 Former logo of the Agricultural Research Service | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | November 2, 1953 (1953-11-2) |
| Jurisdiction | United States federal government |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Employees | 7,379 employees (September 2017)[1] |
| Annual budget | $1.2 billion (FY18) |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | United States Department of Agriculture |
| Website | ars.usda.gov |
| Footnotes | |
| [2] | |
TheAgricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of theUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA).[3] ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with extending the nation's scientific knowledge and solving agricultural problems through its four national program areas:nutrition,food safety and quality; animal production and protection;natural resources and sustainable agricultural systems; and crop production and protection. ARS research focuses on solving problems affecting Americans every day.[3] The ARS Headquarters is located in the Jamie L. Whitten Building on Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C., and the headquarters staff is located at the George Washington Carver Center (GWCC) in Beltsville, Maryland.[4] For 2018, its budget was $1.2 billion.[5] For 2023, the budget grew to $1.9 billion.[6]
ARS conducts scientific research for the American public. Their main focus is on research to develop solutions to agricultural problems and provide information access and dissemination to:
ARS research complements the work of state colleges and universities, agricultural experiment stations, other federal and state agencies, and the private sector. ARS research may often focus on regional issues that have national implications, and where there is a clear federal role. ARS also provides information on its research results to USDA action and regulatory agencies and to several other federal regulatory agencies, including theFood and Drug Administration and theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency.[7][3]
ARS disseminates much of its research results through scientific journals, technical publications,Agricultural Research magazine,[8] and other forums. Information is also distributed through ARS'sNational Agricultural Library (NAL).[3] ARS has more than 150 librarians and other information specialists who work at two NAL locations—the Abraham Lincoln Building in Beltsville, Maryland; and the DC Reference Center in Washington, D.C. NAL provides reference and information services, document delivery, interlibrary loan and interlibrary borrowing services to a variety of audiences.[9]
Prior to the inception of ARS, agricultural research was first conducted under the umbrella of the Agricultural Department in the U.S. Patent Office in 1839. It was created to collect statistics, distribute seeds and compile and distribute pertinent information. In 1862 the USDA was created and agricultural research was moved to its department. That same year, the department issued its first research bulletin on the sugar content of grape varietals and their suitability for wine. Six years later the USDA would begin its first research on animal diseases, specifically hog cholera, which was causing devastating losses at the time. In the early 1900s the USDA began analyzing food composition and the first studies of nutrition and the effects of cooking and processing foods were conducted. Finally, in 1953 the Agricultural Research Service was created to be the USDA's primary scientific research agency.[10][11]
ARS supports more than 2,000 scientists and post docs working on approximately 690 research projects within 15 National Programs at more than 90 research locations.[3] The ARS is divided into 5 geographic areas: Midwest Area, Northeast Area, Pacific West Area, Plains Area, and Southeast Area.[12] ARS has five major regional research centers:
The research centers focus on innovation in agricultural practices, pest control, health, and nutrition among other things. Work at these facilities has given life to numerous products, processes, and technologies.[13][14][15][16]
ARS'Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) inBeltsville, Maryland, is the world's largest agricultural research complex.[17] Other D.C. area locations include theUnited States National Agricultural Library and theUnited States National Arboretum.
ARS also has six major human nutrition research centers that focus on solving a wide spectrum of human nutrition questions by providing authoritative, peer-reviewed, science-based evidence.[18] The centers are located in Arkansas, Maryland, Texas, North Dakota, Massachusetts (theHuman Nutrition Research Center on Aging), and California. ARS scientists at these centers study the role of food and dietary components in human health from conception to advanced age.[18]
The ARS also offers the Culture Collection, which is the largest public collection of microorganisms in the world, containing approximately 93,000 strains of bacteria and fungi. The ARS Culture Collection is housed at theNational Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR).[19] There is also a collection ofentomopathogenic fungi, called ARSEF, at the Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health inIthaca, New York.[20][21] The ARS operates theU.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory inFort Pierce, Florida,[22] and theU.S. National Poultry Research Center inAthens, Georgia.[23] Other notable ARS facilities includeNorthern Great Basin Experimental Range in Oregon, and formerly thePlum Island Animal Disease Center offLong Island.
Several ARS research units focus on pests, diseases, and management practices of horticultural crops. TheCereal Disease Laboratory is located on the campus of theUniversity of Minnesota inSaint Paul.[24][25][26] It primarily hosts research intorusts andFusaria of cereals.[24][25][26] TheSan Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center in Parlier, California conducts research on specialty crops including grapes, citrus, almonds, alfalfa, peaches, pomegranates, and many others. Several research locations throughout the US also housegermplasm collections of plant species important for agricultural and industrial uses as part of theNational Genetic Resources Program.[27]
From the very beginning the Department of Agriculture and in turn the Agricultural Research Service has been focused on improving not only the farming industry but also the quality of food and the health of Americans. In 1985, technology to producelactose-free milk, yogurt, and ice cream was developed through the Agricultural Research Service.[28] The grape breeding program, currently located in Parlier, CA which began in 1923, developedseedless grapes and continues to release new grapevine varieties with improved traits.[29] The ARS Citrus and Subtropical Products Laboratory in Winter Haven, Florida, actively works to improve the taste oforange juice concentrate.[30]
The Agricultural Research Service had aToxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) research program, which experimented on cats infected with the parasite, from 1982 until 2018. The prevalence ofT. gondii parasite has been reduced by 50% in the U.S. As of September 2018,[update] which the ARS claims is a result of their research. The USDA has since discontinued the use of cats in their research amid acute accusations of animal abuse, and a lack of meaningful contribution to the field in recent years (only three of thirteen papers published aboutT. gondii by the ARS were published after the year 2000).[31][32][33]
More recently, the ARS has focused research on genetics and plant and animal DNA. Their research has developed pest-resistant corn, faster growing plants and fish, and a focus on plant and animalgenome research and mapping. Outside of scientific research, the ARS has worked to release databases on food components in order to assist consumers with making informed decisions about food choices.[3][10]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)The organization alleges that the lab cats, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture houses at a facility in Beltsville, Md., were fed tongues, brains and hearts of cats purchased in at a meat market in China. Dogs purchased from shelters in Colombia and Brazil were killed, the report claims; then their brains, tongues and hearts were fed to the research cats. The goal was to study the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which causes toxoplasmosis, a flu-like disease that can infect humans for weeks or months. ... Goodman called the practice "kitten cannibalism."
| Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment | ||
| Under Secretary for Rural Development | ||
| Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services | ||
| Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety | ||
| Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics | ||
| Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs | ||
| Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation |
| |
| Office of the Chief Financial Officer | ||
*Reports directly to the Secretary of Agriculture | ||
