With the Senate farm bill being drafted right now, we are in a critical window to ensure the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) receives robust funding. Your outreach can directly influence the final bill. We are asking ASA, CSSA, and SSSA members and Certified Professionals to contact their Senators today and urge support for additional funding for FFAR. FFAR is one of the most effective tools Congress has to expand agricultural research funding, leveraging private investment to more than double the public investment.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Take action now: Senate farm bill priorities are being finalized right now and FFAR funding is not guaranteed. Contact your Senators today to ask them to support continued investment in agricultural research that benefits farmers, consumers, and rural communities.&nbsp;
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Contact Your Senators: Support Agricultural Research in the Farm Bill

As a constituent of our state, I am writing to urge you to support additional mandatory funding for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) in the forthcoming Senate version of the farm bill.

FFAR is one of the most effective ways Congress can expand the impact of farm bill research investments because it matches every federal dollar with at least one dollar of private funding. In fact, FFAR historically exceeds the minimum match, bringing in $1.40 for every $1 of public funding, more than doubling the taxpayer’s investment. This model accelerates practical solutions and improves technology transfer so that innovations reach growers and ranchers faster. FFAR’s work is particularly relevant for agronomy, crop, and soil science, helping producers improve profitability while strengthening resilience and stewardship. 

Here are some examples of accomplishments from funding FFAR:
•  Soil health and cover crops: FFAR has supported major initiatives to improve soil health and expand the development and adoption of cover crops, work that can improve productivity and sustainability for farms while delivering environmental and economic benefits.
•  Connecting soil health to on-farm risk reduction: FFAR-backed research is helping quantify how soil health practices (such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, and crop rotations) can reduce yield risk, work that can help lenders and insurers better recognize and potentially reward practices that reduce financial risk for producers.
•  Improving fertilizer efficiency: FFAR’s Efficient Fertilizer Consortium is advancing rigorous field-trial guidelines and applied research to validate which fertilizer technologies work best in specific conditions, helping growers make science-based nutrient decisions that can improve yields, reduce losses, and lower input costs.
•  Accelerating crop breeding and resilience traits: FFAR-backed research is helping accelerate crop breeding by improving technologies to shorten the timeline for developing new crop varieties, traditionally a 10-year process, while enhancing key producer-relevant traits like yield potential, stress tolerance, and disease resistance

These are exactly the kinds of practical, producer-centered outcomes that strengthen rural economies: better decision tools, more resilient soils, improved nutrient efficiency, and stronger markets for new crops and practices. The return on investment can be measured in reduced risk, lower costs, improved productivity, and new rural economic opportunities.

For these reasons, I respectfully ask that you support additional farm bill funding for FFAR so it can operate at full capacity and continue leveraging non-federal dollars to deliver solutions for U.S. agriculture. Please reach out to Senate Agriculture Committee staff and let them know that you support FFAR and would like to see an additional mandatory investment of at least $200 million in the Senate farm bill.

I would also welcome the opportunity to serve as a resource to your staff on how FFAR-supported research translates into tangible benefits for producers in our state. Thank you for your consideration and for your work on behalf of our state's producers and rural communities.

Thank you for your time.