AFRI Community Support Letter (FY27)

Dear Chairman Harris, Chairman Hoeven, Ranking Member Bishop, and Ranking Member Shaheen:

The undersigned research institutions, scientific societies, and agricultural stakeholders respectfully request $500 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) in FY 2027. AFRI is USDA’s premier competitive grants program that supports merit-based, fundamental and applied research, extension, and education that strengthens U.S. agriculture across crops, livestock, food systems, and rural economies. Increased investment in AFRI is one of the most effective ways Congress can help American producers remain competitive, protect animal health, and grow demand for U.S. products.

In recent years, AFRI funding has experienced reductions even as producers face tighter margins, evolving animal disease threats, and intensified global competition. We therefore urge you to at least restore funding to the program’s highest appropriated level of $455 million for FY27. Restoring these cuts is essential to maintain the pipeline of innovation needed to keep

U.S. agriculture globally competitive.

AFRI-funded research directly supports farmers, ranchers, processors, rural communities, consumers, and the broader U.S. economy. The program addresses challenges such as crop and livestock productivity, supply chain resilience, food safety, nutrition security, soil and water management, invasive weeds, pests and diseases, and workforce development across the food and agriculture system. Importantly, AFRI is also a primary mechanism for advancing research aligned with the new USDA Research and Development Priorities for 2026. Strong AFRI funding is therefore essential to ensure that USDA can execute these newly articulated national research priorities in partnership with universities, industry, and research institutions.

AFRI delivers practical results that matter to producers and rural communities, including:

• Improving farmer profitability through technology and decision tools. AFRI has supported efforts such as the AI Institute for Future Agricultural Resilience,

  Management, and Sustainability (AIFARMS), which aims to develop technologies that help producers improve resilience and long-term profitability while adapting to labor constraints. AFRI also supports research that helps advance regenerative agriculture.

• Protecting livestock and poultry health from costly disease outbreaks. AFRI-supported projects include work to improve detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)— including development of more scalable diagnostic approaches for H5/H7 subtypes— and research advancing African swine fever (ASF) detection platforms to strengthen preparedness and response capabilities.
• Expanding markets by creating new uses and value-added products. AFRI research helps develop new processes and products that can broaden demand for U.S. grown commodities—such as technologies for producing biobased products and fuels from grains and efforts to develop new food uses, creating additional market pathways for producers.
• Advancing nutrition to improve public health. AFRI supports research that improves the nutritional quality, safety, and functionality of foods while helping consumers make healthier choices. This work aligns with growing national interest in improving health outcomes through better diets and prevention-focused strategies, while also expanding market opportunities for U.S. farmers by increasing demand for nutritious, domestically produced foods.

We appreciate your past support for AFRI and for the broader USDA research mission. As Congress works through the FY 2027 appropriations process, we urge you to invest in the future of U.S. agriculture by striving to provide $500 million for AFRI, but no less than $455 million to reverse the program’s recent funding cuts. These investments are critical for ensuring U.S. leadership in agricultural innovation, economic resilience, and national security.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

2Blades

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

agInnovation North Central

agInnovation Northeast

agInnovation South

agInnovation West

Agricultural & Applied Economics Association

American Association of Mycobacterial Diseases

American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges

American Dairy Science Association

American Feed Industry Association

American Institute of Biological Sciences

American Malting Barley Association

American Meat Science Association

American Seed Trade Association

American Society for Horticultural Science

American Society for Microbiology

American Society for Nutrition

American Society of Agronomy

American Society of Animal Science

American Society of Plant Biologists

American Soybean Association

American Veterinary Medical Association

Aquatic Plant Management Society

Association of 1890 Research Directors

Association of American Universities

Association of Public & Land-grant Universities

Carbon180

Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST)

Crop Science Society of America

Ecological Society of America

Entomological Society of America

Extension Committee on Organization and Policy

Farm Journal Foundation

Friends of the Mississippi River

Friends of the US Dairy

Forage Research Center International

Fresh Produce Association

Land Core

Maize Genetics Cooperation

Michigan Food & Farming Systems (MIFFS)

Mycobacterial Diseases of Animals

MI National Association for Plant Breeding (NAPB)

National Association of State Departments of Agriculture

National Association of Wheat Growers

National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research

National Corn Growers Association

National Cotton Council of America

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN)

North Central Weed Science Society

Northeastern Weed Science Society

Organic Farming Research Foundation

Pet Food Institute

Resource Renewal Institute

Soil and Water Conservation Society

Soil Science Society of America

Southern Society of Weed Science

Spark Climate Solutions

Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council

The Breakthrough Institute

The Good Food Institute

Union of Concerned Scientists

University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences

USA Pulses

Weed Science Society of America

Western Society of Weed Science

World Coffee Research