The United States’ publicly funded agricultural research system is a critical component in finding answers to urgent global problems, including establishing sustainable food production, providing clean and abundant water, and strengthening food safety (see fig. 1). This public system is based on a federal-state partnership in which USDA and the states, through their land-grant colleges and universities, play multiple roles in agricultural research, extension, and education. According to a 2011 USDA report, studies have shown that private research productivity depends on government and university investments in science and technology. The federal, state, and private sectors provided 27 percent, 12 percent, and 61 percent, respectively, of total U.S. agricultural research funding in 2007, according to the most recent USDA estimate. The federal portion of this public research system, with roots dating back to the 19th century, is overseen by USDA’s REE mission area. The REE mission area comprises the following four agencies: ARS, USDA’s key intramural research agency; NIFA, USDA’s key extramural research agency; the Economic Research Service, USDA’s key intramural economics and social science research agency; and the National Agricultural Statistics Service, focused on agricultural statistics. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) reorganized this mission area to include an umbrella coordinating unit within the Office of the Under Secretary for REE. The 2008 Farm Bill also designated the Under Secretary for the REE mission area as USDA’s Chief Scientist, and USDA also refers to this umbrella unit as the Office of the Chief Scientist. Accordingly, the Chief Scientist is to ensure, among other responsibilities, that USDA’s research, education, and extension activities are coordinated and integrated across agencies and disciplines. In addition, six division chiefs—commonly referred to by USDA as senior advisors—are to assist the Chief Scientist in identifying and addressing emerging needs and priorities in research, education, and extension. Mandated by the 2008 Farm Bill, the Under Secretary of REE (i.e., USDA’s Chief Scientist) developed a Roadmap for USDA Science in 2010 to set USDA’s research, education, and extension agenda. This document identified five USDA priorities: bioenergy, climate change, food safety, international food security, and child nutrition. The Roadmap stated that solutions to many of modern society’s most intractable problems demand change that USDA would bring about by, for example, (1) better coordinating its science planning among and between REE science agencies and with other federal science agencies; (2) listening to the needs of stakeholders; and (3) institutionalizing outcome-driven scientific program planning and implementation. The 2008 Farm Bill specified that the Roadmap was not to be subject to review by any federal employee other than the Secretary of Agriculture or his designee. In early 2012, the Chief Scientist followed up on issuance of the Roadmap with a document titled Research, Education, and Economics Action Plan (REE Action Plan). The REE Action Plan identifies seven goals that support top priorities for USDA science: (1) local and global food supply and security, (2) climate and energy needs, (3) sustainable use of natural resources, (4) nutrition and childhood obesity, (5) food safety, (6) education and science literacy, and (7) rural prosperity and rural-urban interdependence. Each of these seven goals has strategies and planned actions designating the specific USDA agencies that are to be responsible for implementing the actions (see fig. 2 for an excerpt). In addition, the first three goals are divided into multiple subgoals, each of which also has planned actions, or actionable items, designating the specific USDA agencies that are to be responsible. Within REE, research conducted or funded by ARS and NIFA, respectively, may be basic or applied. According to USDA’s website, basic research discovers the underlying processes and systems that make a plant, animal, ecosystem, food system, community, or marketplace work. For example, basic research might seek to discover the genetic map of a plant or animal or to show how economic and human resources affect economic growth in rural areas. In contrast, applied research expands on basic research findings to uncover practical ways in which new knowledge can be advanced to benefit individuals and society. For example, in an applied research project, researchers might use a genetic map constructed through basic research to develop methods to combat plant and animal diseases. NIFA-funded research may also be integrated, in that it involves education and extension activities, as well as research. Both ARS and NIFA solicit stakeholder input. Agency stakeholders consist of individuals and institutions that conduct or use agricultural research, education, and extension services provided by or for the agencies. These stakeholders include representatives of commodity groups, industry, interagency federal working groups, scientific societies, and university partners. Stakeholders also include members of the REE advisory board, which comprises 25 members, each representing a specific stakeholder category, such as a national nutritional science society or national farm organizations. ARS itself is considered a NIFA stakeholder because ARS scientists are eligible to compete for certain NIFA grants. In turn, NIFA is a stakeholder of ARS. USDA differs from other federal science agencies in that the majority of its annual research appropriation supports research done in-house, or intramurally; in contrast, most federal science agencies primarily fund research done elsewhere, or extramurally. As USDA’s principal intramural research agency, ARS had over 2,200 research scientists in fiscal year 2012, who carried out about 800 research projects at more than 90 facilities nationwide and in a few foreign countries. To manage its 18 national research programs, ARS has developed a 5-year research cycle, consisting of four activities: stakeholder input, planning, implementation, and assessment. About 25 ARS national program leaders define and articulate the scope and objectives of each of these national programs with input from their various stakeholders; ARS scientists and managers; and others, including Congress. A key means of acquiring stakeholder input is through a meeting with stakeholders conducted at the start of each 5-year cycle. During this meeting, ARS gathers stakeholder input and defines which research problems it will address in the next 5 years to help meet high-priority needs within the agricultural community. Each national program uses this stakeholder input to help develop a research plan. NIFA is USDA’s primary extramural research agency, and, unlike staff of ARS, who conduct their own research, NIFA staff do not conduct research. Rather, NIFA’s 350 staff members, including about 70 national program leaders, help fund research at the state and local level, primarily through grants, and provide program leadership to state and local officials in research, education, and extension. Recipients of NIFA funds include 59 state agricultural experiment stations (i.e., the research arm of land- grant colleges and universities), 63 schools of forestry, 18 historically black land-grant colleges, 27 colleges of veterinary medicine, and other institutions and individual scientists. Figure 3 identifies the locations of ARS facilities, along with the land-grant colleges and universities established under the Morrill Act of 1862, those established under the Second Morrill Act of 1890 (historically black land-grant colleges), and those established under the Equity In Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (tribal colleges). Congressional legislation establishes the funding levels, eligibility requirements, and scope for each of NIFA’s research, education, and extension programs, and NIFA’s national program leaders manage and oversee these programs. NIFA generally funds grants for 1 to 4 years. In addition to direction from Congress, stakeholder input informs the development of NIFA requests for applications to its competitive grants programs. Each request generates from 2 to 600 applications, each of which must undergo external peer review by a panel of 3 to 25 individuals with expertise in the relevant field. The panels evaluate each application for scientific merit, how well the application addresses the research priorities, and the work’s potential to make a positive scientific impact. The panels then rank the applications and recommend the top projects for eventual funding. NIFA awards the following types of grants for distributing its research funds: Formula grants (commonly referred to as formula funds). Through several program authorities, NIFA provides funds for research and extension to land-grant colleges and universities, schools of forestry, and schools of veterinary medicine. The amount of funding provided to each institution is determined by formulas, often statutorily defined, which may include variables such as rural population, farm population, and poverty levels. According to NIFA’s website, local or regional university leaders decide which specific projects are to be supported by an institution’s formula grant allotment. As a result, according to a 2011 Congressional Research Service report, specific research priorities for formula grants tend to be more geographically focused than for NIFA’s other grants. Competitive grants. NIFA awards nearly 40 types of competitive grants for research, extension, and higher education, as well as for projects that integrate all three activities. Competitive grants are designed to enable USDA to (1) attract a wide pool of applicants to work on agricultural issues of national interest and (2) select the best- quality applications submitted by highly qualified individuals, institutions, or organizations. Eligibility, administrative rules, and procedures vary for each specific competitive grant program according to authorizing statutes, and NIFA awards funds following external peer review of the applications. NIFA’s flagship competitive grant program is the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, which funds research, education, and extension in the food and agricultural sciences and, according to NIFA’s website, awards grants to address agricultural problems of national, regional, or multistate importance. Noncompetitive grants.