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Long-term ag research requires support from Congress

A research director says Congress making USDA’s Ag Research Service a priority is critical for the future of agricultural production.

Phil Robertson is the director of Michigan State University’s Long-Term Agroecosystem Project.

“The president’s budget cut the LTAR program and ARS pretty substantially,” he says. “That has not translated into actual cuts, though both the House and the Senate are very strongly in favor of the LTAR program in the FY ‘26 budget.”

The site is one of 19 across the country studying how agricultural production can increase sustainably.

Robertson tells Brownfield many innovations adopted by farmers are explored with USDA-supported research first.

“And then they move on farm to on-farm research trials run by university educators in partnership with extension and in partnership with farmers,” he explains. “And then they’re adopted by farmers. And I think as we look forward, we’re hoping that this project will help to inform and accelerate that process.”

MSU’s experiment compares the most common regional practices in corn and soybean rotations across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes to a five-crop rotation stacked with conservation practices.

Congress needs to pass the budget or a continuing resolution by the end of this month to avoid a government shutdown.

Brownfield interviewed Robertson during the MSU LTAR Annual Field Day at the Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners.