NAAA is pleased to report that the
association continues to be successful in ensuring the importance of aerial
application research to USDA and Congress. The House Appropriations Committee
approved the Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture Appropriations Bill and included
language endorsing the continued support of the USDA-ARS Aerial Application
Technology Program. The Committee recommended an appropriation of approximately
$1.122 billion for the Agricultural Research Service, a small reduction
compared with $1.132 billion of funding that the ARS received in Fiscal Year
2015, and equal to what ARS received in 2014.
Since 2002 NAAA has been successful in
lobbying the government for an additional $7,112,500 to be invested in aerial
application research.
The mention of aerial application within House
legislation is once again no small feat, as it is one of only a few programs
specifically mentioned. The language reads as follows and can be found by
going to page 17 here:
Aerial
Application Research.—The Committee recognizes the importance of the ARS
Aerial Application Technology Program. The program conducts innovative
research making aerial applications more efficient, effective, and precise.
Research for aerial application serves the public good as a vital tool for
the future, as agriculture strives to meet the food, fiber, and bio-energy
demands of a growing population.
The Senate has given no indication as to when it
plans to introduce or vote on a bill. NAAA will continue to work for adequate
USDA-ARS funding for the continued design of aerial application technologies,
tools and techniques that mitigate drift, result in fuel savings and
make aerial applications more efficacious. Favorable committee report language
sends a strong message to the USDA to continue to sustain appropriate funding
for aerial application research, and this message couldn’t be more important as
USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), where the aerial application
research unit is housed, has had its budget cut over the past few years
resulting in the shutdown of 10 research units.
