NU, federal partners praise USDA reappropriation that will fully fund UNL precision ag facility

USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Alexander Vaden wrote in an Aug. 12 letter that the repurposed funds will go to other facilities “as part of efforts to improve agricultural research and its benefits to U.S. producers, stakeholders and customers.”

In addition to Lincoln, $26.7 million of freed-up Beltsville funds will fully fund a new lab at the Agricultural Research Service Forage-Animal Production Research Unit in Lexington, Kentucky, and $12 million will help design a new National Plant Germplasm System Centralized Distribution Center in Ames, Iowa.

The U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, is also slated to take over some research projects from the closing of the Maryland research center, the USDA said.

NU and Nebraska leaders in May 2024 celebrated the groundbreaking for the Agricultural Research Service National Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture, coming with the support of U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb.

Fischer on Wednesday said this is “great news” for UNL and the future of the Nebraska facility, for which she has worked to secure $70 million in federal funds over the last six years.

“I thank Secretary Brooke Rollins and Undersecretary Scott Hutchins for recognizing the importance of funding this facility,” Fischer said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to work to get this project fully finished.”

Flood similarly called the USDA commitment a “major win for ag research, Nebraska producers and Lincoln’s economy.” He also thanked Rollins and Hutchins. He partnered with Fischer to secure $41 million over the past three years.

“This investment reflects the administration’s commitment to keeping Nebraska at the forefront of ag innovation,” Flood said in a statement.

The NU Board of Regents has asked the Nebraska Legislature to annually fund $500,000 for ongoing operations and maintenance at the new USDA facility beginning in 2027.

NU President Jeffrey Gold, interim UNL Chancellor Kathy Ankerson and NU Vice President Tiffany Heng-Moss, who is vice chancellor of the ag-based UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in a joint statement praised Rollins, Hutchins and Fischer for their support of and “fierce advocacy” for producers, communities and the future of agriculture.

“We are incredibly proud of Nebraska’s role in innovating the technologies, crop varieties, livestock systems and management practices that drive our nation’s agriculture industry and have contributed to our state’s status as one of the largest ag economies in the nation,” the NU leaders said. 

They continued: “The USDA-ARS Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture on Nebraska Innovation Campus is critical to continuing that momentum and creating the tools that will drive the next generation of American agriculture, while conserving our natural resources and building on our long-standing relationship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

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