The cuts to CSREES represent a decrease of $143 million, or approximately 12.17 percent below the FY05 appropriations. Cuts include reducing funding for the Hatch Act and McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry programs; eliminating the Animal Health and Disease/Section 1433 Research Program; and transferring programs authorized by Section 406 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to the National Research Initiative (NRI) and the new State Agricultural Experiment Stations Competitive Grants Programs.
The proposed cuts would not only affect agricultural research money at land-grant universities but also federal funds earmarked for other life sciences, such as agricultural extension programs, veterinarian sciences and medicine.
The budget proposes an additional $75 million to the new State Agricultural Experiment Stations Competitive Grants Programs, under which universities compete for funding based on performance.
Missouri Senator Kit Bond, a member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, stated that the "proposed cuts to the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service program would have a significant and negative impact on the University of Missouri. This is a widely supported program and an important part of the Land Grant System and I will fight for the funds the University needs."
More information can be found at http://www.nasulgc-bac.com/documents.htm.
