Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AG, 11/2/17

A new report out this morning highlights research projects undertaken through USDA's flagship competitive grants program for agricultural sciences - the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - to call attention to a host of important scientific pursuits that have been left "on the cutting room floor" for want of resources, Pro's Kaitlyn Burton reports. 

Key stat: From 2009 to 2015, the AFRI grants program funded less than one-quarter of recommended research because its cash ran out, according to the report. "You get a lot of really valuable research that would advance things, particularly in the nutrition and safety arenas, that just isn't being done," said Thomas Grumbly, president of the Supporters of Agricultural Research Foundation, or SoAR, which teamed with a group of universities to produce the report. 

The farm bill horizon: SoAR's report is the latest bit of advocacy-driven news on the agricultural research front, which promises to be a first-order fight in the farm bill reauthorization. For its part, SoAR is pushing to increase the program's authorization in the next farm bill to $1.4 billion, from $700 million. 

The House Science Subcommittee on Research and Technology is set to take up the topic of ag research during a hearing today. Those testifying include Liz Wagstrom, chief veterinarian at the National Pork Producers Council, and researchers from the RAND Corporation, Kansas State University and the University of Illinois. House Science anticipates it will confer with the House Agriculture Committee in the coming weeks to discuss ag research as work continues on a draft of the 2018 farm bill, a committee aide told MA.

To view the report, click here.