Farm bill doubles agricultural research spending

Amid the barrage of tough budget news for Montana State
University this summer, there’s positive word out of Washington,
D.C., for the research-intensive institution.

By RON TSCHIDA Chronicle Staff Writer

The $180 billion farm bill passed by Congress in May calls for a
doubling of federal agricultural research spending over the next
five years.

Now it’s up to that same Congress to follow through and
appropriate the dollars. Budget battles between now and October
will decide the final tally, but MSU is in good position to nab its
share of additional federal spending.

Sharron Quisenberry, dean of the College of Agriculture, said the
university has nationally recognized faculty and outstanding
research programs, so the university is likely to fare well in
competitive grant allocations.

"Our faculty are very competitive," Quisenberry said.

The university has already received grants for a long list of
programs, including the Montana Sheep Institute and wheat stem
sawfly and brucellosis research.

And Montana’s two senators, Democrat Max Baucus and
Republican Conrad Burns, have the committee assignments to help
with "earmarked" grants, often less charitably referred to as
"pork."

"With Sen. Burns on appropriations and on ag appropriations, that
puts (MSU) in very good position to benefit from the ag bill," said
Burns spokesman J.P. Donovan. "He understands the importance of
ag research here out where it actually happens. You’ve got a lot
of good things going in Montana."

Meanwhile, Baucus chairs the powerful Senate finance committee
and serves on the agriculture committee.

Research is a big part of MSU’s mission. The university has landed
more than $60 million in grants from federal, state and private
sources each of the past several years.

Traditionally nearly two-thirds of grant money pays for salaries,
according to MSU’s research office. That spending ripples through
the local economy, as salary earners buy everything from
groceries or restaurant meals to homes and cars.

And in Montana, where agriculture is still the No. 1 industry, the
research money is important statewide.

"It’s extremely important for productivity at the farm and ranch
level for agriculture research funding at the federal level to be
increased," said Vince Smith, a professor in Agriculture Economics
at MSU. Federal funding is especially critical in Montana, where
state funding is limited, he said.

Money invested in research returns about 30 percent annually,
according to national estimates, Smith said.

Federal ag research spending has held steady for the past 20
years, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Meanwhile, corporations have poured millions of dollars into new
technologies such as genetically modified crops.

The rise in federal spending is intended to restore the traditional
balance between federal and private research.

"I think there’s an interest in and an understanding of the role of
research and that’s what we’re seeing in the farm bill," Quisenberry
said.

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