WASHINGTON, D.C. — Legislation introduced by key senators late last month would establish a new foundation dedicated to food and agriculture research.

The bill, introduced by U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), would establish a nonprofit corporation called the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). What’s different about it is it would be funded by the private sector.

In an announcement dated March 29 Roberts said he hoped the new legislation could be incorporated into the upcoming farm bill. “Agriculture research must remain a priority for our nation, especially given the role food plays in national security and stability,” he said.

“Establishing this foundation is an innovative way to generate new sources of funding for agricultural research by leveraging our public investment in agricultural research with private donations during a time of federal budgetary constraints. This foundation model has a proven track record of success and will complement and maximize the use of tax dollars in agricultural research, while establishing a consistent and growing resource for researchers that will benefit the agriculture industry as a whole.”

One of the rationales behind the idea is that producers of food, fuel and fiber face a huge challenge of having to double their production over the coming decades if future populations are to be adequately fed. Roberts compared the FFAR to other foundations, including the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Forest Foundation.

Stabenow said the proposed foundation is one more reason to get the farm bill completed “as soon as possible.” Approximately 100 groups are supporting the creation of the new entity. They sent a joint letter to Stabenow and Roberts on March 29 highlighting their enthusiastic support.

“A FFAR would complement and add to USDA’s portfolio of intramural and extramural research programs that help solve current and future challenges facing agriculture, develop new opportunities for American agriculture and bring innovative technology from laboratory to marketplace,” the letter stated.

Groups as diverse as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American Assoc. of Swine Veterinarians and American Soybean Assoc. (ASA) signed the letter. Danny Murphy, first vice president of the ASA, reiterated that more research is needed to help producers succeed, in light of the growing world population.

“We just think it’s critical that as the world population approaches nine billion people, that we have advanced, cutting-edge research,” he said. “There’s a statistic that says in the next 38 years we’re going to have to produce as much food as what’s been produced in the history of mankind, to date.”

Murphy said the FFAR would be similar to the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), but the FFAR would have the private foundation part, an element that’s lacking in the government group. He said AFRI has been underfunded for some time now.

“I think we just feel like this foundation gives us another avenue to find the research we’ll need in the future,” he said.

He hopes there will be some public money included in the FFAR’s budget; he called it a public-private partnership. Murphy also said he’s hopeful there will be bipartisan support for the legislation in the Senate, but he’s not sure how it will be greeted in the House.