How much research funding does the Department of Agriculture receive?

USDA had about $3.3 billion in R&D budget authority in fiscal year 2025. For fiscal year 2026, Congress enacted about $3.6 billion.

USDA Budget History: Federal Funding 1976–2026

The Department of Agriculture funds research and development (R&D) in two main ways. The Agricultural Research Service runs the government's own network of farm-science laboratories, while the National Institute of Food and Agriculture sends grant money out to land-grant universities. Around them sit the Economic Research Service, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and the Forest Service's research arm.

The striking thing about this budget is how little it has moved. Adjusted for inflation, agricultural research has stayed between roughly $1.8 billion and $3.8 billion in 2017 dollars every single year since 1976, when the department spent $518 million in the dollars of the day. The one real spike came in 2021, when pandemic-era funding pushed the inflation-adjusted total to about $3.8 billion — the highest in the series. The 2013 budget sequestration is visible too, as a dip below the surrounding years.

In fiscal year 2025 the department's research budget was about $3.3 billion. The 2026 figure in this chart — roughly $2.5 billion, a cut of about a quarter — is the estimate carried over from the White House budget request. Congress didn't go along: the enacted FY 2026 appropriation came to about $3.6 billion in R&D, slightly above the 2025 level. The budget-cycle section below has the details.

The current budget cycle: FY 2026 enacted, FY 2027 requested

What Congress enacted for fiscal year 2026 and what the White House has requested for FY 2027, account by account. Budget authority in millions of dollars.

The research and development share of this budget — as estimated by AAAS, excluding non-R&D activities in these accounts — came to $3.6B enacted for FY 2026 · $2.5B requested for FY 2027 (-29.2%).

Account	FY 2026 enacted	FY 2027 request	Change
Agricultural Research Service
ARS: Salaries and Expenses	$1.8B	$1.7B	-5.2%
ARS: Buildings and Facilities	$61M	$0M	-100%
Total Budget	$1.9B	$1.7B	-8.3%
USDA research accounts
Forest Service: Rangeland Research	$309M	$58M	-81.2%
National Ag Statistics Service	$185M	$187M	+1.1%
Economic Research Service	$91M	$75M	-17.2%
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Research and Education	$1.1B	$1.1B	+0%
Extension Activities	$561M	$561M	-0%
Integrated Activites	$40M	$40M	+0%
Hatch Act	$0M	$0M	—
1890 Research	$0M	$112M	—
AFRI	$0M	$419M	—
Total Budget	$1.7B	$1B	-38.5%

See the full appropriations tracker across every agency

Budget history

Agricultural research funding has stayed within roughly $1.8–3.8 billion in 2017 dollars every year for half a century.

The USDA research and development (R&D) budget, every fiscal year on record.

Millions of constant 2017 dollars — adjusted for inflationFY 2026: budget-request estimate

Source: AAAS Historical R&D Data · as of 2025-10-23

2013 — Sequestration. The Budget Control Act's across-the-board cuts dip the budget below its neighbors.
2021 — Pandemic-era peak. COVID-era funding pushes the inflation-adjusted total to its series high of about $3.8 billion in 2017 dollars.

See the numbers behind this chart

USDA research and development (R&D) budget by fiscal year. Dollar values in millions; source AAAS Historical R&D Data.
Fiscal year	Nominal dollars	Constant 2017 dollars	R&D share of GDP
1976	518	1,802	0.029%
1977	543	1,762	0.027%
1978	633	1,925	0.028%
1979	716	2,014	0.028%
1980	715	1,850	0.026%
1981	817	1,925	0.026%
1982	830	1,829	0.025%
1983	885	1,868	0.025%
1984	976	1,990	0.025%
1985	1,002	1,976	0.023%
1986	960	1,851	0.021%
1987	1,092	2,060	0.023%
1988	1,117	2,041	0.022%
1989	1,139	2,000	0.021%
1990	1,223	2,073	0.021%
1991	1,391	2,276	0.023%
1992	1,519	2,425	0.024%
1993	1,467	2,287	0.022%
1994	1,528	2,332	0.021%
1995	1,487	2,222	0.02%
1996	1,488	2,182	0.019%
1997	1,556	2,243	0.018%
1998	1,561	2,222	0.017%
1999	1,645	2,313	0.017%
2000	1,776	2,445	0.018%
2001	2,181	2,933	0.021%
2002	2,112	2,796	0.02%
2003	2,343	3,043	0.021%
2004	2,222	2,818	0.018%
2005	2,418	2,976	0.019%
2006	2,438	2,906	0.018%
2007	2,275	2,639	0.016%
2008	2,332	2,650	0.016%
2009	2,437	2,741	0.017%
2010	2,611	2,911	0.018%
2011	2,365	2,585	0.015%
2012	2,331	2,503	0.014%
2013	2,116	2,231	0.013%
2014	2,380	2,465	0.014%
2015	2,454	2,516	0.014%
2016	2,657	2,702	0.014%
2017	2,584	2,584	0.013%
2018	2,618	2,561	0.013%
2019	3,025	2,906	0.014%
2020	2,988	2,833	0.014%
2021	4,099	3,757	0.018%
2022	3,751	3,213	0.015%
2023	3,381	2,770	0.013%
2024	3,279	2,616	0.012%
2025	3,337	2,605	0.011%
2026est.	2,493	1,907	0.008%

Where the money goes

The Agricultural Research Service and the university-grant agency NIFA carry most of the department's research money.

The major USDA budget lines tracked by AAAS. These are appropriations accounts — they overlap the budget-history series but are not an exact decomposition of it.

Millions of constant 2017 dollars — adjusted for inflationFY 2026: budget-request estimateAgricultural Research ServiceNational Institute of Food and AgricultureEconomic Research ServiceNational Agricultural Statistics ServiceU.S. Forest Service R&DAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Source: AAAS Historical R&D Data · as of 2025-10-23

See the numbers behind this chart

USDA budget lines by fiscal year, in millions of constant 2017 dollars. Source AAAS Historical R&D Data.
Fiscal year	Agricultural Research Service	National Institute of Food and Agriculture	Economic Research Service	National Agricultural Statistics Service	U.S. Forest Service R&D	American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
1990	1,034	1,274	86	113	256	—
1991	1,109	1,390	89	125	274	—
1992	1,186	1,475	94	132	288	—
1993	1,107	1,420	92	126	285	—
1994	1,122	1,428	84	125	295	—
1995	1,124	1,397	81	121	290	—
1996	1,065	1,341	78	119	261	—
1997	1,113	1,319	76	144	261	—
1998	1,160	1,227	102	168	268	—
1999	1,177	1,302	89	146	280	—
2000	1,204	1,314	88	136	278	—
2001	1,287	1,331	89	136	331	—
2002	1,583	1,371	89	152	319	—
2003	1,612	1,425	87	175	360	—
2004	1,419	1,382	87	157	362	—
2005	1,542	1,393	88	153	355	—
2006	1,515	1,377	87	161	349	—
2007	1,286	1,346	85	167	344	—
2008	1,324	1,335	87	182	353	—
2009	1,327	1,367	89	169	330	196
2010	1,368	1,477	90	177	341	—
2011	1,216	1,309	88	167	330	—
2012	1,155	1,273	82	168	311	—
2013	1,053	1,188	74	172	290	—
2014	1,151	1,314	80	165	300	—
2015	1,196	1,316	87	175	301	—
2016	1,356	1,326	85	168	291	—
2017	1,242	1,333	85	168	282	—
2018	1,290	1,352	83	184	285	—
2019	1,597	1,395	82	165	284	—
2020	1,491	838	78	165	288	—
2021	1,397	873	75	158	264	—
2022	1,302	1,108	72	186	374	—
2023	1,363	738	74	198	326	—
2024	1,441	699	71	146	288	—
2025	1,401	675	70	143	343	—
2026est.	1,300	451	61	142	32	—

Basic, applied, or development?

Basic research asks how the world works, applied research aims at a specific problem, and development turns knowledge into working systems. This split covers Department of Agriculture, from 2000 — the first year all three categories are reported.

Agriculture splits its research dollars almost evenly between basic and applied work, with very little development.

Research and development at Department of Agriculture, split by character of work.

Millions of constant 2017 dollars — adjusted for inflationFY 2026: budget-request estimateBasic researchApplied researchDevelopment

Source: AAAS Historical R&D Data · as of 2025-10-23

See the numbers behind this chart

Department of Agriculture research by character of work and fiscal year, in millions of constant 2017 dollars. Source AAAS Historical R&D Data.
Fiscal year	Basic research	Applied research	Development
2000	942	1,149	153
2001	1,077	1,404	204
2002	1,055	1,158	175
2003	1,131	1,269	190
2004	1,052	1,338	202
2005	1,031	1,393	192
2006	1,017	1,370	199
2007	1,033	1,243	230
2008	994	1,302	180
2009	1,020	1,365	186
2010	1,105	1,387	207
2011	1,020	1,283	193
2012	995	1,207	205
2013	875	1,103	171
2014	1,027	1,129	185
2015	1,018	1,142	181
2016	1,048	1,138	180
2017	1,119	1,070	174
2018	1,061	1,048	176
2019	1,165	1,080	158
2020	1,006	1,218	280
2021	1,522	1,728	282
2022	1,254	1,373	327
2023	1,145	1,249	306
2024	1,107	1,116	205
2025	1,109	1,088	210
2026est.	818	780	174

Department of Agriculture

The current budget cycle: FY 2026 enacted, FY 2027 requested

Budget history

Agricultural research funding has stayed within roughly $1.8–3.8 billion in 2017 dollars every year for half a century.

Where the money goes

The Agricultural Research Service and the university-grant agency NIFA carry most of the department's research money.

Basic, applied, or development?

Agriculture splits its research dollars almost evenly between basic and applied work, with very little development.

Common questions

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