The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is looking for stakeholder feedback to help guide the Agriculture Innovation Agenda. The Request for Information will remain open through November 9 for comments to be submitted. USDA is looking for input on the most advanced technologies and practices that are available which can be immediately used in U.S. agricultural production.
“Across America, we have seen significant advances in agricultural production efficiency and conservation performance during the past two decades,” USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey said in a press release. “We want to keep the momentum. As part of our Agriculture Innovation Agenda, USDA wants to continue helping farmers access new approaches.”
USDA is seeking out ready-to-go technologies and practices that are completely developed. The innovations will also need to have been field-tested with data compiled through independent research trials. The underlying goal of the Agriculture Innovation Agenda is to help advance the effort to increase agricultural production by 40 percent while simultaneously cutting agriculture’s impact on the environment by 50 percent.
USDA is welcoming public comments and written stakeholder input from a variety of sources. Farmers, trade associations, commodity boards, and any others involved in the supply chain or in the development of best management practices and technologies are encouraged to comment. The input that is gathered will assist USDA in its development of an agriculture innovation technology strategy for its customer-facing programs.
The public comment period is designed to help with the identification and acceleration of the adoption of ready-to-go innovations. The Agriculture Innovation Agenda is made up of four primary components. The initiative is focused on the development of a strategy for innovation and incorporating the work of USDA’s customer-facing agencies into USDA programs. USDA will also work to continually review productivity and conservation data to measure progress towards achieving benchmark goals.
About the Author
