Land-Grant University Research as a Driver of Progress in Agriscience

The agricultural industries of the United States are a vital part of our economy, as are the land-grant universities that are inextricably tied to those industries. Given this importance, NIFA engaged TEConomy Partners, LLC, to categorize and describe the broad range of R&D and associated extension activity undertaken by the land-grant university system and supported by NIFA funding. The analysis in this chapter provides this evaluation and categorization and compares Capacity and Competitive funded research projects to the larger body of published agricultural research. We find that, compared to overall publications, Capacity projects are more focused on production-oriented areas than basic sciences, while Competitively funded research has its largest focus in basic sciences. Additionally, a number of areas that are small or missing from overall publications are present in notably higher concentrations in Capacity projects. The focus areas of both Capacity and Competitively funded research projects follow the goals of the NIFA National Challenge Areas and the 2014 Farm Bill. Finally, we find evidence of substantial return on investment for both forms of funding.