2018 ASHS Annual Conference

At the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), much of our work is focused on finding solutions to the unprecedented challenges facing the world’s food and agricultural system. The global population is expected to reach over 9 billion people by 2050 and farming alone will not produce the food and fiber we will need. With diminishing land and water resources, we must use science and creativity to develop new technologies to help sustain our food production.

USDA recognizes the role scientific research plays in spawning innovation and supports maintaining a vigorous research infrastructure. The Research, Education, and Economics mission area responsibilities are carried out by four agencies: (1) the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) conducts intramural research in natural and biological sciences; (2) the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provides research grant funding to scientists who work at U.S. land-grant universities and other public organizations, including Federal agencies; (3) the Economic Research Service (ERS) performs intramural economic and social science research; and (4) the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts the Census of Agriculture and provides the official, current statistics on agricultural production and indicators for the economic and environmental welfare of the farm sector.

REE programs work to solve some of the most challenging problems in food and agriculture. Our scientists are researching ways to enhance crop production, including breeding new varieties, creating cost-saving technologies such as precision agriculture, and developing methods to adapt agriculture to changing climate conditions. Our research also provides scientific approaches for protecting agriculture while producing a food supply that is abundant and safe.