The administration launched the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research, which was mandated by the 2014 farm policy law and endowed by Congress with $200 million. The foundation must find private matching funds for projects that it funds. Members of the inaugural 15-member board include former agriculture secretary Dan Glickman, Mississippi State University president Mark Keenum and Dr Stanley Pruisner, the 1997 Nobel laureate for medicine. Ag research has a 20-to-1 return on investment but it perennially gets low priority in federal budgets.
USDA also announced selection of 36 biomass facilities in 14 states where producers can deliver agricultural or forest residues and be eligible for a federal payment to offset transport costs. Up to $12.5 million is available annually for the payments. Some of the payments are targeted toward removal of dead or diseased trees from federal land to reduce fire hazards.