United States Department of Agriculture
USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT
A ROADMAP FOR USDA SCIENCE FROM 2020 TO 2025

United States Department of Agriculture
USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT
A ROADMAP FOR USDA SCIENCE FROM 2020 TO 2025

Contents
vi Introductory Message
1 Background
4 Movements in Science and Agriculture
10 Theme 1 - Sustainable Ag Intensifcation
16 Theme 2 - Ag Climate Adaptation
20 Theme 3 - Food and Nutrition Translation
24 Theme 4 - Value Added Innovations
28 Theme 5 - Ag Science Policy Leadership
33 Program Metrics and Performance Indicators
33 One Science Blueprint for OneUSDA
Scientifc Excellence
iii


Introductory Message
Continued investment into agriculture science is essential as the world population grows concomitant demand for the goods and
services provided by America’s farm and forest lands. As the world’s largest exporter of food, U.S. agricultural land and the people
who steward it will need to intensify production to meet demand. At the same time, we must conserve and renew natural resources for
generations to come.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is focusing on collaborative science which aligns our work in fundamental research with projects
funded through our extramural and intramural research programs, as well as the knowledge and information delivered by our statistical
survey and economic analytics programs. This suite of programs, funding, and partnerships enable USDA to conduct critical, long-term,
broad-scale science and spur innovation throughout the agriculture, natural resource, and food systems.
Secretary Sonny Perdue has directed all of USDA to prioritize customer service. Accordingly, almost every day USDA consults formally
or informally with external stakeholders, partners, landowners, policy experts, and industry and consumer groups. For USDA scientists,
that equates to ensuring our discoveries, technology developments, data, information, and knowledge are valuable tools for farmers,
ranchers, foresters, industry, producers, and consumers. It means using internal systems to be relevant and accountable to our
customers, and it means doing what we can to move science into practice.
Fortunately, USDA has a long and distinguished history of moving science into practice. We are committed to strengthening our
technology transfer efforts, partnerships with our Nation’s colleges and universities, cooperative extension and outreach efforts, as well
as youth development, Science Technology Engineering Math education initiatives and mentorship for developing the next generation of
agricultural, forest, and food researchers. These are core, foundational success stories to promote innovation and entrepreneurship and
are the backbone of American global leadership in applied science.
Scientifc integrity is paramount at USDA. Our federally recognized Scientifc Integrity Policy is in action across the Department,
promoting and protecting scientifc integrity, both in the performance of scientifc research and discovery and in the use of that research.
We take this responsibility seriously, and we look forward to informing and engaging on the accomplishments of USDA’s entire food and
agricultural research, data, and statistics portfolio.
vi
This Science Blueprint guides USDA’s science priorities for the next 5 years, building from past success. It is not, however, a catalog
of every science activity or focus within the Department. Indeed, departing from past blueprints, it is intentionally concise in order to
provide focused leadership and direction to the use of resources. It is also an invitation to partners throughout our Nation to propose
innovative ideas to strengthen the themes provided here, which are essential to continuing U.S. leadership in the production of food,
wood, and other agricultural products.
As we are entrusted with public taxpayer investments, we want to ensure our scientifc discoveries transition into deliverables “that
matter” and provide a return on investment to taxpayers through tools that beneft commercial agricultural and food and nutrition
systems. Agriculture today is a highly diversifed and complex industry; our focus is to use science to reduce complexity for both the
producer and consumer. The stakes are high with a growing population and a changing environment, but the USDA team, with our many
partners, is confdent that this blueprint will pave the pathway to meet these challenges.
Our leaders and scientists must be good listeners and use a rigorous process to prioritize identifed needs, invest resources in the most
critical needs, and be accountable with those investments through program metrics, performance indicators, and scientifc excellence
across the OneUSDA family. The Department will also champion and collaborate through innovative, public-private partnerships and
work with like-minded organizations such as the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.
So, the innovation, diversity, and integrity of U.S. agriculture and the science foundational to its productivity will ensure that American
agriculture and food and nutrition systems continue to provide customer service to both producers and consumers in order to
“Do Right and Feed Everyone.”
Scott H. Hutchins, Ph.D.
Deputy Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics
United States Department of Agriculture
vii

Background and fber system, as well as strong communities, families, and
youth requires a focused approach to science, education, and
analysis in critical core areas.
Secretary Sonny Perdue issued the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Strategic Plan for FY 2018-2022 in May
USDA’s mission area leadership compiled an update to the REE
2018 to articulate a customer-frst agenda outlined in seven
Action Plan from 2014 to set forth a blueprint for USDA’s science
strategic goals that guide the work of USDA to ensure our
initiatives for 2020-2025. This update began under the leadership
efforts best serve the American people.
of then Acting Deputy Under Secretary of the REE mission area
Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, integrated the goals from the USDA
1. Ensure USDA Programs Are Delivered Effciently,
Strategic Plan FY 2018-2022 developed under the leadership of
Effectively, With Integrity and a Focus on
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, and is published under
Customer Service
the leadership of REE Deputy Under Secretary Dr. Scott Hutchins.
2. Maximize the Ability of American Agricultural Producers
to Prosper by Feeding and Clothing the World We have a vision to provide economic opportunity through
innovation, helping rural America to thrive; to promote agriculture
3. Promote American Agricultural Products and Exports
production that better nourishes Americans while also helping
feed others throughout the world; and to preserve our Nation's
4. Facilitate Rural Prosperity and Economic Development
natural resources through conservation, restored forests,
5. Strengthen the Stewardship of Private Lands Through improved watersheds, and healthy private working lands.
Technology and Research
This Blueprint lays out overarching themes that provide a frame-
6. Ensure Productive and Sustainable Use of Our National work for our vision for the USDA’s science initiatives. The goal
Forest System Lands of setting forth this framework is to provide organizational clarity,
speed, and agility to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s
7. Provide All Americans Access to a Safe, Nutritious, and
agricultural enterprise. This Blueprint is intentionally concise
Secure Food Supply
and customer-focused so that we can build on the trust USDA
science holds with stakeholders in the United States and around
Secretary Perdue’s aspiration is to make USDA the most
the world as well as be assertive as leaders in agricultural science
effective, the most effcient, the most customer-focused, and
and innovation.
the best managed Federal Department. To make that vision a
reality, the Department has increased the interconnectedness of
This document outlines the implementation of this mission with
mission areas, agencies, and offces through the OneUSDA effort.
a blueprint that outlines fve overarching Program Themes. This
This call to action is a reminder to all USDA employees that we
structure will allow organizational clarity, speed, and agility. These
are part of one team, working together to provide the best
Program Themes are:
service to our customers and U.S. producers and consumers.
1. Sustainable Ag Intensifcation
The Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area
2. Ag Climate Adaptation
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture has Federal leadership
3. Food and Nutrition Translation
responsibility for advancing scientifc knowledge related to
agriculture through research, extension, and education. The 4. Value-Added Innovations
work of the REE mission area stretches across all seven USDA 5. Ag Science Policy Leadership
strategic goals and applies across the diverse and extensive
agricultural sector. Each theme is briefy summarized and then objectives, strategies,
and evidence-building measures are discussed.
The agencies of the REE mission area serve our customers
throughout the country and inside the Department by delivering
foundational and applied research, timely and relevant data,
and information, as well as the creation and dissemination of
knowledge that benefts the entire Nation. Accomplishing this
ambitious agenda for a safe, sustainable, competitive U.S. food
1
In the Research, Education, and Economics mission area, there are four agencies and a staff offce.
The Science Blueprint also includes the science arm of the USDA Forest Service.
The Agricultural Research The National Institute of Food The Economic Research Service
Service (ARS) is USDA’s chief and Agriculture (NIFA) is USDA’s (ERS) anticipates trends and
scientifc in-house research agency. primary extramural research, emerging issues in agriculture, food,
ARS has a workforce of approximately education, and extension funding the environment, and rural America
8,000 employees, including 2,000 agency, providing leadership and and conducts economic research to
scientists and post docs in 90+ funding for programs that advance inform public and private decision
research locations. ARS’s research agriculture-related sciences. NIFA making. Together with the National
mission is to fnd solutions to invests in and supports initiatives Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS),
agricultural problems that affect that ensure the long-term viability ERS is one of USDA’s two principal
Americans every day from feld to of agriculture. NIFA applies an Federal statistical agencies responsible
table and includes about 690 research integrated approach to ensure that for ensuring the quality, objectivity,
projects within 16 national programs. groundbreaking discoveries in and transparency of the statistical
agriculture-related sciences and information and analysis it provides.
technologies reach the people who ERS provides the Nation’s statistics
can put them into practice. Through for food security, farm income,
partnerships with the Land-Grant and agricultural productivity, and
University System and government, contributes to the work of USDA’s
private, and non-proft organizations, World Agricultural Outlook Board.
NIFA programs can provide solutions
to those who need them.
2 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
USDA has additional research authorities in divisions of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, Natural Resources Conservation
Service, Food and Nutrition Service, and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service as well as the others in the
Marketing and Regulatory Programs mission area. These scientists and researchers contribute funding,
human capital, and collaborative expertise to USDA science efforts.
The National Agricultural The research and development arm The Offce of the Chief Scientist
Statistics Service (NASS), USDA’s of the Forest Service (FS R&D), (OCS) was established in accordance
chief statistical agency, is committed a component of USDA, works at the with the Food, Conservation, and
to providing timely, accurate, and forefront of science to improve the Energy Act of 2008 to provide
useful statistics in service to U.S. health and use of our Nation’s forests strategic coordination of the science
agriculture. NASS conducts hundreds and grasslands and innovative use that informs the Department’s and
of surveys every year and prepares of wood products. The work has a the Federal Government’s decisions,
reports covering virtually every aspect steady focus on informing policy and policies, and regulations that
of U.S. agriculture. Production and land-management decisions, whether impact all aspects of U.S. food and
supplies of food and fber, prices paid it addresses invasive insects, degraded agriculture and related landscapes
and received by farmers, farm labor river ecosystems, or sustainable and communities.
and wages, farm fnances, chemical ways to harvest forest products. The
use, and changes in the demographics researchers work independently and
of U.S. producers are only a with a range of partners, including
few examples. other agencies, academia, nonproft
groups, and industry. The information
and technology produced through
basic and applied science programs
is available to the public for its beneft
and use.
3
Movements in Science and Agriculture
There are cross-cutting, macro movements in science with regard to agricultural production,
food and nutrition systems, and natural resource stewardship and the applied research, data,
and information analysis that support those systems. These considerations require
coordination across the Department and Federal Government and include:
Open Data
USDA promotes the proactive sharing of data to make
information and research results about agriculture and
nutrition available, accessible, and usable worldwide. As
a founding partner of the Global Open Data for Agriculture
and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative, USDA empowered
open data conversations about agriculture and nutrition
data all over the world. USDA’s open data vision is to
provide public access to all the products of USDA-funded
research while protecting the confdentiality of individual
and proprietary data. We are also committed to ensuring
that USDA’s public data is easy to access, interpret, and
use, accelerating further scientifc and public policy
research. In support of this vision, USDA is developing
an integrated, cloud-based platform that houses USDA’s
scientifc models and decision support tools.
4 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Big Data
Large volumes of information are being generated
and collected rapidly, which offers great challenge in
stewardship and utilization. The agricultural community
uses big data to help farmers and the whole food system
make decisions that will increase yields and deliver
safe, nutritious food to communities around the world.
Predictive modeling requires comprehensive datasets
with numerous measurements and corresponding
performance assessments that are multiplied across
various management regimes over multiple years. To
maximize the impact of these critical datasets, USDA
conducts and invests in data science, data infrastructure,
and cross disciplinary, data-driven decision making for
the agricultural sector.
Gene Editing
The latest developments in plant and animal breeding
methods offer important tools for addressing disease
resistance, drought tolerance, and nutrient content,
among other challenges. However, these technological
advances may raise important questions about consumer
acceptance, risk, and safety assessments. As a result,
our science agencies fund and engage in research
into the social and economic implications of emerging
technologies to understand producer, stakeholder, and
public engagement with gene editing techniques for
agricultural use. This research allows for data-driven
decision making for policy makers, domestically
and internationally.
Science of the Microbiome
The collective genomes of all the microbes (bacteria,
fungi, viruses, et al.) in a human, plant, animal, or
environmental community have tremendous potential.
The microbiome for plants affects productivity as well as
stress and disease resistance. A cow’s microbiome can
infuence the amount of methane produced by the animal.
A soil’s microbiome can be enhanced for more nutritious
crops, to sequester more carbon, to capture more water,
or to prevent erosion. Microbiomes maintain the healthy
function of these diverse ecosystems and infuence human
health, climate resiliency, food security, and other
important and critical phenomena.
6 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Artifcial Intelligence (AI) Technology, Automation, and
Remote Sensing
USDA science agencies work together to deliver new
approaches to produce data-driven results using AI With new technologies such as automation and remote
and machine learning. Partnering with public and private sensing, agriculture is on the forefront of an exponential
organizations, we develop tools and practices, including leap in productivity. Technologies such as remote sensing,
robots for agriculture, instruments for crop and soil automation, and digital scouting are allowing a new
monitoring and input application, and predictive analytics. renaissance in every fundamental agriculture and
We also provide funding for research, education, and natural resource stewardship task while enabling
extension using AI to ensure the safety and quality of more responsiveness to market forces. These new
agricultural products. technologies, along with increasing accessibility of
reliable, high-speed internet connectivity in rural
America, farm management will be transformed,
intensifying the need for communicating best
practices and choosing the most effective tools to
improve agricultural productivity sustainably.
7

Public Perception of Science
In these times of unprecedented scientifc and information
progress, there is an increasing distrust of science and
politicization of scientifc discoveries. This may be
because of diminished understanding of science by
the general public, failure of scientists to communicate
effectively, and increasing confrmation bias of information
systems. Under Secretary Perdue’s leadership, USDA will
champion science through expanding science literacy
through outreach and education, backing USDA scientists
in public forums in order to build consensus and trust in
science, and actively seeking leadership roles in decision-
making bodies to ensure that agricultural perspectives
are included in other federal agencies.
9
THEME
01
Sustainable Ag Intensifcation
The future of U.S. agriculture, which includes plant and animal agriculture, forestry, and
aquaculture, depends on continued improvements in production capacity, technological
progress, production effciencies, and environmental stewardship, with a focus on
domestic economic growth. World population will likely grow by 20 percent to 9.7 billion
people over the next 30 years, and demand for the goods and services provided by farm
and forest lands will increase by about 40 percent. Agricultural and forest lands will need
to be more productive to meet this demand. Discovering, fostering, and implementing
advances in production, technology, and management will allow agriculture to primarily
intensify productivity while enhancing sustainability.
10 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Plant Production, Health, and Genetics
Objectives:
• Develop crop production systems and alternative strategies to intensify plant
and forest production with continuous improvements and adoption of new
technology and innovative practices while reducing environmental impacts.
• Provide credible, objective, and accurate data products, statistics and analysis
on U.S. plant production, economics, land, water, energy and environmental
management, as well as farmer and rancher demographic and rural statistics
to promote effcient production and marketing systems.
• Advance science-based approaches to combat outbreaks of emerging pests
and diseases of row and fruit crops, horticultural and landscape production,
and others agricultural investments.
• Enhance plant product quality by enhancing traits such as shelf life and taste/
favor, and optimize nutrition, health and food safety components.
• Evaluate the adoption and use of enhanced technologies and technology
transfer for sensors, data analytics, and precision agriculture.
Strategies:
• Tap into genetic diversity and use genomic technology to accelerate breeding
progress, decrease susceptibility to climate variability, pests, diseases, and
weeds, and increase yield potential.
• Use precision agriculture technologies, innovative input technologies and stand
improvement to optimize resource use and reduce the gap between actual yield
and yield potential.
• Improve surveillance, early detection, rapid response, and recovery for
transboundary, vector-borne, emerging/reemerging, and costly endemic crop
diseases, insects, and weeds through research, education, and extension.
• Enhance the utility and value of nutrient, metabolites, and other constituents of
plant products.
• Improve methods and identify strategies to reduce plant-borne pathogens
and toxins.
• Identify key factors in producer behavior change and technology adoption
models emphasizing the critical decisions and thresholds.
Evidence Building:
• Evaluate current genetic diversity of crops and crop gene banks, rangelands, and
natural and planted forest stands and develop means to use natural diversity
and new breeding technologies to increase resilience.
11
• Characterize the sources of yield variance including genetics, environment,
management practices, and socioeconomic factors and develop plans to
modulate their infuence.
• Develop food crops that have optimal levels of nutrients and confrmation of
reduced foodborne illness outbreaks.
• Accelerate breeding progress to bring more superior performing varieties
(disease, pest, drought resistant, etc.) to the market.
• Compare the relative benefts of competing technologies to determine the
optimal strategic paths forward.
• Identify bottlenecks and develop technological solutions to break through them.
• Examine the role of regulation on timber production and harvest decisions to
create more streamlined processes for permitting and contracting.
• Improve forest stand and timber forecasting tools to enable more effcient timber
planning, planting, and harvest.
• Evaluate current data collections and gaps to assess opportunities to improve
the timeliness and scope of data collection efforts.
• Continue to support and further develop metrics that assess changes in
behaviors and/or practices.
Animal Production, Health, and Genetics
Objectives:
• Develop animal production systems and alternative strategies to maximize
animal, human, environmental, and economic health to include continuous
improvements, adoption of new technology and innovative practices while
maintaining sustainability.
• Provide credible, objective, and accurate data products, statistics and analysis
on U.S. animal production, economics, land, water, energy and environmental
management, and farmer and rancher demographic and rural statistics to
promote effcient production and marketing systems.
• Capitalize on emerging opportunities such as automation, deep learning,
precision management, genetic engineering, and biotechnological innovation
in animal production, welfare and health; managing risk as appropriate, to
continue to advance animal research programs and sustain effective
technology transfer.
12 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025

Strategies:
• Generate fundamental knowledge and tools that can later be applied to improve
food animal production and protection systems, including One Health research
such as antimicrobial resistance.
• Expand partnerships to integrate U.S. research discoveries (government,
other academic, non-governmental organizations, and commercial research
capabilities) into a fuid, highly effective research network, maximizing use
of core competencies and public and private resources.
• Tap into genetic diversity and use genomic technology to accelerate
breeding progress, decrease susceptibility to climate variability, pests, and
diseases, to improve animal welfare, and to increase productivity potential.
• Use new technologies and improvements to optimize resource use and reduce
the gap between actual production and the production potential.
• Improve surveillance, early detection, rapid response, and recovery for
transboundary, vector-borne, zoonotic, emerging/reemerging, and costly
endemic animal diseases through research, education, and extension;
including the development of specialized high containment laboratories
needed to support research with certain pathogens.
• Identify successful models of animal husbandry behavior change and
technology adoption emphasizing the critical decision drivers and thresholds.
• Evaluate the adoption and use of enhanced technologies and technology
transfer for sensors, data analytics, and precision agriculture.
• Analyze the performance of domestic or international markets for impacts of
technology, industry structural change, and/or public and private initiatives on
animal agriculture productivity and proftability.
Evidence Building:
• Solicit stakeholder feedback on research, education, and extension needs
related to animal health; including opportunities to discuss and quantify new
and emerging threats, opportunities, and challenges related to existing
program strategies.
• Enhance animal genetic, reproductive, nutritional, health, well-being, and
marketability knowledge; deploy that knowledge through new or improved
resources, products, and best practices, to increase farmers’ productivity
and competitiveness.
• Accelerate breeding progress to bring more superior performing genetics
(disease, pest, heat tolerance, etc.) to the market.
• Develop automation and decision support tools to help producers manage
livestock effciently and optimally; enhance animal production and protection;
and beneft the biomedical research communities.
1124 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2019 TO 2024
• Continue to support and further develop metrics that assess changes in animal
husbandry behaviors and/or practices.
• Examine the economic impacts and develop targeted solutions to problems
incurred by the threat of domestic and transboundary animal diseases to
livestock, poultry, and aquaculture production.
• Develop estimates indicating the impacts of changing technology and market
structure in animal agriculture on the agricultural economy.
• Assess impacts of research, education, and extension on resulting interventions
on sustainable animal production and protection outcomes.
15
THEME
02
Ag Climate Adaptation
Ensuring that agricultural lands, national forests, and private working lands are conserved
and restored makes agriculture production more resilient to climate change and other
disturbances such as drought, invasive species, and wildfre. Further, based on the best
available science, new strategies and management practices must be developed to allow
unmanaged and managed systems to be fully leveraged to mitigate and address climate
change. While mitigation is a priority, agricultural systems must nonetheless adapt to the
changing weather patterns and temperature regimes to ensure food security.
16 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Landscape-Scale Conservation and Management
Objectives:
• Develop interdisciplinary integrative systems approaches to address
environmental and management challenges that positively impact productivity
and resilience.
• Consider abiotic factors such as nutrient and water cycles and all biotic trophic
levels, including microbiomes, invertebrates, and roots as elements of a
healthy ecosystem.
• Better understand the effects of management choices and climate change on
soil and air quality, and water cycles at landscape scales to inform land
managers and policymakers.
• Develop methodologies for the combined use and evaluation of novel sensing
technologies and land management practices to increase resilience, input-use
effciency, and productivity.
• Work with communities and stakeholders to understand needs, identify barriers,
quantify ecosystem services, and promote technology transfer and innovation.
Strategies:
• Generate mission-driven initiatives and interdisciplinary research that
incorporates stakeholder inputs to increase the use of best management
practices, innovative technologies and tools to promote resilient farms,
forests, and rangelands, and improve ecosystem services.
• Develop avenues for open data access to facilitate trans-disciplinary
research, stakeholder engagement, and the co-development of research
and management recommendations.
• Invest in research and development, education, and extension activities to
better understand whole ecosystem responses to environmental challenges
following agricultural activities.
Evidence Building:
• Assess the communication, adoption, and implementation of best
management practices for the stewardship of productive, resilient, and
sustainable agricultural lands, forests, and rangelands.
• Make cross-disciplinary data visible and accessible to stakeholders for
enhanced decision making through integrated storage, computational
resources, and analytics support.
• Conduct interdisciplinary assessments of whole ecosystem function, services,
and resilience that support product development and inform land stewards,
government offcials, and consumers.
• Working in partnership with conservation colleagues, develop and maintain
metrics for landscape-scale data and knowledge for data-driven management
of working lands.
Climate Research and Resiliency
Objectives:
• Synthesize climate research data and scientifc information to inform data-driven
and science-driven decision making and planning for agriculture, food, forestry,
and fuel production systems.
• Understand and convey knowledge about the infuences of climate change and
weather variability on agricultural, forest, and rangelands; stewardship systems
and the communities built around them; as well as the products and societal
benefts from our natural resources.
• Develop knowledge and tools to enable adaptation to climate change
and weather variability, to improve the resilience of unmanaged and
managed ecosystems and optimize the sustainability of agricultural
management systems.
• Leverage economic analysis of land use and management, technology
adoption and environmental program design to inform data-driven and
science-driven decision making and planning.
Strategies:
• Create and contribute to research that addresses the resiliency and vulnerability
of agricultural production, natural resource stewardship, and socioeconomic
systems to climate change and weather variability.
• Generate peer-reviewed, science-based research and tools supporting data-
driven decisions for agriculture, water resources, land, and forest management.
• Identify mechanisms to increase resilience of food and forest product systems
after extreme events.
• Evaluate the environmental effects (benefts/limitations) of conservation
practices selected for adaptation for climate change and weather variability or
greenhouse gas mitigation. Use this evaluation for a spatially explicit analysis
of the economic costs and benefts from conservation practice implementation.
• Develop deeper knowledge of the human dimensions of climate change and
weather variability, including perceptions and effective framing of risk,
adaptation and mitigation incentives, and the impact of climate change and
weather variability on nutritional characteristics of food products.
• Examine the economic effects of climate change and weather variability on
communities and agricultural producers to enable the development of
appropriate/effective technologies.
18 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Evidence Building:
• Enhance soil-health metrics, with a focus not only on land for crop and animal
production but also forests, grasslands, and rangelands.
• Improve metrics from earth observations for identifying, measuring, and
monitoring the effects of climate change and weather variability.
• Identify gaps in USDA observational networks (GRACEnet, LTAR, FIA, EFRs)
in which USDA is missing data and identify opportunities to use existing
external datasets to fll these gaps.
• Assess the likely infuences of climate change and weather variability on
regional and global food, fuel, and forest security.
19
THEME
03
Food and Nutrition Translation
USDA plays a pivotal role in providing Americans with safe, nutritious, and wholesome
foods. This means supplying foods, both fresh and processed, that are of the highest
quality and that provide adequate nutrition supporting the entire population life span.
This task must address challenges to reduce foodborne illnesses; understand the drivers
of poor diets and nutritional choices; provide better access to nutritious foods in low-
income households; and reduce the overall cost of foods through more effcient
processing, packaging, and repurposing to minimize food waste.
20 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Food Safety and Health
Objectives:
• Generate fundamental knowledge and tools that can later be applied to
improve food safety and food security, including One Health research such as
antimicrobial resistance.
• Identify food safety programs that are the most effective at reducing
contaminants/hazards with the lowest costs.
• Identify incentives for food safety investment in food processing/
manufacturing plants.
• Improve technologies to associate environmental and external factors in food
production systems that differentiate natural from intentional contaminations
of foods.
• Foster innovative methods to distinguish highly virulent pathogens from non-
virulent pathogens within food systems and develop better risk assessments.
• Understand the role of market forces that encourage higher food safety
standards in food production and processing.
• Understand the outcomes from foodborne illness, including severity and impacts
such as medical costs, lost work productivity, and loss of life, and long-term
consequence of previous disease or injury.
Strategies:
• Conduct research, gather and analyze data on the effectiveness and costs of
various food safety interventions in reducing the contamination from pathogens,
antimicrobial resistance, toxins and chemical contaminants.
• Fund and otherwise promote peer-reviewed studies on predictive microbiology
and intervention technologies to identify mitigation steps to reduce
contamination during food production and processing.
• Solicit stakeholder feedback on research, education, and extension needs
related to food safety; including opportunities to discuss and quantify new and
emerging threats to food safety and security.
• Derive and analyze data from whole genome sequencing of pathogens to assist
public health agencies with their regulatory and attribution roles.
• Develop technologies that contribute to the detection and intervention to reduce
pathogen populations and chemical contaminants in foods.
• Develop multi-media public communication materials to inform and promote
food safety and safe food practices.
• Conduct research to understand how foodborne pathogens emerge and spread
through production and processing environments and devise strategies to
reduce their impact.
21
Evidence Building:
• Gather data from appropriate USDA agencies for use in models that illustrate
how competitive market forces can encourage better food safety.
• Compile data from other agencies to update and extend economic
burden estimates.
• Collect data to examine how regulatory and other actions affect incentives for
improving food safety.
• Track changes in consumer food safety knowledge and behavior following
outreach activities.
• Summarize USDA agency reports on cost and effectiveness of programs aimed
at reducing contamination in the food supply.
• Collect and analyze survey data on consumer food-safety knowledge
and practices.
• Analyze Whole Genome Sequencing pathogen data to help in decision making
on recalls, outbreak tracking, and epidemiological investigations.
• Gather survey and predictive microbiological data that can be used to develop
risk assessments for public health regulatory use.
Nutrition & Health Promotion
Objectives:
• Develop and update the current evidence base to promote proper macro-
and micro-nutrient intake among critical age or state groups like pregnant
women, infants, children, adolescents, working-age adults, Tribal members
and seniors.
• Provide guidance and incentives to promote healthier diets so that the U.S.
can reduce incidence of, and morbidity from, obesity and diet-related,
chronic diseases.
• Promote food systems that reduce the prevalence and severity of food insecurity.
• Expand understanding about the impacts of USDA food assistance programs on
human health, communities, and the economy.
Strategies:
• Establish evidence-based recommendations, remove barriers, and enhance
facilitators to choosing a healthy diet.
• Increase food accessibility for all low-income households, including those in
Tribal areas.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of Federal agencies, State, community, and non-proft
organizations on reducing childhood obesity.
22 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
• Improve nutritional quality of existing products with useful biologically active
food compounds to enhance human health.
• Identify and partner with community-based feeding programs that leverage
Federal partnerships to reach out to low-income and Tribal areas to reduce
childhood obesity via better nutrition and physical activities.
• Identify and promote biological and behavioral factors that can decrease
obesity and chronic diseases.
Evidence Building:
• Enhance the scientifc basis for dietary guidance.
• Evaluate changes to the National School Lunch Program and the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
• Evaluate the impact of the Summer Electronic Benefts Transfer for Children
(SEBTC) on food security and diet quality among households with children.
• Evaluate the effcacy of new technologies to reduce food waste and increase
nutritional content/availability in packaged foods.
• Analyze data from feeding programs’ strengths and weaknesses to generate
priorities and actions.
• Examine the links between food access and food security with purchasing
patterns, SNAP participation, and self-reported challenges to obtaining a
nutritious diet.
• Measure and track the number and locations of vendors for local foods
throughout the United States, especially in low-income and rural areas.
THEME
04
Value-Added Innovations
Agricultural and rural areas offer both challenges and opportunities with respect to
infrastructure, adding value to products and innovation throughout the agricultural
system and bioeconomy, including biofuels and bioenergy as well as emerging
supplemental and alternative crops. New technologies and system designs are needed
for producing higher value end products from agricultural products, emerging crops, and
livestock, and forest feedstocks, which will enable new markets, establish new domestic
supply chains, and create more jobs and economic opportunities.
24 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Infrastructure, Innovation, and Well-Being
Objectives:
• Strengthen food, agricultural, and forest production, processing, manufacturing,
utilization, and marketing through new technologies, innovation, and data
analysis to create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas.
• Foster sustainable non-food, feed and other high-value chemical and
biophysical applications of plants (pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, industrial
products, and feedstock ingredients).
• Develop and evaluate methods to increase access to low-cost and nutritious
food as well as sustain effcient agriculture and bioeconomy systems in
rural communities.
• Evaluate alternative systems that may improve the quality, resiliency, and
sustainability of food, fber, forest, and fuel supplies.
Strategies:
• Develop and transfer technologies through partnerships with universities,
colleges, private and Federal laboratories to produce innovative and high-
value products.
• Identify successful models of producer behavior change and technology
adoption emphasizing the critical decision drivers and thresholds.
• Develop methods and models to encourage the coexistence of multiple crop
and forestry technologies.
• Help small businesses establish criteria, methods, and instrumentation to
assess raw and in-process food and non-food product quality during handling,
storage, and transportation.
• Identify and improve coordination between successful local and regional food
and forest product systems to optimize access to food, fber, fuel and forest
products and minimize waste.
• Utilize the local and regional resources throughout USDA, including the
National Agricultural Library (NAL) Rural Information Center and the
Cooperative Extension system, to facilitate adoption of transformational
behaviors throughout the country.
• Engage stakeholders to develop inclusive collaborative partnerships that
foster innovation and adoption of novel technologies.
Evidence Building:
• Evaluate and predict food and non-food processing effciencies and product
quality/performance for economic returns to producers, processors, and
rural communities.
• Report on expanded and new technology development partnerships between
research institutions and small businesses.
• Monitor changes in access to nutritious foods among low-income households
based on price and proximity utilizing retail scanner data.
• Utilize existing data, evaluate peer-reviewed publications, and optimize survey
capabilities to study the impacts of food assistance programs in rural areas.
• Track and measure success in knowledge sharing about organic farming,
higher value end products from agricultural products, emerging crops and
forest feedstocks.
Bioeconomy
Objectives:
• Promote the development of enabling technologies for the sustainable, effcient,
and proftable production of biobased products from renewable agricultural and
bioeconomic crops, including emerging supplemental and alternative crops.
• Develop a bioeconomy research roadmap that sets near-, mid-, and long-term
goals and highlight progress towards those goals annually.
• Develop knowledge and tools to design and optimize biorefning and
processing systems that leverage economies of scale to promote biobased
product competition and market access.
• Generate, gather, and synthesize relevant data and scientifc information to
quantify and inform the valuation of bioeconomic ecosystem as well as
societal and environmental costs, benefts, and services.
Strategies:
• Coordinate the development of new initiatives and interdisciplinary research
to promote new feedstock development, conversion, and intermediate
upgrading technologies.
• Generate science and tools supporting data-driven decisions in agriculture
and forest management for the bioeconomy.
• Develop bioeconomy supply-chain models to enhance decision making with
geographical region, product price, and market size relevant to feedstock and
bioproduct selection.
26 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
• Recognize and share feedstock utilization best practices, biomass conversion
strategies, biorefnery design and operation, and pathway specifc approaches.
• Assess biomass and carbon resources with lifecycle, technical and economic
modeling to characterize and quantify costs and benefts for relevant feedstock
and product pathways.
Evidence Building:
• Increase the use of research outcomes as evidenced by technology transfer
through licensing of processes or products and research publications
and citations.
• Identify and communicate research success stories and continue to highlight
biobased products through USDA’s BioPreferred labeling program.
• Improve natural resources co-products, such as water quality improvements
and nontimber forest products, associated with crop, animal, and forest
products production systems.
THEME
05
Ag Science Policy Leadership
USDA was founded on the need for emerging sound science to create food security and
economic prosperity for the United States. Continuing capability to address growing
needs for domestic and international food security and forest productive capacity is
predicated on a strong and vital U.S. agriculture sector that is increasingly able to
compete as a global leader in the production of food, wood, fuel, and other agricultural
products. U.S. agriculture requires a vibrant, innovative community of leaders who set
forth an aggressive ag science agenda to support science-based policy decision making.
28 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Beacon for Science
Objectives:
• Encourage a global conversation and facilitate such discussion within
decision-making bodies about literacy in agriculture, food, forestry, health
and science.
STEM
• Advocate globally for the development of science-based, international and
domestic standards, regulatory approaches, and policies, including those
SCIENCE•TECHNOLOGY•ENGINEERING•MATH
guiding the development of new and emerging technologies.
• Develop an effective and diverse U.S. agriculture workforce that contributes to
safer, healthier, vibrant, sustainable, and innovative communities.
We’re training the
• Enhance the capacities of USDA and other institutions in workforce next generation
development, with attention towards developing scientists and practitioners of scientists!
familiar with developing technologies and innovative practices.
• Develop and expand degree, certifcate, curriculum, and youth programs that
integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) into
instruction, considering real world challenges relevant to agricultural and
food science.
Strategies:
• Identify core principles to reinforce with world decision-making bodies and
incorporate them into a strategic communications strategy at infuential
international and national conferences.
• Develop innovative approaches for measuring scientifc effort, outputs, and
impacts using innovative data sources and methods for effective quantitative
research evaluation.
• Build transdisciplinary teams to work on agricultural, food and forestry
science problems and train the next generation.
• Evaluate the social and economic impacts of discovery, development,
regulation and adoption of new technologies.
• Make agriculture and forest research outcomes readily accessible to the
public (consumers), producers, and processors through improved
delivery approaches.
• Develop, enhance, and support workforce training and retraining programs
for life-long learning and extension of innovation into practice.
• Enhance experiential learning opportunities leading to and advancing diverse
food, agriculture, and natural resource careers.
29
• Identify and remove barriers to assist socially disadvantaged and limited-
resource producers, beginning farmers, women producers, and veterans, in
joining the workforce for farming, natural resource and related industries.
• Foster greater information sharing about food, agriculture, natural resource and
forestry careers to ensure that prospective workers are aware of opportunities.
Evidence Building:
• Foster effective methods for evaluating quantitative information generated by
USDA science and research programs.
• Expand the analysis and reports documenting adoption, deployment, and better
and effective technology.
• Increase the use of research outcomes as evidenced by technology transfer
through licensing of processes or products and research publications
and citations.
• Evaluate how regulatory and policy options impact sustainable agricultural
production systems.
• Examine career outcomes of participants in expanded degree, certifcate,
curriculum, and youth programs that integrate STEM into instruction to inform
successful development of future USDA activities and programs.
• Evaluate participation rates over time in educational programs to provide insight
into the value placed on these interventions.
• Conduct regional workforce research to accurately and scientifcally inform
training, re-training and extension program development.
Trade and Commerce
Objectives:
• Develop and maintain vital market information, both domestically and
internationally, that affects producer and marketing decisions in agriculture
food, fber, forest products, and energy sectors.
• Deliver high-quality, objective, relevant, timely and accurate research,
education, statistics, and economic analysis that enables producers, policy
makers, and other data users to make sound, informed production, risk
management and marketing decisions.
• Invest in innovative methods to collect, develop, analyze, and disseminate
data to improve the effciency and fairness of agricultural markets, domestic
and foreign trade policies, and other factors that impact food and forest
product systems.
30 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Strategies:
• Continue to obtain information on a broad range of issues about the farm sector,
including fnancial condition and agricultural resource use through the annual
Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS).
• Address global technical barriers to trade with science-based evidence
and tools.
• Assess, modernize, and restructure programs to provide services that meet
customer needs and capitalize on opportunities to achieve greater effciencies
through streamlined process and cross-leveraged Department resources.
• Develop systems and portals that provide customers with greater access and
fexibility with market data, statistics, and economic analysis.
• Continue to partner with international, national, regional, State, and community-
based organizations and Tribes to ensure all populations and segments of the
industry are accounted for and that published reports meet needs.
Evidence Building:
• Evaluate data collection and data use in developing information delivery
systems, portals, and agency reports that provide customers with
market data, statistics and economic analysis for accuracy, timeliness,
and effciency.
• Provide data and analysis to enable productive, sustainable agriculture, food
and forest production, support effective stewardship of our natural resources,
and facilitate international trade while maintaining a safe, nutritious, and secure
food supply.
32 USDA SCIENCE BLUEPRINT 2020 TO 2025
Program Metrics and Performance Indicators
Impact-driven agricultural science is critical to the future of agricultural and related
industries. The evidence building goals defned under the objectives and strategies
outlined in this Science Blueprint will help USDA make science-based, data-driven
decisions and communicate the impacts of those decisions to our stakeholders. The
frst step toward success has already occurred—goal teams that cut across USDA
science agencies developed the actions contained herein. These teams also identifed
evidence that will be used to determine progress towards meeting the science goals.
Science agencies will develop enterprise key performance indicators (KPIs) that convey
the combined impact of science agencies towards meeting the USDA strategic goals
through these Blueprint objectives. These KPIs will demonstrate that outcomes of USDA
science are relevant and useful to industry and further improve agriculture and advance
adoption of technology. The indicators will also demonstrate the need for, and USDA’s
contribution to, developing an agriculture sciences workforce capable of overcoming
existing and future challenges through science and innovation.
USDA’s actions demonstrate that careful planning and stewardship of appropriated
taxpayer funds aids in securing the future of U.S. agriculture as a leader in the world for
science-based decision making. USDA is determined to avoid unnecessary duplication
of effort and to enhance coordinated science advancement. We utilize coordinating
committees, advisory boards, a robust science strategic planning process that is further
outlined below, and mandatory database searches and coordinating meetings between
intramural-extramural science activities to do so.
One Science Blueprint for OneUSDA
Scientifc Excellence
The USDA science planning process is a two-step process that integrates into one unifed
plan for operational excellence. First, each science agency has its own strategic planning
and review process that conducts formal program reviews to share knowledge gained
internally and from stakeholder groups, prioritizes science, identifes gaps, and ensures
relevance and adequacy of science programs. All the agencies contributing to this
Science Blueprint solicit stakeholder input during their strategic planning cycles. These
stakeholders include representatives of commodity groups, industry, interagency Federal
working groups, scientifc societies, and university partners. Secondly, the Department
provides guidance to the agencies through its strategic planning process. This USDA
Science Blueprint then allows unifcation of the agency plans into the Department’s plan.
Stakeholders engaged in this process include the REE external advisory committee, the
National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board
(NAREEEAB). This board is comprised of 15 members representing a specifc stakeholder
category, such as a national science society or a national farm organization. NAREEEAB
has specifc responsibilities to advise the Secretary and Under Secretary for REE about the
relevancy of research portfolios including a mandated review of the relevancy of USDA’s
agricultural research programs and activities to the established research priorities and the
adequacy of funding for those programs and activities.
33



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To fle a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA
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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
December 2019
@USDAScience
www.usda.gov