Three types of funding remain vital to the public-supported research systems. Special funding is not a euphemism for pork barrel funding, but rather a relatively flexible mechanism by which important state and regional research initiatives are supported. Ingenuity flourishes at the grass roots level, and although limited, the impact of federal support of special funding should not be discounted. Like all enterprises, agriculture is competitive, and economies of scale apply. Through research and education, we can help ensure that our producers have an opportunity to make a living wage, for regulations based on science help level the playing field for all producers.
Research is needed, in fact, to assess the economic as well as the biological impact of regulations.
Allow me to elaborate on three of the focus areas. The much heralded development of genetic engineering, but one aspect of biotechnology, has come upon us with astonishing speed and force in the past few years. I believe that what we are seeing is the tip of the iceberg. New biotechnology products are being developed and in some cases being made available more rapidly than we, the public, can absorb them. I contend that the unraveling of the genome of species used for agricultural products, both plant and animal, are key to addressing all eight goals identified by this committee, with the exception of those of education and outreach-though it touches on them as well.