supporting American exports too. The lab recently developed two new bean varieties that are resistant to a common bean weevil that is destructive to stored crops, especially in Africa. Now, U.S. crop breeders are including this trait in seeds for American farmers – increasing the quality and value of the beans we export, while making U.S. food aid more efficient by minimizing transport and storage losses.
This is just one example of how our lab in Michigan is helping the U.S. dry edible bean market, a $1 billion industry. American farmers planted 3.4 million acres of legume and pulse crops last year, primarily in North Dakota, Michigan, and Minnesota. All four of the top black bean varieties in Michigan, as well as the only variety of red beans, can trace their development back to the laboratory. The laboratory also helped develop varieties that account for 75 percent of the top legume crops grown in the Dakotas and Minnesota. Together, the lab’s contributions are found in a significant portion of the beans eaten by American consumers and exported by American businesses.
It is disheartening to see this vital work called wasteful. American farmers know the value that international agricultural research has for their businesses, and that failing to invest globally in the search for innovation will make them less productive and profitable.
At the end of the day, turning the lights out on research will hurt consumers in the U.S. and abroad, reduce food security, and deeply damage America’s leadership position in agriculture.
David Tschirley is a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University and chair of the Innovation Lab Council.