Letter to the Editor: “Brain Drain” and Loss of Resources Jeopardize the Continued Use of Domestic Animals for Agricultural and Biomedical Research

Abstract

Research on cattle, swine, sheep, goats, poultry, horses, and aquatic species (domestic species) at US land grant institutions is integral to maintaining an abundant, safe, affordable, and high quality supply of meat, dairy products, and eggs, which are important components of most human diets. Research on domestic species is also necessary to maintain global competitiveness of US animal agriculture and to find solutions to complex animal and human diseases. Nevertheless, a recent publication in the Journal of Animal Science (JAS; Ireland et al., 2008) documents the rapid erosion of federal and state budgets, years of inadequate and declining funding from the USDA for the National Research Initiative competitive grants program (the major agricultural competitive grants source), significant reductions in farm animal species and numbers at land grant institutions, and declining enrollment for graduate studies in the animal sciences. The article also emphasizes that because of these lost resources, recruitment of top-notch scientists who use such largeanimal models to conduct research relevant to animal agriculture and biomedicine at land grant institutions is in significant jeopardy. Perhaps most notable in the JAS article is the documentation that despite the high annual economic value of US animal agriculture (~$110 billion), less than 0.04% of the USDA’s $93 billion budget is currently committed to competitive funding of animal agricultural research. Disappointingly, the recently passed 2008 Farm Bill, which created a National Institute for Food and Agriculture and authorized expansion of the USDA’s competitive grants program [110th CONGRESS, 2d Session, H. R. 6124, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.