The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) functions as the principal research agency of the US Department of Agriculture. ARS focuses on research and development in nutrition, food quality, animal production, crop production, and natural resources and sustainability. Its stated goal is to provide the public with up-to-date information from studies that will be beneficial to consumers, their health and the private agricultural sector.

 

The United States government began supporting agricultural research in 1839, when the Agricultural Division of the Patent Office in the Department of State was formed. The Agricultural Division turned into a Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1962, and that same year it issued its first Research Bulletin on the sugar content of varieties of grapes and their suitability for wine.  

 

In 1868, USDA first began research on animal diseases, and for the next 10 years a main focus of research was on hog cholera, which caused devastating losses to farmers. This type of research continued throughout the 20th Century. The USDA also began to analyze the chemical composition of foods at the turn of the century, when the first studies into food’s nutrition content and the effect of cooking and processing began. Soil conservation was another focus of USDA research at that time and soil mapping used to predict and control erosion began in 1899. In the early 1900s, research began on breeding plants for disease resistance and studies of cattle diseases and dairy improvement. The field of genetics in animal breeding was founded in 1921.

 

The Agriculture Research Service was established on November 2, 1953, as the USDA’s primary scientific research agency. Establishing the ARS led to the merging of smaller bureaus into one larger division to oversee all the research programs. These smaller bureaus included agricultural and industrial chemistry, animal industry, dairy industry, human nutrition and home economics, and many others.

 

In 1958 the National Seed Storage Laboratory was established for the long-term storage of plant germplasm collected from all over the world and used in research to improve crops in the United States. It is now called the National Germplasm Resources Laboratory. Research increased and new laboratories were built all over the country during the next 20 years, partly the result of the boom in research into alternatives to chemical insecticides. 

 

Currently, genetic and DNA research dominates ARS research with the development of such things as pest-resistant corn, fast-growing plants and fish and the cloning of a piglet (in 2001). In 2004 ARS released databases containing information on the components in food for research into the health benefits of diets rich in plant foods, and the following year it released What’s In The Foods You Eat—Search Tool, an Internet search tool that can be used along with USDA’s MyPyramid Tracker, another free Internet service for consumers to track their nutrition needs. One of the latest areas of research is animal genome research and mapping. 

 

The Agricultural Research Service has approximately 1,000 projects being conducted throughout the nation and the world. Currently, scientists are researching such things as a solution to the decline in black raspberries, how to improve popcorn, creating cranberries packed with even more health benefits, and how Asian cockroaches can help Texan cotton growers. Four of ARS’ mose unusual research projects of recent years are:

Saliva – A Window to Health Status.

 

The Agricultural Research Service is in charge of more than 1,200 research projects (called National Programs) designed to explore and resolve agriculture-related issues that affect the American farming industry and the quality of food consumed by Americans. The projects investigate matters concerning human nutrition, the quality and safety of agricultural products, the preservation of natural resources, and economic opportunities for farmers and rural communities. Part of its function is also to create reports and disseminate information to the American public regarding their research findings and recommendations. 

 

ARS has three main branches. The program planning, coordination and support branch is the administrative branch that manages the National Programs, budgets, security, technology transfers, quality review, legislative affairs and international research. The research implementation branch consists of more than a hundred research laboratories throughout the United States. Finally, the information delivery branch consists of the National Agricultural Library, which provides information on alternative farming systems, food and nutrition, food safety, invasive species, technology transfer, water quality, animal welfare and rural information services.

 

National research programs are divided into four categories. Under Nutrition, Food Safety and Quality, the ARS Human Nutrition Research Program includes analyzing the composition of foods, nutrition monitoring, nutrient requirements and health promoting intervention strategies. The Food Safety Program, focused in 14 states, looks at microbial pathogens, chemical residues, mycotoxins and toxic plants. Under the Quality Research Program, scientists’ aims regard preservation, enhancement, new processes and uses, and value-added foods and bio-based products. Additionally, the Natural Resources and Sustainable Agricultural Systems Program has a group focused on Global Change. These scientists study carbon cycle and storage, trace gases, agricultural ecosystems impact, and changes in weather and the water cycle at farm, ranch and regional scales in roughly 12 states. Each research program category (Water Resource Management; Soil Resource Management; Air Quality; Rangeland, Pasture, and Forages; Manure and Byproduct Utilization; Integrated Agricultural Systems; Water Availability and Watershed Management; Agricultural System Competitiveness and Sustainability; and Bioenergy and Energy Alternatives) has its own specific research agenda, which provide action plans, program reports, project information and the project teams.

 

International research programs are divided by region and country and provide information on past and current projects.

 

Under Research Initiatives, the public can view current themes the ARS is working on with other groups. The Grape Research Workshop is a continuous conversation between the grape product industry and ARS; the grape industry wants to know more about the research ARS scientists are doing, where their research is headed, and how this will affect them. 

 

ARS also focuses on partnerships that can be formed with the agency. These partnerships span businesses, other federal agencies, state and local governments and universities. The partnerships are intended to supplement research programs, accelerate private sector results and exchange information concerning the environment and economic developments. ARS also has several Technology Transfer Offices that have helped form more than 1,000 government and industry partnerships, as well as over 200 active license agreements with businesses. 

 

The Agricultural Research Service spent approximately $1.6 billion on contractors from 2000-2008, according to USAspending.gov. Almost 9,000 businesses and organizations were paid by ARS for goods and services that included construction of structures and facilities ($390 million), industrial buildings ($211 million), maintenance and repair of administrative facilities and service buildings ($99 million), laboratory equipment and supplies ($84 million) and architect and engineering services ($70 million).

 

The top 10 contractors of ARS are:

 

In February 2008, the US Sheep Experiment Station (part of the Agricultural Research Service) reached a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project. The settlement required the Sheep Station to analyze the environmental effects of sheep grazing under the National Environmental Policy Act and to consult with the US Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the impacts of the sheep grazing on threatened and endangered species in the area.

 

The environmental groups filed suit over the presence of thousands of domestic sheep in eastern Idaho, arguing that the animals posed a threat to endangered native wildlife such as Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, lynx, gray wolves and grizzly bears.

 

According to the groups, diseases transmitted from domestic sheep threaten bighorn sheep herds. Also, lynx, wolves and grizzly bears are at risk from the sheep grazing by predator control measures, such as steel leghold traps and strangulation snares, aerial gunning and poisons.

 

The Sheep Station manages about 48,000 acres, where it has been grazing sheep without any environmental analysis or consideration of adverse impacts to endangered species, according to environmentalists.

Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Challenging Illegal Sheep Grazing in Yellowstone Ecosystem: U.S. Sheep Experiment Station Agrees to Conduct Environmental Analysis (press release, Center for Biological Diversity)

 

In an effort to reduce the threat of mad cow disease to the American cattle industry, the Agricultural Research Service has signed off on the results of a research project involving genetically modified (GMO) cows that don’t produce the source of the devastating disorder. ARS scientists evaluated cattle that have been altered so they don’t produce prions, the protein that can cause cows to develop bovine spongiform encephalopathy, aka mad cow disease.

 

ARS’ top official, Edward Knipling, said the GMO cows showed no observable adverse effects on the animals’ health. “These cattle can help in the exploration and improved understanding of how prions function and cause disease, especially with relation to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE,” said Knipling. “In particular, cattle lacking the gene that produces prions can help scientists test the resistance to prion propagation, not only in the laboratory, but in live animals as well.”

 

ARS studied eight Holstein males that were developed by Hematech Inc., a pharmaceutical research company based in Sioux Falls, SD. The evaluation revealed no apparent developmental abnormalities in the prion-free cattle.

Mad Cow Breakthrough? Genetically Modified Cattle Are Prion Free (ARS/Science Daily)

 

 

In 2005, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) launched an investigation after learningthat the Department of Agriculture was skimming funds off of congressional earmarks (aka “pork projects”). Nelson’s investigation found numerous offices guilty of “earmark skimming.” In many cases federal agencies were found to be taking cuts from earmarked funds for years, some for unrelated purposes as varied as staff salaries and postage stamps.

 

Nelson asked the Congressional Research Service to look into the matter, and it found that the federal government had no umbrella legal authority that allowed agencies to take a cut of each earmark and no overall standard for how much agencies should take.

 

The amount taken from earmarks varied within an agency. The Agricultural Research Service, for example, took 10% of earmarks, while the Extension Service at the Agriculture Department took 4%.