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Ag researcher raises concern about USDA funding

A university researcher says the impact of losing USDA agricultural research would be enormous for U.S. farmers and global food production.

Dave Douches has been a plant breeder for nearly four decades and has conducted international research for nearly as long at Michigan State University, most recently as a USAID project lead.

“They terminated over 5000 projects,” he says. “They terminated all the U.S. aid agricultural projects that were in U.S. universities without review. I think what happened with us happens to a lot of other people.”

Douches says USDA staff have only recently returned to shut down USAID grants, and the agency is currently not administering funding that was appropriated by Congress for other projects.

“There’s no opportunity to apply for grants so far in 2025,” he explains. “We’re now heading into our fifth month and we’re really unsure what’s the timeline?”

On Friday, President Trump released his budget proposal for 2026, cutting more than 18 percent of federal spending.

If approved by Congress, state and USAID operations would be cut by nearly $2.5 billion. The Agricultural Research Service, Economic Research Service, and the National Ag Statistics Service were cut by $159 million.

The Natural Resource Conservation Service and Rural Development would see the largest cuts, while funding for the Food Safety and Inspection Service and Rental Assistance Grants was increased.

Ag Secretary Brook Rollins says the proposed budget sets the stage for the next generation of American greatness and the agency is eliminating wasteful spending, reprioritizing services to put farmers first, and cutting red tape.

Douches says canceling research efforts and USDA resources is the opposite of putting farmers first.