What does the future hold for agriculture? This question was posed to a panel of experts (and stakeholders) this week at a National Ag Day event in Washington, D.C.
Five key themes emerged in the discussion: food safety and animal welfare; water; opportunities for ag grads; data science and agricultural research; and engagement with consumers.
Alison Rice (@agweb_alison) reports for AgWeb on one of the key themes: public investment in agricultural research.
“There is an underfunding of ag research and investment in ag research across the board,” said [Ronnie] Green, who said Brazil and China are spending more on ag research than the U.S. right now. “It’s not only USDA that should be investing in ag research,” he said. “It should be the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy.”