10/14/08 The National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Farm and Ranch October 14, 2008 USDA's Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service will soon have a new title. Undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics Gale Buchanan says its because of language included in the new farm bill. Buchanan: "the jist of it is that there will be a new organization the National Institute of Food and Agriculture that we like to refer to as the National Institute. And it will embrace all the current activities, authorities and programs that are now embedded in the Cooperative States Research, Education and Extension Service." Buchanan says the name change is designed to increase the visibility of USDA research programs on a par with other noted scientific organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Buchanan: "There has been a lot of discussion about a national institute and so this surfaced and kind of caught on and caught the attention of congress and they included it in the farm bill." Buchanan says there is however more than a name change involved here Buchanan: "There are some other proposals in the farm bill that we are working on that I think will foster a better coordination among all of our programs, particularly our intramural capability through the Agricultural Research Service and through the programs that are supported by the Cooperative Research, Education and Extension Service." Division chiefs of six newly formed research, education and economics offices will help coordinate among all the programs in the research and education area. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.