RELEASE: Agricultural Stakeholders Ask Congress to Fund Advanced Research Agency in FY26

Washington, DC — April 1, 2025 — Today, the Breakthrough Institute, joined by a broad coalition of scientific societies, research stakeholders, and farm organizations delivered a letter asking leaders of the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture to provide $10 million in funding for the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AgARDA) in the upcoming FY2026 appropriations bill.

The letter emphasizes the need for bold investments in agriculture research to tackle growing challenges such as pest and disease pressures, like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, rising farm input costs, and the need for technological innovation to meet global food demands.

Established in the 2018 Farm Bill and modeled after successful advanced research agencies like the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), AgARDA aims to foster high-risk, high-reward research that will benefit the U.S. food and agriculture value chain. Despite its authorization in the Farm Bill, the program has received less than $4 million in appropriations funding from Congress to date.

The letter stresses that AGARDA requires significantly more funding to ensure its success, citing similar agencies that received substantial initial investments to drive impactful results. Providing AgARDA with robust funding this year is essential to “unlock the potential for groundbreaking innovations that will not only benefit producers and consumers but also ensure the resilience of our agricultural systems and keep U.S. agriculture globally competitive.”

The letter urges Congress to fund AgARDA at a minimum of $10 million for FY2026, enabling the program to appoint leadership, hire staff, and begin to launch research projects.

Click here to read the full letter.

###

Media Contact:

Emily Bass

Director of Federal Policy, Food and Agriculture

emily@thebreakthrough.org