AgSec Vilsack is optimistic about a foundation created by the 2014 farm law to encourage agricultural research. Funding is a recurrent problem despite wide agreement about the long-term payoff from the work. “I think you’re going to see very broad interest in this foundation,” Vilsack told NAAJ. He said billionaire Bill Gates, whose foundation is a leader in agricultural issues, “is highly interested in this foundation.”
The farm law provides $200 mln in federal matching funds to leverage private funds for agricultural research. Backers say the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research will be an innovative method to foster investment in research. USDA has its own research arm and provides money to land-grant universities to conduct ag research.