page_title: Agricultural Research Service
section_title: Research centers
hierarchical_section_title: Agricultural Research Service / Research centers
caption_attribution_description: English: Agricultural Research Service five service regions (USDA)
context_page_description: The Agricultural Research Service is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture. 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. 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 in Beltsville, Maryland. For 2018, its budget was $1.2 billion.
context_section_description: 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.  The ARS is divided into 5 geographic areas: Midwest Area, Northeast Area, Pacific West Area, Plains Area, and Southeast Area.  ARS has five major regional research centers:
  Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California
  Center for Agricultural Resources Research in Fort Collins, Colorado
  Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana
  National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois
  Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania
  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.
  ARS' Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Maryland, is the world's largest agricultural research complex. Other D.C. area locations include the United States National Agricultural Library and the United 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. The centers are located in Arkansas, Maryland, Texas, North Dakota, Massachusetts (the Human 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.
  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 the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) ARS operates the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, Florida, and the U.S. National Poultry Research Center in Athens, Georgia.  Other notable ARS facilities include Northern Great Basin Experimental Range in Oregon, and formerly the Plum Island Animal Disease Center off Long Island.
caption: ARS Geographic Regions
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