[Senate Hearing 116-449]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 116-449

                  AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND SECURING THE 
                           UNITED STATES FOOD SUPPLY

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                       COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
                        NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                     ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                            December 2, 2020

                               __________

                       Printed for the use of the
           Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
           

[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]           


       Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov/
       
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                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
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           COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY


                     PAT ROBERTS, Kansas, Chairman
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky            DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas               PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota            SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
JONI ERNST, Iowa                     AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi        MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado
MIKE BRAUN, Indiana                  KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York
CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa               ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             TINA SMITH, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD DURBIN, Illinois
KELLY LOEFFLER, Georgia

             James A. Glueck, Jr., Majority Staff Director
                DaNita M. Murray, Majority Chief Counsel
                    Jessica L. Williams, Chief Clerk
               Joseph A. Shultz, Minority Staff Director
               Mary Beth Schultz, Minority Chief Counsel
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

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                      Wednesday, December 2, 2020

                                                                   Page

Hearing:

Agricultural Research and Securing the United States Food Supply.     1

                              ----------                              

                    STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS

Roberts, Hon. Pat, U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas, 
  Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry....     1
Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan...     3
Boozman, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of Arkansas......     4
Klobuchar, Hon. Amy, U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota....     6

                               WITNESSES

France, Amy, Producer, National Sorghum Producers, Marienthal, KS     7
Glickman, Hon. Dan, Executive Director, The Aspen Institute, 
  Washington, DC.................................................     8
Higgs, Stephen, Ph.D., Director, Biosecurity Research Institute 
  and Associate Vice President for Research, Kansas State 
  University, Manhattan, KS......................................    11
Rosenzweig, Steven, Ph.D., Senior Agricultural Scientist, 
  Agricultural Research, General Mills, Golden Valley, MN........    13
                              ----------                              

                                APPENDIX

Prepared Statements:
    France, Amy..................................................    38
    Glickman, Hon. Dan...........................................    43
    Higgs, Stephen, Ph.D.........................................    46
    Rosenzweig, Steven, Ph.D.....................................    60

Question and Answer:
France, Amy:
    Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts..........    68
    Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow......    68
    Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet.......    70
Glickman, Hon. Dan:
    Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts..........    72
    Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow......    72
    Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet.......    73
    Written response to questions from Hon. Robert P. Casey, Jr..    73
Higgs, Stephen, Ph.D.:
    Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts..........    75
    Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow......    80
    Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar........    82
    Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet.......    83
Rosenzweig, Steven, Ph.D.:
    Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts..........    85
    Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow......    86
    Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar........    91
    Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet.......    92
    Written response to questions from Hon. Robert P. Casey, Jr..    93

 
    AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND SECURING THE UNITED STATES FOOD SUPPLY

                              ----------                              


                      WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

                                       U.S. Senate,
         Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:34 p.m., in SD-
G50, Dirksen Senate Office Building and via Webex, Hon. Pat 
Roberts, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
    Present or submitting a statement: Senators Roberts, 
Boozman, Hoeven, Ernst, Hyde-Smith, Braun, Grassley, Thune, 
Fischer, Stabenow, Brown, Klobuchar, Gillibrand, Casey, and 
Smith.

 STATEMENT OF HON. PAT ROBERTS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF 
KANSAS, CHAIRMAN, U.S. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND 
                            FORESTRY

    Chairman Roberts. I call this hearing of the U.S. Senate 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to order. 
Today, I am honored to hold what will probably be my final 
hearing as Chairman of this Committee, but you never know.
    During the four decades I have served in Congress, I have 
been a member of the Agriculture Committees in both the House 
and the Senate. Both of the Agriculture Committees regularly 
work in a truly bipartisan effort to develop policies that best 
serve the diverse and dedicated industry that is American 
agriculture.
    When I assumed the gavel nearly six years ago, I made it a 
priority that this Committee would be a platform for America's 
farmers, ranchers, growers, small businesses, rural 
communities, school children, and the hungry. Over 80 hearings 
and meetings later, I believe this Committee has done exactly 
that. We have deliberated on a variety of issues that directly 
impact our constituents, including farm and nutrition programs, 
trade policy, rural economic development, and conservation 
practices, just to name a few.
    I would be remiss if I did not take just a moment to also 
give a heartfelt thanks to all of my colleagues, and a special 
thank-you to all of our staff. We set out to accomplish and 
achieve our goals, but none of our success would be possible 
without the work and dedication of our staff members that 
support us. Thank you again.
    With all of the challenges and opportunities that our 
agriculture producers face, it is fitting that the topic of 
this hearing is agricultural research and securing the United 
States food supply.
    During my time in public office, the United States has 
witnessed one of its greatest untold success stories, Federal 
policies that have fostered a scale and efficiency of the U.S. 
agriculture system that would have been unimaginable to our 
predecessors. Agriculture research drives change, efficiencies, 
and productivity. It is the foundation that supports our modern 
food system miracle. It is essential, considering the growing 
chaos, hunger, and malnutrition in our world.
    Since the establishment of the land grant university system 
in 1862, the country has valued and prioritized agriculture 
innovation. Kansas State University, the first land grant 
institution created under that act, is no exception. Needless 
to say, I am so proud of our policy record on behalf of 
American agriculture.
    Working together, we have provided certainty and 
predictability by transitioning to a market-oriented farm 
policy. We have also fostered continuous improvement in 
research, science, and new technologies such as biotechnology. 
In Fiscal Year 1981, when I began my service in the House, $1.4 
billion in public funding was provided for U.S. agriculture 
research. By 2015, that annual investment more than tripled to 
$4.5 billion. Even more impressive, private sector investment 
in food and agriculture research rose over 660 percent over 
that same period, from $1.6 billion to more than $12 billion 
per year.
    Given the benefits this research has delivered to both 
urban and rural constituencies, every member of Congress should 
appreciate the wisdom of continuing to build on a strong 
foundation of agriculture research in the United States. This 
has been quite a year for American agriculture, and certainly 
so for our American consumers. Perhaps for the first time since 
the Great Depression, the significance of food security has 
resonated throughout the entire agriculture and food value 
chain, impacting nearly every kitchen table around the country 
and our world.
    We continue to learn hard and much-needed lessons about 
safety and security as we persevere through the COVID-19 
pandemic. For years there have been research efforts devoted to 
the threat of animal and plant disease. We have taken 
significant and important steps in agricultural security, 
especially as it relates to animal disease preparedness. We 
have worked to meet these challenges by identifying 
vulnerabilities and enacting policies that allow the 
agriculture and food sector to be better prepared and more 
secure.
    Still there is a great deal to do. We must take a fresh 
look at what agriculture security means, in terms of the 
defense of our agriculture sector and our food supply. This 
begins with continued support for agricultural research. 
Agricultural research has been a priority in all of the eight 
Farm Bills that I have had the privilege to work on. In a 
period of tight budgets and flatlined discretionary spending, 
the 2018 Farm Bill, with 87 bipartisan votes, provided an 
increase of $780 million in mandatory funding for agriculture 
research over 10 years. The Farm Bill also established new 
authorities and investments to bolster research and scientific 
understanding related to the security of our food supply.
    Authorities like the Agriculture Advanced Research and 
Development Authority, AGARDA, now allow the Department to 
carry out advanced research and to develop cutting-edge 
technologies and research tools. It is vital that we have the 
necessary authorities, capabilities, and scientific 
understanding of zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19, to 
prevent and combat these diseases, protect the food production 
and supply chain, and meet the nutrition needs of a growing and 
ever-changing population.
    There is no doubt that we are in a better place today 
because those who came before us recognized the need for 
research and innovation in agriculture. I look forward to 
hearing from our panel about what these past efforts have meant 
and, more importantly, where we should go from here.
    With that I recognize Senator Stabenow for her remarks.

STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE 
                          OF MICHIGAN

    Senator Stabenow. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this 
important hearing. Thank you to our witnesses who will be 
testifying today. Mr. Chairman, of course, I want to start by 
recognizing this is our last hearing together. While we will 
deeply miss your leadership, your wit, and your determination 
on the dais, you will always be watching over us through your 
newly unveiled portrait that is in our Committee room. Since I 
will be looking at you, I wanted to return the favor as well by 
presenting you with this.
    Chairman Roberts. You better not tell anybody about this.
    Senator Stabenow. I know.
    Chairman Roberts. You are going to get in trouble. Thank 
you very much.
    Senator Stabenow. You are welcome.
    From showing you around Michigan to marking up the 
bipartisan Farm Bill, it has always been an honor to be your 
partner on the Committee as well as your friend. Looking back 
on all we have accomplished, I know your legacy will live on 
through the words you have written into law and the 
relationships you have built as you have carried on your work.
    In recognition of your dedication and hard work, on behalf 
of the entire Committee I would like to present you with the 
Chairman's gavel.
    Chairman Roberts. Thank you.
    [Applause.]
    Senator Stabenow. Thank you for your leadership and your 
partnership. I know that you will be leaving the Committee in 
good hands. I am looking forward to working with my friend, 
Senator Boozman, in the next Congress.
    For our last hearing together it is only fitting we 
reflect, as you said, on one of the most impactful issues we 
have worked on together--agriculture research and the important 
role it plays in protecting our food supply. Mr. Chairman, the 
importance of research to your home State certainly will not be 
lost on this Committee, particularly today, given the fact that 
we have three Kansans testifying today including former USDA 
Secretary Dan Glickman, who is a great friend of both of ours.
    While there is no shortage of support for agriculture 
research, as we both know, for too long the need for investment 
has outpaced the funding available. That is why we worked 
together closely in 2014 Farm Bill to create the Foundation for 
Food and Agriculture Research, which carries on today. Dollar 
for dollar, it matches public investments with private funds to 
support every corner of agriculture, from animal disease 
preparedness to pest management for fruit growers, to growing 
techniques for urban farmers.
    When we were working on the 2018 Farm Bill, it was a no-
brainer for us to expand research, including The Foundation's 
innovative public-private partnerships, which are critical to 
addressing one of the greatest threats to agriculture, the 
climate crisis. Today we will hear from General Mills about 
their partnership with the Foundation to conduct critical 
climate research and expand regenerative practices for grains 
in Kansas and dairy in Michigan.
    We know that accelerating agriculture research is vital to 
feeding a growing global population and addressing the climate 
crisis which threatens farmers' livelihoods and our entire food 
supply. From floods to droughts, farmers are already seeing the 
devastating impacts of extreme weather. In fact, the GAO 
estimates that climate change will result in crop losses that 
could cost up to $53 billion in the coming years.
    Fortunately, there is momentum to scale up research that 
helps our farmers not only adapt but be part of the solution to 
the climate crisis. Last month, a new coalition of farm and 
environmental groups, led by the American Farm Bureau, National 
Farmers Union, and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives 
issued 40 different recommendations to address climate change, 
including substantive new funding for agriculture research.
    I am very proud that this Committee has not only focused on 
this issue but we have been the one Committee that has done two 
bipartisan hearings on this issue, and I am very grateful that 
we have been able to do that.
    Again, Mr. Chairman, I so much appreciate the opportunity 
I've had to work with you, and I am going to miss you. It has 
been my great pleasure to have the opportunity to get to know 
you and Franki personally, and to understand all that you bring 
to not only the job but to life. I wish you the best as you go 
forward in your next steps and with what you and Franki are 
going to be doing. I wish you only the best. Thank you very 
much for everything.
    Chairman Roberts. Thank you.
    I now recognize the distinguished Senator from Arkansas, 
who has been our pulling left guard in everything that we have 
done.
    Please, Senator.

 STATEMENT OF HON. SENATOR JOHN BOOZMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 
                       STATE OF ARKANSAS

    Senator Boozman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and in a second I 
am going to sneak off for just a little bit, and either come 
back or catch the rest of the hearing on Zoom. One of our dear 
colleagues, Senator Enzi, is giving his farewell talk, as you 
know.
    I just wanted to take a second. You know, I have always 
been blessed. The Lord has always blessed me with coaches and 
teachers that made me better than I really wanted to be, at 
times, just by pushing me and helping me. Certainly, I do 
appreciate the fact that you have taken me under your wing 
these last several years and really just been so, so very 
helpful.
    I also want to thank our Ranking Member, Debbie Stabenow. I 
think the example that you just gave, you know, of the gifts 
that you gave, the pictures, says it all. We are blessed. We 
have a very, very bipartisan Committee, and as a result, you 
two have done a tremendous amount of work. The Farm Bills, we 
know how difficult those are. I think most of Congress 
understands how difficult, but for you all to get the last one 
out--and it was not perfect, but it was awful good--and to have 
a record number of votes truly is remarkable.
    Not only the Farm Bill, but so many other things that you 
all have been able to set the example for the rest of the 
Committee. I know, Senator Roberts, and Senator Stabenow, not 
only taking care of yourselves and each other, but taking care 
of the rest of the Committee, which is so, so very important to 
your members.
    To say that we are going to miss you is an understatement. 
Your experience, you have been around long enough that the 
modern Farm Bill--and this is not an exaggeration--the modern 
farm legislation that has been written, you have had a hand in 
either writing it or helping to write, and that really is 
remarkable, both on the House side and the Senate side.
    Again, thank you so much for the great work that you have 
done, and as Debbie said, we are going to look up and see you a 
great deal, hanging on the wall. Thank you very much.
    Senator Stabenow. Mr. Chairman, we do look forward to 
hanging you as we enter the new year.
    Chairman Roberts. We have already had the hanging, or the 
unveiling. Unlike Senator Leahy's portrait, whose eyes keep 
following us, I have not quite got that down yet, at any rate.
    Let me introduce the witnesses, if I might, and bring back 
every word that our great friend and Senator from Wyoming, 
Senator Enzi, says, so at least I will get to read it on the 
same day that he gave it.
    Our first witness, Mrs. Amy France, hails from Marienthal, 
Kansas, where she farms alongside her husband, Clint. Their row 
crop and livestock operation includes grain sorghum, corn, 
wheat, soybeans, and Black Angus cattle. They are diversified. 
Mrs. France currently serves on the National Sorghum Producers 
board of directors, as well as on the board of the Kansas Farm 
Bureau Foundation, and President of the Wichita County Farm 
Bureau.
    Amy and Clint are proud parents to five children, one 
granddaughter, and a second grandchild on the way. Welcome 
back, Amy. It was great to hear from you when we kicked off our 
farm bill hearings in Manhattan, and I look forward to hearing 
from you again.
    Next we have Secretary Dan Glickman, who served as our U.S. 
Secretary of Agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001. 
Previously, he represented the Fourth congressional District of 
Kansas for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, where 
he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee.
    He currently serves as Vice President of The Aspen 
Institute. He also serves as a member of the boards of the 
Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, the World Food 
Program, Food Research and Action Center, and the Chicago 
Mercantile Exchange.
    Dan happens to be one of my very best and dear friends, and 
I welcome him today. I thought about thinking of something 
funny to say, Dan, prior to introducing you, but this is a 
serious hearing and I think I will just let that go. Welcome 
and thank you for participating in today's hearing.
    Our next witness is Dr. Stephen Higgs. He is the Director 
of the Biosecurity Research Institute, the BRI, and Associate 
Vice President for Research at Kansas State University. He has 
conducted and directed research on multiple topics, including 
novel methods of virus infection and transmission.
    Dr. Higgs earned a doctorate from Reading University in the 
United Kingdom and a bachelor of science with honors in zoology 
from King's College in London. Dr. Higgs was recently awarded 
the prestigious Harry Hoogstraal Medal for outstanding 
achievement in medical entomology. Congratulations for the 
award and we welcome you, Dr. Higgs. We look forward to your 
testimony.
    Now Senator Klobuchar plans to introduce Dr. Rosenzweig, 
and if she cannot attend the hearing, I will. Senator 
Klobuchar, I recognize you at this time.

STATEMENT OF HON. SENATOR AMY KLOBUCHAR, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 
                       STATE OF MINNESOTA

    Senator Klobuchar. I am here, Mr. Chairman, thank you.
    First of all, I am glad that we broke the glass ceiling to 
have one non-Kansan here at your last hearing, for Dr. 
Rosenzweig. Before I introduce him, I just wanted to say to 
you, Senator Roberts, how grateful I have been for your 
chairmanship, how much I have enjoyed personally, like every 
member of this Committee, working with you on so many different 
things, from ag machinery to the food supply. I have so enjoyed 
your sense of humor, and we are going to miss that so much. As 
noted, we will see you there every single day when we are in 
the hearing room.
    One other thing I wanted to add, having been at your 
portrait unveiling, it was just incredible the outpouring of 
love for you from your former staff, from members, former 
members, and that is a legacy that not everyone can have. So 
congratulations, and I know you are going to have a great 
retirement, and I have a feeling we are going to see you again.
    Dr. Rosenzweig, our one and only Minnesotan here, is with 
us to talk about the work that Minnesota's General Mills is 
doing to invest in and promote regenerative agriculture as a 
way to overcome the challenges that are facing our farmers and 
food industry. He serves as Senior Agricultural Scientist at 
General Mills, where he leads research and outreach programs 
across North America to support farmers in implementing 
regenerative agriculture and to better understand how these 
systems impact the environment and also our farm economy.
    Both Senator Smith, who also serves on this Committee, from 
the State of Minnesota, and I welcome you, Dr. Rosenzweig. 
Thank you very much, and thank you, Senator Roberts.
    Chairman Roberts. Amy, thank you very much for those very 
kind comments. It is good to have you back, and thank you for 
your co-sponsorship or cooperation in regards to FFAR. I think 
that was a real step forward, so I appreciate that.
    It is time now for our first witness, Mrs. Amy France.
    Amy, why don't you proceed.

STATEMENT OF AMY FRANCE, PRODUCER, NATIONAL SORGHUM PRODUCERS, 
                       MARIENTHAL, KANSAS

    Mrs. France. Thank you, Chairman Roberts, Ranking Member 
Stabenow, and members of the Committee for this opportunity to 
present the view of National Sorghum Producers regarding 
agricultural research and securing the U.S. food supply. My 
name is Amy France and I farm near Marienthal, Kansas, 
alongside my husband, Clint, and our five children. We grow 
grain sorghum, corn, wheat, soybeans, and cattle. I hope my 
testimony as a farmer, on behalf of NSP, will be helpful to you 
and the Committee.
    First, Mr. Chairman, thank you for all you have done for 
farmers like me and my family. Your authorship of the Freedom 
to Farm Act acknowledged a trust in the American farmers to 
assess and meet the needs of the global marketplace. As a 
fellow western Kansan, I thank you for your legacy of 
leadership.
    The U.S. sorghum industry encompasses approximately six 
million acres, yielding over 350 million bushels of grain, 
supplying both domestic and international markets. We have 
witnessed challenges brought by COVID-19 and recent 
international trade disputes. Yet, sorghum farmers have 
persevered. Perhaps more concerning are extreme weather 
challenges in recent years, which could threaten our ability to 
grow a crop. Fortunately, with its inherent heat tolerance and 
robust root system, sorghum sequesters carbon and builds 
healthier soils, making it a sustainable model crop.
    Sorghum producers have craved innovation, and not just to 
respond to the challenges of today, but to prepare for 
challenges ahead. We applaud this Committee for establishing 
AGARDA. Sorghum producers have seen how investments and not 
just cutting-edge, but bleeding-edge science can result in 
significant leaps forward.
    In 2014, the Department of Energy launched ARPA-E to 
facilitate a government role in the financial risk to develop 
transformational technologies in the energy sector. One of 
these programs was Transportation Energy Resources from 
Renewable Agriculture, or TERRA, which selected sorghum as the 
model crop for its drought tolerance and genetic variability.
    In plant breeding, sequencing DNA is the easy part. It is 
confirming what genetic changes do in the field that slows new 
variety development. TERRA utilized advanced sensing 
technologies and high-performance computing to rapidly identify 
changes in the field. Building on the successes of TERRA, ARPA-
E launched a program called ROOTS, to take what was being done 
above ground and deploy it below.
    We have learned more about sorghum genetics and root 
development in the last six years than we have in the previous 
six decades, and agriculture is just one small portion of the 
overall ARPA-E investment. Imagine what U.S. agriculture could 
accomplish with AGARDA if properly resourced and utilizing the 
ARPA-E philosophy.
    Often, the mile between scientific discovery and my seed 
bag is most challenging. This is why, in 2016, sorghum farmers 
participated and partnered with Kansas State University to 
create the Collaborative Sorghum Investment Program. To date, 
CSIP has established technology transfers for advances like 
herbicide tolerance and pest resistance toward seed innovation 
for sorghum.
    Remaining hurdles to innovation are frequently regulatory 
in nature. Gene editing, or CRISPR, for example, allows 
breeders to quickly make direct edits to the genome, changes 
that otherwise could take years or even decades to accomplish 
through conventional breeding.
    Last spring, USDA published their SECURE Rule, updating 
their biotechnology regulations. While not perfect, we believe 
this rule encourages the pursuit of innovations.
    In October, EPA took initial steps to modernize their Plant 
Incorporated Protectants regulations, and while we appreciate 
their efforts, the proposal falls short. In it, EPA 
acknowledges the precision of gene editing and its inherent low 
risk, but the proposal creates too many hurdles and stifles 
innovation. EPA's proposal regulates based on the process 
rather than the product, which is in contrast to the USDA 
approach and the recommendation of the National Academy of 
Sciences.
    We encourage this Committee to consider these regulations 
closely and engage with EPA and USDA on development. We must 
get this right. We have to tackle the environmental and food 
availability issues ahead.
    Sorghum farmers have long known the value of sound science. 
We have witnessed research at the local level to identify risk 
for crop insurance purposes and groundbreaking results to 
tackle global sustainability efforts. Looking forward, we are 
hopeful for a robust research portfolio and what we can 
accomplish with AGARDA.
    Again, thank you to the Committee and Ranking Member 
Stabenow for the opportunity to share these perspectives, and 
to Chairman Roberts, I especially want to thank you for your 
decades of service and unbridled support to Kansas farmers like 
me and my family. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mrs. France can be found on page 
38 in the appendix.]

    Chairman Roberts. Amy, thank you very much, especially on 
the reasonable approach to regulations that affect all of 
agriculture.
    The Honorable Dan Glickman, Secretary Dan Glickman, please.

 STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DAN GLICKMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 
              THE ASPEN INSTITUTE, WASHINGTON, DC

    Mr. Glickman. Thank you, Senator Roberts, thank you, 
Senator Stabenow, and thanks to all the Senators here. You 
know, the Roberts-Stabenow relationship has been a wonderful 
marriage, a perfect marriage of bipartisanship, working 
together, and a real legacy, not only for Pat and Debbie but 
for the whole Congress. I just want to commend you. It was this 
Committee that 25-1/2 years ago confirmed me as Secretary. I do 
not think any of you were there in this capacity, although Pat 
and I served together in the House with Senator Dole, Senator 
Leahy, Senator Lugar, and others. What a great Committee and 
what a legacy you all have put together.
    I hope my entire statement will appear in the record. I 
just want to mention a few things. I think there are six goals 
in agriculture research. One is really to have the resources 
and the prioritization of food and agriculture research 
generally. This is important stuff, and it needs to have the 
kind of priority and funding for the future. It needs to focus 
both on basic and applied research and it really needs to 
provide an opportunity for human talent for a new generation of 
young, bright scientists to enter the picture.
    No. 2 is to sustain farming and productivity, which Amy 
talked about and which all farmers want. No. 3 is to encourage 
consumer trust in the food supply. No. 4 is to fight hunger, 
and we are seeing hunger is a much more serious problem today 
than even two or three years ago, because of COVID. No. 5 is 
worker safety. That is worker in agriculture writ large. No. 6 
is to promote sustainability and environmentally friend 
agriculture, in an era of climate and weather volatility.
    Let me just--and, by the way, the Foundation for Food and 
Agricultural Research, which Debbie and Pat were actively 
involved with, and so was Amy and others on this Committee, I 
think is really a profound--will have a profound impact on the 
future of agriculture.
    First COVID. COVID has been a disaster for the country and 
agriculture, with 260,000 people dead, 100,000 people in the 
hospital today. COVID is an example of an animal disease that 
jumped to the human side of the picture, and it has caused 
chaos in human health, in the food and agriculture system writ 
large, agriculture workers, businesses, and a frightening 
increase in domestic hunger that we see.
    As we look at these viral-related diseases, we really need 
to dramatically increase the research and focus on that. A lot 
of this is being done at Kansas State University, but this is 
going to have to, again and again and again--and, Dr. Higgs, I 
think you may talk about this a little--but we must give it the 
attention that it needs, because the risks involved are just 
monumental, dealing with this.
    The second issue I would talk about is the issue of 
nutrition and health. Diet-related diseases are the leading 
cause of poor health and early mortality of not only people in 
the United States but around the world, and contribute to 
hundreds of billions of dollars of public and private spending 
to deal with preventable diseases like type 2 diabetes. I think 
the relationships, especially on the research side, between 
food, health, agriculture, and medicine are often neglected.
    The Federal spending alone for type 2 diabetes is over $160 
billion a year, and chronic diseases are the fastest growing 
part of the Federal budget. Agriculture needs to be a key 
player in discussing these issues of nutrition, both in Federal 
feeding programs as well as the basic research that is being 
done.
    Exactly 51 years ago today, President Nixon hosted the 
first White House Conference on Food Nutrition and Health, and 
this was a seminal event to bring people together to look for 
ways to improve nutrition in America. Out of that grew almost 
all of our feeding programs. Much of our Nation's poverty is 
still impacted by too much hunger and too poor of a diet in 
this country, but agriculture needs to play a key role in that.
    I believe the Committee and the Congress should encourage 
the next administration to hold another White House Conference 
on Food Nutrition and Health, bringing together the Nation's 
food and agriculture leaders and scientists and people in the 
food industry and the medical community to better understand 
the issues of nutrition.
    Third is in the area of climate change. I am really glad to 
see that there is bipartisan cooperation in the farm community 
to look at these particular issues, how weather, volatile 
weather and climate--drought, floods, heat--is critical to deal 
with the health of the agricultural system. It affects almost 
all crops across the world, but wheat and rice are particularly 
affected as is animal health, and the terrible damage done by 
the increasing number of forest fires in this country.
    I would add that more and more farmers and ranchers and 
others in the ag industry are working together on these issues, 
recognizing that climate change is real, not political, but we 
have to work together to find ways to develop sensible, 
reasonable, and impactful solutions.
    You know, I am one who believes that ag research and food-
related research deserves a much higher priority, and it is 
more important than sometimes people outside of agriculture 
give it credit for. With all the vexing problems impacting 
agriculture, it is really important that there be an across-
the-board system in our government to give priority to these 
issues.
    The National Academy of Sciences Breakthroughs 2030 
identifies innovative emerging scientific advances for making 
our food and agriculture more efficient, resilient, 
sustainable, and provides a good analysis of those things that 
could destroy the ability to produce the food supply. They 
asked two real good questions. What are the big questions in ag 
research that need to be answered in the next decade? What are 
the strategies needed to produce adequate food supplies 
sustainably to feed a hungry and healthy world, and how do we 
best achieve these new, enhanced technologies, that Amy talked 
about, in a safe and transparent manner, with the necessary 
human capital, people power, to get all these things done?
    I just might want to comment on two other things before I 
finish. The Foundation for Food and Agriculture, which you all 
were responsible for creating, particularly this Committee, was 
authorized in 2014. It has received nearly $400 million in 
Federal funds to date. It has engaged over 400 outside funders, 
the epitome of public-private partnerships. The work on all the 
issues that we have talked about has been leading the way in a 
new Agriculture Climate Partnership. Dr. Sally Rockey and her 
team have been extraordinary in advancing these new 
technologies. It is my hope that you will consider ways to 
provide more secure funding in the future for FFAR.
    I also want to commend the work of the Chicago Council on 
Global Affairs, where I serve as a Distinguished Fellow, which 
has been a seminal force in tying global and domestic hunger 
and research together. There are tens of millions of people in 
the world, the developing world, suffering from malnutrition 
and hunger, often facilitating violent ethnic and regional 
conflicts. The Feed the Future initiative, which is in USAID, 
was in large part developed through the work of the Chicago 
Council in collaboration with the USDA and USAID, and it is 
really important that that research continues.
    I might add that Feed the Future initiative, coupled with 
sustained U.S. financial assistance to the World Food Programme 
has continued to be transformation in feeding a hungry world 
during these turbulent times. It would be a mistake to give up 
on American assistance to hungry people around the world, and 
it is a mistake for America to go alone on these issues, 
whether eliminating hunger or fighting climate change at home 
or around the world.
    Mr. Chairman, my full statement gives a lot of these 
provisions in greater detail. A lot of other folks have been 
involved in the issues that I have been working on, and I will 
be glad to answer any questions. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Glickman can be found on 
page 43 in the appendix.]

    Chairman Roberts. We thank you, Mr. Secretary. Our next 
witness is Dr. Stephen Higgs, who is in charge of the 
Biosecurity Research Institute at Kansas State University.

   STATEMENT OF STEPHEN HIGGS, Ph.D., DIRECTOR, BIOSECURITY 
 RESEARCH INSTITUTE AND ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH, 
           KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, MANHATTAN, KANSAS

    Dr. Higgs. Chairman Roberts, Ranking Member Stabenow, 
distinguished members of the Committee, I am honored to appear 
before you today on behalf of Kansas State University, K-State, 
for this hearing. I am Stephen Higgs, Director of K-State's 
Biosecurity Research Institute, the BRI, which, as you know, is 
housed in Pat Roberts Hall here in Manhattan.
    In 2015, the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Study Panel on 
Biodefense concluded that the United States lacked leadership, 
a strategic plan, and a dedicated budget to address biological 
threats to U.S. agriculture. Nonetheless, with appropriate 
information and research data we can prioritize, predict, and 
perhaps anticipate pathogen introduction, and therefore focus 
resources or implement measures, and hopefully prevent an 
introduction.
    If a pathogen is introduced into the U.S., early detection 
and accurate identification is critical so that countermeasures 
such as vaccines can be rapidly deployed to contain and 
eradicate the pathogen before dispersal. Unfortunately, 
surveillance is never perfect because you cannot look for 
everything everywhere, all of the time.
    Open sources of information such as Promaid [phonetic] can 
provide us with the what, where, and when information, but 
research data, pathway analysis can direct surveillance and 
resources to high-risk locations.
    Reagents provide the knowledge and understanding of 
pathogens that we need to develop reagents and technologies for 
rapid pathogen-specific detection. Countermeasures such as 
vaccines and therapeutics all depend on research. Research 
enables strategic planning to optimize the use of our 
resources. To illustrate the importance of research, I will, 
unashamedly, use a few examples from the BRI. It is a unique 
facility working on threats to plants, animals, post-harvest 
food products. These include zoonotic pathogens that can 
directly infect people and cause fatal diseases.
    Research at the BRI has conducted evaluation of 
technologies to detect and identify pathogens that threaten our 
military by their food supply, and methods to control food-
borne pathogens on livestock carcasses; development of wheat 
varieties resistant to wheat blast fungi; vaccines to protect 
birds from avian influenza and to protect swine from African 
swine fever virus.
    Reagents to identify pathogens of swine, including rapid 
diagnostic test kits for African swine fever virus, ASFV, have 
been developed at the BRI. Studies have demonstrated that the 
virus can survive in animal-free products, but if imported from 
endemic areas could introduce the pathogens here.
    Research on Japanese encephalitis virus has demonstrated 
susceptibility of North American mosquitos and of both domestic 
and feral swine. Research on Rift Valley fever has developed 
diagnostics and studied these diseases in sheep, cattle, and 
white-tailed deer.
    The National Agricultural Biosecurity Center, NABC, at Pat 
Roberts Hall, is leading efforts on threat assessment, disease 
response training and strategic planning, and communication 
networks needed to protect U.S. agriculture.
    In March, research at the BRI was quickly refocused to 
improve our understanding of SARS-CoV-2. Research proved for 
the first time that the virus neither affects nor is 
transmitted by mosquitos. Research has evaluated swine in cats 
as hosts and hamsters as small animal models. Vaccine 
candidates and approaches to reduce infections in meat 
processing facilities will be evaluated in the coming months.
    Complementing the research, the BRI has developed courses 
and training programs related to foreign threats to 
agriculture, several of which have now been completed for 
online delivery.
    Looking to the future, much still needs to be done. For 
example, funding of the AgARDA program in the Farm Bill is 
needed to support research on threats to both plants and 
animals. Strategic bio- and agrodefense legislation and 
enhanced congressional oversight is needed to develop and 
support long-term strategic approaches to protect U.S. 
agriculture and our food supply. This Senate Committee should 
lead these efforts to protect U.S. agriculture and food from 
natural and intentional biological threats.
    Research is absolutely essential in order for the U.S. to 
defend itself against foreign threats to U.S. agriculture and 
our food supply. However, funding must be strategic to support 
research that will provide the information, knowledge, 
understanding, and practical technologies that are needed.
    As we have seen with SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens, 
biological threats can emerge with little if any warning and 
spread far and fast. Funding must not only sustain what we have 
but build on this and give us what we need so that we can 
quickly respond and combat known and unknown future threats.
    The erosion of our capabilities through a lack of long-term 
strategic funding results in management-under-crisis 
conditions. Nature will not wait for us to get our act 
together, and those who wish us harm may take advantage of our 
lack of preparedness.
    Thank you for giving me the opportunity, and my personal 
thanks to everything that you have done, Senator, Roberts, for 
our country.

    [The prepared statement of Dr. Higgs can be found on page 
46 in the appendix.]

    Chairman Roberts. I appreciate that, Dr. Higgs.
    Our next witness is Dr. Steven Rosenzweig. Doctor, please.

  STATEMENT OF STEVEN ROSENZWEIG, Ph.D., SENIOR AGRICULTURAL 
SCIENTIST, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, GENERAL MILLS, GOLDEN VALLEY, 
                           MINNESOTA

    Dr. Rosenzweig. Chairman Roberts, Ranking Member Stabenow, 
and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for the 
invitation to testify here today and for your bipartisan legacy 
of supporting public agricultural research. Your 
accomplishments in the last farm bill's research title should 
be applauded, and Chairman Roberts, I would like to especially 
thank you for your distinguished leadership on agriculture, 
nutrition, and national security in Congress over the last 40 
years.
    When I was a Ph.D. student studying soil science, I never 
imagined myself working for a global food company, let alone 
testifying to this Committee on its behalf. The fact that 
positions like mine exist reflects the importance of 
agricultural research to every level of the food system, from 
farmers to consumers.
    General Mills has been making food for over 150 years, but 
there are challenges facing agriculture today that threaten our 
ability to continue making food for another 150 years. Among 
the most urgent challenges include climate change and the 
continued degradation of natural resources. Unsustainable rates 
of soil erosion, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, 
and water usage and pollution weaken the resilience of our 
agricultural systems, particularly in the face of climate 
change.
    As a growing number of farmers and ranchers are 
demonstrating, focusing their innovation on restoring the soil 
and biodiversity of the farm ecosystem through regenerative 
agriculture creates positive, cascading impacts for the farm 
business, the environment, and society.
    Regenerative ag is a farmer-led movement containing a 
diversity of ideas and beliefs, but at its core it is a 
holistic approach to farming and ranching that integrates 
principles of agricultural management that work to restore and 
enhance critical processes like water infiltration, carbon 
sequestration, and nutrient cycling. Farmers leverage these 
natural processes to reduce reliance on external inputs, 
leading to greater profitability and enabling the generation of 
a range of ecosystem services.
    At General Mills, we consider regenerative ag to be our 
greatest opportunity for meeting our commitment to reduce our 
climate footprint by 30 percent by 2030. Agriculture makes up 
almost 60 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in our value 
chain, making it essential that we address agricultural 
emissions.
    Regenerative ag empowers farmers and ranchers to play an 
important role in the fight against climate change, and it can 
and should be a part of an economy-wide strategy for tacking 
this important issue.
    General Mills is committed to advancing regenerative ag in 
one million acres by 2030. Over the last two years, we have 
worked to pilot a range of strategies for amplifying this 
farmer-led movement and accelerating adoption in key sourcing 
regions. To date, we have established pilots in Kansas, North 
Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, and Canada. Across every pilot 
there is a variety of farmer experience levels and production 
types, including both organic and conventional farmers. Our 
pilot strategies include a mix of different resources and 
incentives for farmers, including education, coaching, cost 
share, payments for ecosystem services, expanding markets for 
alternative crops, including perennials, and supporting State-
level soil health coalitions, and more.
    We are leveraging a pilot social science research to 
identify the most effective and scalable strategies for 
promoting sustained adoption of regenerative systems, but we 
need more public research helping to identify effective 
strategies for increasing adoption.
    We have also made investments in research to advance the 
science of regenerative ag and improve our understanding of its 
potential impact to the environment and the economy. Chairman 
Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow, I want to thank you for 
your leadership in the creation of the Foundation for Food and 
Agriculture Research, or FFAR, in the 2014 Farm Bill. FFAR has 
built many public-private partnerships needed to help advance 
important research in the industry. Several of FFAR's flagship 
programs have been launched in partnership with General Mills, 
notably the Soil Health Initiative, Open TEAM, and the research 
arm of the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium, or ESMC.
    General Mills, together with the Kansas Department of 
Health and Environment and the ESMC is carrying out one of the 
first pilots of this market in Kansas, and which will pay 
farmers for greenhouse gas reductions and water quality 
improvements and conduct the research necessary to create a 
scaled and efficient ecosystem service marketplace that 
benefits farmers and ranchers.
    Despite the many challenges facing our food and 
agricultural systems today, there are reasons to be optimistic 
about the future. Farmers and ranchers are increasingly 
innovating to regenerate farm ecosystems and businesses, and 
more than ever the private sector is looking for ways to 
contribute. With emerging opportunities like ecosystem service 
markets and public-private partnerships for research and 
innovation, the food and ag industries have opportunities to 
invest in securing the resilience of the American food supply.
    We encourage this Committee to consider more Federal 
investment, public agriculture research for public-private 
partnerships to address climate change and sustainability 
issues in U.S. food and agricultural.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify on these important 
issues, and we look forward to continuing to work with you all. 
I am happy to answer any questions the Committee members have.

    [The prepared statement of Dr. Rosenzweig can be found on 
page 60 in the appendix.]

    Chairman Roberts. We thank you for your testimony, and I 
will try to make my questions very brief, and I know others are 
waiting patiently.
    Amy, let's start with you. The sorghum industry has shown a 
great deal of resourcefulness in pursuing both the traditional 
and non-traditional funding sources in sorghum research, in 
particular, the success of sorghum projects under the 
Department of Energy's Advanced Research Project Agency--we 
call that ARPA-E; everything in Washington has to have an 
acronym--inspired the creation of AGARDA in the 2018 Farm Bill. 
How do you believe the robust use of this advanced research and 
development authority at the USDA can benefit U.S. agriculture 
generally, and individual producers specifically? Feel free to 
talk again about overregulation.
    Mrs. France. Sure. Thank you, Senator. I think just as Mr. 
Glickman alluded to, it is successful because it is the 
private-public efforts, and it has commercialized real-world 
results, which I think is a key factor in moving forward and 
really why it plays such an important role.
    Sorghum has been already chosen to be part of the things 
that are moving forward because we already have so much on our 
side, water-sipping, things like that. The agency's choice of 
sorghum as a model crop is just an ag-related endeavor as well.
    As we look at things that are--as I said in my testimony, 
often-times the final step is a hiccup in the regulatory steps, 
and I think it is really interesting and something to think 
about. We want technology moving forward in all areas. We want 
the best in technology from medicine. We want the best in 
technology or automobiles, and everything we use on a daily 
basis. Something like this would continue to move us forward as 
agriculture, and something that is very necessary and almost 
puzzling why agriculture is held back.
    Chairman Roberts. I appreciate that very much. Thank you, 
Amy.
    Dr. Higgs, we are still facing, obviously, the devastating 
impacts of COVID-19. That is, in fact, a zoonotic disease that 
has become a human health crisis. As we face this, in light of 
the pandemic, what are some ways in which the zoonotic disease 
research priorities have already changed, or should change, and 
let me emphasize the ``should change,'' both for the 
institutions here in the U.S. and globally?
    Dr. Higgs. Thank you for the question, Senator Roberts. You 
know, with respect to zoonotic disease research priorities, 
something that COVID-19 has shown us is that we never seem to 
be prepared. That is true even if the warning signs are on the 
horizon and heading our way.
    Most of the emerging threats to human health are zoonotic, 
and jump from animals to people. It is really quite rare that 
we do not know something about these threats, even if it is 
about a closely related pathogen.
    I think our priorities should really not be changed. We 
have to be vigilant. We have to have the tools and the people 
that we need. We have to have a strategic plan, and dare I say, 
like a Boy Scout, always be prepared. Knowledge is power and 
research provides that knowledge to combat these pathogens.
    We need a system of sustained funding, not a system that 
has to be reinvigorated or, worse still, reinvented. Our sort 
of funding with a pattern of famine, to feast to famine, is 
just not a good strategy. We need sustained funding so that we 
cannot lose our expertise, our work force, and our abilities to 
deal with these pathogens.
    Chairman Roberts. Thank you, Doctor.
    Secretary Glickman, you bring obviously a broad perspective 
on how both public and private investment in ag research can 
leverage funding to have the greatest impact. As we continue to 
face our budgetary constraints, what recommendations do you 
have to encourage continued growth in private sector engagement 
and investment in ag research?
    Mr. Glickman. That is a great question. First of all, the 
private sector has a huge amount of resources they could offer 
in partnership. FFAR is an example where we have brought the 
private and public sectors together on issues like soil health, 
photosynthesis, using less water to produce crops, and stronger 
nutrition initiative that is part of our public health 
programs.
    You cannot just rely only on the public sector because they 
just do not have the resources, even though I think USDA and 
the ag resources have been underfunded for several years, not 
because of what your Committee has done. Just because of the 
nature of the beast. I think that other parts of our national 
budget, with the NIH and the Department of Defense, have 
actually done a lot better on the R&D side, from a funding 
perspective, than USDA has done.
    There is a lot of genius in the private sector. They have 
good ideas about how this will impact people. Just look at the 
development of the COVID vaccine. A lot of that work was done 
in the public sector, in terms of the basic research, but 
getting a vaccine into the hands of the people and doing the 
research that was necessary to find out if it was safe was done 
by the private sector.
    The same thing is true in agriculture as well. You just 
have to work together, and FFAR has been a great example of how 
that is done.
    Chairman Roberts. I appreciate that. Senator Stabenow.
    Senator Stabenow. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and 
thanks to all of our witnesses. First, Dr. Rosenzweig, in your 
testimony you mentioned that the Foundation for Food and 
Agriculture Research has been a critical partner for General 
Mills' efforts to help farmers adjust soil health and take 
advantage of carbon markets.
    Can you talk a little bit more about the foundation's 
public-private partnerships and what they can do in terms of 
supporting the climate change research that we need?
    Dr. Rosenzweig. Thank you, Ranking Member Stabenow, for the 
question and for your leadership in helping create FFAR, along 
with Chairman Roberts. Establishing the FFAR model in the farm 
system was a bold commitment to agriculture research, and they 
are a critical partner for us and others in the industry to 
advance climate change and agriculture research.
    We are proud to have been the first company in any sector 
to set a goal approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative 
to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions across our entire value 
chain. There are now over 1,000 companies that have such a 
commitment. We have critical knowledge gaps to fill and new 
tools and insight we urgently need in order to help our sector 
fight climate change and meet the ambitious goals we have set, 
and further funding the FFAR model to tackle climate change and 
sustainability with the private sector would help to accelerate 
progress and help our farmers thrive.
    We need more tools and technology, like those we are 
developing at ESMC and Open TEAM, for measuring and verifying 
the impact that regenerative agriculture has on climate change, 
and water and biodiversity, and all of these other really 
important benefits.
    Regenerative agriculture is also really context specific, 
so we need research on which practices work where. I also saw 
today that FFAR announced their support for the development of 
perennial crops that can sequester large amounts of carbon, and 
that is something that General Mills is collaborating with them 
on as well.
    The research in the climate-agriculture intersection is 
fragmented, and FFAR can help create the collaboration between 
the farmers and ranchers, the scientists, the public sector, 
and private industry, so that we can address these issues as a 
coordinated force.
    Senator Stabenow. Thank you very much, and I do have to use 
this as an opportunity to mention, as we are doing more on 
research and creating the technologies and information for our 
farmers. I see my good friend and partner Senator Braun here. 
Certainly what we are trying to do is establish a home for that 
information at USDA, develop technology and the technical 
assistance for our farmers. This information will help farmers 
and will create a commodity market on carbon that will be 
supportive of them as well as tackling climate. I think it is 
so important as we move forward that we have developed this 
structure at USDA.
    Ms. Amy France, you have described the sorghum industry's 
success with utilizing the Department of Energy's ARPA-E 
research programs, which have significantly increased the 
public understanding of biotechnology and plants. Of course, as 
you and Chairman Roberts talked about the 2018 Farm Bill 
created AGARDA to accelerate the development of new research 
tools and agricultural techniques that enhance U.S. economic 
competitiveness and respond to threats to the food supply, like 
extreme weather events.
    Can you talk a little more about how this new authority at 
USDA could help researchers and farmers mitigate and respond to 
the threats of the climate crisis?
    Mrs. France. Yes. Thank you, Ranking Member Stabenow. Much 
like ARPA-E, AGARDA could be a commercialized and real-world 
program, and organizers would do well to study DARPA and ARPA-E 
significantly on the outset. Solving practical problems private 
industry cannot yet tackle is the very essence of the public-
private partnership, and if AGARDA applies with concept as 
sustainability problems like drought tolerance and nitrogen use 
efficiency, the effort will be a success.
    It is our ultimate goal to limit our footprint, but we do 
have a long ways to figure out sustainability and what that 
looks like. I can tell you, from a farmer perspective, if we do 
not have good soil we do not have a job. So, that is definitely 
something that I am excited to see. I have seen, first-hand, 
farmers continuing to see what they can do best, cut input 
costs, and it is encouraging to see those that have input and 
the funds that have been inputted into helping the farmers keep 
doing what we know we can do best.
    Senator Stabenow. Thank you. Of course, the great news, as 
we discovered with our soil health projects in the 2018 Farm 
Bill, is that we want that carbon in the soil, so you have 
carbon-rich soil, that it is creating a situation where we have 
healthier, more productive crops and so on. We want carbon in 
the soil and not in the air, creating air pollution. It is a 
win-win that we are working on right now.
    Dr. Higgs, in your testimony you mentioned several times 
that zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19 post serious threats to 
agriculture and biological security. Given your extensive 
experience in the area, how is climate change impacting the 
prevalence of zoonotic diseases, and where are the gaps in 
understanding these diseases, and how has that been highlighted 
by COVID-19?
    Dr. Higgs. Thank you, Senator Stabenow, for the question. 
Most of the pathogens we are dealing with are not closely 
associated with climate change. Something close to my heart is 
blood-borne pathogens and other anthropod-borne pathogens, and 
they can be very sensitive to climate variation because they 
are poikilothermic and, therefore the warmer it is, the faster 
they grow and move, and the higher density the populations are 
those of arthropods. This is why the abundance of these 
anthropods and the diseases associated with them are seasonal, 
with peaks in the summer months.
    Certainly that is something that we have to keep a very 
close eye on, because as environmental change is happening we 
may see a potential redistribution of those arthropods to areas 
which have become warmer. If you think of something like Zika 
and chikungunya and dengue, the mosquitos that transmit those 
have temperature tolerance levels, and with increasing 
temperatures they will spread, and that increases the potential 
threat to humans and animals. There is a pathogen called 
bluetongue virus, which we have in the United States, which has 
spread very widely in Europe, perhaps because culicoides 
midges, its major vector, may be spreading because temperatures 
have increased. To date, however, there are still no conclusive 
examples to indicate that climate changes has influenced the 
distribution and incidence of any of these diseases. Movements 
of people and commerce is a major factor in the spread of these 
diseases.
    Senator Stabenow. Thank you. We have seen Zika in Michigan 
because of the increases in temperature, warmer weather in 
September, October, and it has caused deaths in Michigan, so I 
understand what you are saying.
    Mr. Chairman, I know my time is up so I am not going to be 
asking Secretary Glickman any questions. You are safe, Dan. I 
just want to say welcome, as always. It is great having 
Secretary Glickman as part of our discussion.
    Mr. Glickman. Can I just comment, just quickly, on your 
last question, though, if I might?
    Senator Stabenow. Sure.
    Mr. Glickman. Okay. What I have noticed, though, is that to 
focus on the issues of zoonotic disease, climate, and health, I 
noticed that in our all discussion about COVID there has been 
virtually no discussion by all the highly educated scientists 
at the highest level about the relationship between food, 
agriculture, and health. It just does not exist. Part of it is 
because a lot of people stovepipe these positions into their 
own categories, and they all relate to each other.
    I hope that in the future, the White House takes a whole-
of-government approach to these issues, and this Committee 
works to include discussions with people in the human health 
field, because they relate to each other, and these are areas 
that I think have been under-discussed in the past.
    Senator Stabenow. I very much agree. Thank you so much. Mr. 
Chairman?
    Mr. Glickman. Thank you.
    Chairman Roberts. Senator Hyde-Smith.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and before I 
get into the questions I just want to take a moment right now 
to just commend on your tremendous contributions and your 
career since you have been in Washington, DC. It has just been 
an honor to serve under your leadership. When I first got here 
and sat down in that chair, in the powerful Agriculture 
Committee, you were very kind, accommodating, and I will never 
forget that. I appreciate that in you, and certainly as a 
former Commissioner of Agriculture, the laws that govern 
agriculture and our food programs, they are much better since 
you have been serving in Congress. I wanted to say thank you, 
for you and your staff. You have accomplished so much, and I 
hope you are proud of that, because you should be.
    Chairman Roberts. Thank you.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. My first question is for Dr. 
Rosenzweig. As we heard in your testimony and from other 
witnesses, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, or 
FFAR, which was established, of course, in 2014 in the Farm 
bill, and reauthorized in 2018, has played such an effective 
role in leveraging private funds with Federal dollars to 
support research that we all know is so very critical.
    I am really proud that Mississippi State University 
President, Dr. Mark Keenum, serves as chair of FFAR. He is 
chairman of the board. It is my understanding that General 
Mills, as a partner in this important public-private 
cooperative effort, has just gone beyond the call of duty, and 
I am truly grateful for that.
    Would you please elaborate on some of the work General 
Mills is doing, in its partnership with FFAR, maybe some of the 
recent work that you have been doing?
    Dr. Rosenzweig. Sure. I would be happy to. Thanks for the 
question.
    You know, we are partners with FFAR on a number of the 
flagship programs, like I mentioned, the Soil Health Initiative 
to create one of the largest soil health research programs 
through funds to The Nature Conservancy, the Soil Health 
Partnership, and Soil Health Institute.
    Right now we are in the midst of partnering with the 
Ecosystem Service Market Research Consortium, the research arm 
of ESMC, to figure out how we conduct the research and develop 
the tools and protocols we need to verify that farmers are, in 
fact, creating ecosystem services. When we are looking to pay 
farmers through an ecosystem service market for these types of 
services, we need assurance that they are actually being 
created. The work that we are doing right now with ESMC and 
FFAR is to create those tools that can help us measure those 
outcomes.
    You know, one of the critical objectives is to reduce the 
costs of those things, because that is really what is going to 
be limiting the funds going into farmers' pockets is how 
expensive it is to conduct those measurements. The work that we 
are doing is to reduce the costs while still maintaining the 
certainty of those estimates.
    I am happy to expand on any of those other initiatives if 
you would like.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you very much. For Mr. Secretary, 
with the global demand for food on the rise and only a finite 
amount of agricultural land, we must continue finding safe and 
innovative ways to produce more on the land that we have, 
because they are not making any more land. Do you believe 
public-private partnerships such as FFAR are a model for the 
future of agriculture research?
    Mr. Secretary? Mr. Glickman?
    Mr. Glickman. Yes. Can you hear me Okay?
    Senator Hyde-Smith. We can.
    Mr. Glickman. Okay. Yes, I am sorry. I was going to say 
Mark Keenum has been a great leader at FFAR, and I know he is 
from your home State, and he is a good friend of mine. I would 
say the answer to that is yes, there are a few areas.
    First of all, these issues are global. They are not just 
United States. If you look at the rest of the world, problems 
of yields, problems of water utilization, they are particularly 
acute in the developing world, where your yields are half of 
what they are in the United States, and hunger is just prolific 
over there. We all share in this thing, and public-private 
partnerships have been very valuable overseas as well as in the 
United States. Whether it is in water utilization, soil health, 
or as I mentioned, photosynthesis, getting crops to grow 
faster, you are right, we do not have any more land and we have 
to make sure that soil health is at the top of our priority.
    This cannot be done without public and private 
partnerships. I might add that at FFAR and other kinds of 
private-public partnerships, agriculture needs to be at the 
center of climate change mitigation. It is part of a 
comprehensive approach, I think, to coordinate science and 
adopt new techniques. All aspects of the supply chain need to 
be involved in this.
    Clearly for agriculture to be at the center requires 
public-private cooperation, and it requires cooperation of 
people in the non-ag world as well.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you very much. That is all, Mr. 
Chairman. Thank you.
    Chairman Roberts. Senator Braun.
    Senator Braun. Thank you, Chairman Roberts. It has been a 
pleasure for the two-years I have been in the Senate to be on 
the Agriculture Committee. I've probably become the freshest of 
any Senator from participating in farming, as a tree farmer, 
and I have been an investor in land and deal with many farmers 
on a weekly basis, to the extent I still have time. The 
hearings that you have held on this Committee have been 
interesting to me because I can draw so recently and vividly on 
experience I have had in the agricultural sector. Thank you for 
that.
    We did hear earlier, Ranking Member Stabenow said we 
introduced the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which is, I 
think, kind of the first manifestation of coming together on 
something that makes so much common sense because it takes the 
good stewardship of tree farmers, of ag farmers, and tries to 
give them the portal of information to actually take advantage 
of voluntary markets that are out there. I think that is an 
important first step.
    My first question is for Dr. Rosenzweig. I know that 
General Mills has done stuff with a definite interest in 
climate. I want to thank you for joining 50 other groups, 
including the American Farm Bureau, that endorses the bill that 
we have introduced, groups like The Nature Conservancy as well, 
and I think we are off to a good start.
    I would like to ask you the question. Legislation like the 
Growing Climate Solutions Act helps farmers and companies like 
General Mills in research and implementing sustainable 
agricultural practices. How do you see that really benefiting 
what you have already done in your own effort to lower the 
footprint that General Mills has?
    Dr. Rosenzweig. Thank you, Senator, for the question, and 
thank you for your work on the Growing Climate Solutions Act. 
We support the bipartisan legislation, like you mentioned, and 
this legislation would help to establish a greenhouse gas 
technical assistance provider and third-party verifier 
certification program through which the USDA would provide 
endorsement of third-party verifiers and technical service 
providers that help private landowners generate carbon credits 
through a variety of aggregate culture and forestry-related 
practices.
    As the demand for carbon markets grows, it is important 
that we have qualified technical advisors working alongside 
farmers to help them develop the most beneficial practices for 
their land. That is why, in our pilot with ESMC and Kansas, we 
have provided farmers one-on-one coaching to help them develop 
and implement their own regenerative management plan and 
helping them navigate the data collection needed to access the 
market.
    Building the capacity of service professionals that 
understand these market opportunities, protocols, and standards 
will support ecosystem service markets' operation at scale. I 
will add that a number of companies like ours have deeply 
invested in the ESMC, and we want to make sure that the 
implementation of the GCSA should be thoughtful and with input 
from the private sector. Thank you.
    Senator Braun. Thank you. My next question is for Mrs. 
France. Before I ask the question, I want to acknowledge how 
important it is what family farms like yours do, that play into 
conservation and sustainability. Earlier in the year, we had 
Brent Bible, a Hoosier, who testified before the Committee and 
talked about, with an eye to soil health and to actually making 
the farm have a lower carbon footprint, it was interesting to 
see how much farmers are already doing.
    In regards to, again, the Growing Climate Solutions Act, 
one of the things my bill would do is kind of give that one-
stop shop, website information, maintain that the USDA Farm 
Service Agency, which farmers are familiar with, interfacing 
with on a weekly, monthly basis. As you and other producers 
look toward innovations that are both economically and 
environmentally sustainable for your farm's next generation, do 
you believe that it would be helpful to have that singular 
point? What does that mean, especially with the familiarity you 
have already, working with the Farm Service Agency's part of 
the USDA?
    Mrs. France. Thank you, Senator. FSA certainly does provide 
a hub for us. The individuals we work with, we worked with for 
years and generations before us, and I am sure they will have 
our children as well.
    I think that would be very beneficial, you know, having one 
spot for our information. We already bring them so many 
records. They have, really, the bible of our farm at their 
desk. It seems like although I am not completely familiar with 
your potential bill, but from the sounds of it, initially, 
without digging in deeper, it does sound like that could be 
very beneficial to a farmer.
    Senator Braun. Thank you so much, and keep up the good work 
on the farm.
    Mrs. France. Thank you very much.
    Chairman Roberts. Sherrod, are you there?
    Senator Brown. I am.
    Chairman Roberts. Yes. In this Zoom world we live in, when 
we have two Senator Browns, spelled differently, of course----
    Senator Brown. Well, one is Brown and one is Braun.
    Chairman Roberts. Yes, I understand that. I understand 
that.
    Senator Brown. I just want to go before Casey, Mr. 
Chairman.
    Chairman Roberts. Well, you and Bob will have to work that 
out, but I am going to recognize you next.
    Senator Brown. Thank you, and first, thanks to Chairman 
Roberts for his decades of service to the people of Kansas. His 
stewardship of this Committee, I was privileged to serve for a 
little while with Senator Roberts in the House, and I have been 
on this Committee with him for years, and his commitment to 
ensuring this Committee, and in particular, the 2018 Farm Bill, 
remained bipartisan. I appreciated Secretary Glickman's work 
on--his work as Agriculture Secretary and his work with 
Chairman Roberts, but especially Chairman Roberts' work on that 
Farm Bill reminds us how major legislation becomes law. I 
appreciate the work that you did.
    Secretary Glickman, thanks for your testimony today. A good 
reminder of the role that USDA and other Federal agencies play 
in driving the research that is critical to so many of the 
challenges facing our country and the world. We know that 
funding is flat or declining, despite the myriad challenges 
from COVID to climate change facing agriculture.
    I appreciate the role that FFAR plays in bringing in the 
private sector, but I have two questions, Secretary Glickman. 
How should this Committee approach USDA research programs and 
funding levels, and together, absent a renewed focus and 
substantial funding increase for land grant and other research 
institutions, is our country at risk of ceding our role as the 
global leader in food and agricultural research, in your mind?
    Mr. Glickman. Yes, I think we are at risk. I think that the 
Chinese and the Brazilians have both shown an inclination to 
vastly increase the research in food and agriculture, and ours 
has been relatively flat. We fortunately have had some other 
good examples of the private sector getting involved.
    Levels of research are important, but also the quality of 
research and how it is done. That is why I mentioned two 
things. No. 1 is we have to have human capital. We have to have 
a new generation of young scientists who are willing to tackle 
these problems, who find them sexy, who find them interesting, 
and they are going to be solving the problems of the future. 
That is really a critical thing, I think, in agriculture, and a 
challenge for both the land grant and the non-land grant 
community. I think it is a pretty important part of the mix.
    The other thing I said is I mentioned this Breakthrough 
2030, which is the National Academy of Sciences' report on what 
are the challenges for agriculture over the next decade. I 
think we have talked about some of them today. I think in food 
and agriculture policy, at home and globally, we need to really 
sit down and focus our resources on what the serious threats 
are, what I call the asteroids, that could come and wipe out 
agriculture, a pest that could destroy wheat across the world 
or rice across the world. Or answers to nutrition problems. 
What do we need to reduce the amount of preventable deaths that 
occur in this world as a result of bad diets? There are just a 
whole litany of answers. We cannot do everything in the public 
sector, and that is why these public-private partnerships are 
so important, because they give us the extra room for the 
public sector to focus on those really important threats that 
are facing the world.
    Senator Brown. Thank you, Secretary. We know that one 
administration is leaving, an administration that, frankly, and 
representing a political party that has mostly rejected 
science, from COVID to climate change, and we have an 
administration coming in, as you know, that believes in 
science, and that is why I appreciate having real scientists on 
this panel today.
    This Committee can play, obviously, a key role in smart 
farming practices for climate. Talk to me about, if you would, 
how you see climate change affecting global food supplies and 
agriculture, particularly in the developing world, for decades 
to come. Less about what the solution is but just what you see 
as the effects of climate on agriculture internationally.
    Mr. Glickman. Well, look, in my judgment, Senator, 
agriculture is probably the most impacted industry to volatile 
weather and climate change. After all, droughts, floods, heat--
those are the three things that are destructive of the ability 
to produce crops to feed the world. The responses have to be 
led by the United States, and your Committee has really done a 
great job of trying to highlight these issues. Unfortunately 
the funding base has not followed suit very well, and it is not 
just the Committee's fault. It has to do with the nature of 
Federal budgeting.
    The main thing is to strategically look at what those 
threats are, both to American farmers and to the global 
agriculture system, and focus research on those particular 
things, and I think climate and nutrition are key parts of that 
particular discussion. Also, the White House has to be very, 
very involved in this effort as well, you know, and sometimes 
agriculture just does not get the attention at the White House 
level. This is a bipartisan criticism, in my judgment. It takes 
leadership at the White House and leadership at the Department 
of Agriculture, and leadership in Congress to make this happen.
    Senator Brown. Okay. Thank you. Dr. Rosenzweig and Ms. 
France, thank you both for being here too. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman.
    Chairman Roberts. Bob Casey, you are up.
    Senator Casey. Mr. Chairman, thanks very much, and I want 
to thank you and Ranking Member Stabenow for this hearing. 
Chairman Roberts, we are all giving you kudos today as we 
consider this as your last hearing. I want to thank you, in 
particular, for your service in the Senate on behalf of farmers 
and ranchers, and I know the people of Kansas more broadly. I 
am also grateful for your leadership on the Committee, working 
with Senator Stabenow, as many of have noted, as you noted, the 
2018 Farm Bill being one of the most recent indicators of that 
leadership. Thank you for that work. I want to thank our 
witnesses for joining us today. I will have a question for 
Secretary Glickman as well as Dr. Rosenzweig, and we will get 
to those in a moment.
    I just wanted to start with what we are facing today. We 
know that our Nation is facing the greatest public health 
crisis in a century, and then a jobs crisis and an economic 
crisis on top of that. There is suffering all around. There is 
no question that these crises are significantly affecting our 
Nation's farmers and our agricultural communities.
    We have long lines for COVID testing that are only 
exceeding by the long line for food assistance, all across the 
country, no matter where you live--big cities, small towns, 
rural areas, suburban communities. Our farmers, our farm 
workers, our meat processing workers, grocery store workers, 
food banks, and others who are helping our supply chains stay 
afloat are on the front lines every single day.
    The farmers, their families, and the businesses I hear from 
in my home State of Pennsylvania tell me that more relief is 
needed and that relief is needed now, not three or four months 
from now. Right now. This month.
    In addition to the immediate relief that Congress should 
provide, agricultural research plays a critical role in 
supporting the innovation that is essential for the resiliency 
of our food system and supply chains. We know that climate 
change is not just a challenge for our Nation, an existential 
challenge, but also we know of the role that farmers play in 
mitigating climate change.
    I want to start with Secretary Glickman on food security, 
an issue that you have worked long, twilight hours on for many, 
many years, even decades now, and I appreciate that work. I 
appreciate your comments today regarding that undeniable 
linkage between and among poverty, hunger, nutrition, and 
health. I know that communities in Pennsylvania and across the 
country, as they continue to struggle with the devastating 
reality of food insecurity, we need to be addressing this 
challenge from all angles, including research investments. 
Especially concerning for so many of us is the disproportionate 
impact we are seeing in communities of color, both in terms of 
the adverse impact of the virus, the depth and devastation of 
the virus, as well as the rising rates of food insecurity.
    My first question, Secretary Glickman, is, could you 
elaborate on your perspective on the critical relationship 
between poverty, hunger, and nutrition, and in particular, how 
should we be thinking about research investments as it relates 
to food insecurity and the growing racial disparities across 
the country?
    Mr. Glickman. Well first of all, you have been an amazing 
leader in this area, particularly in the global food security 
area, and I want to compliment Senator Casey on that.
    You know, everything is inextricably linked. Who would have 
thought that COVID, an animal virus, could have killed 260,000 
Americans, put 100,000 people into the hospital right now? 
Thank God we had good scientists in all areas who were able to 
develop a vaccine, both here at home and around the world.
    Good science is the key to certainly solving these problems 
in the short term. We have seen this rapid increase in hunger. 
Thank God we have the food stamp, the SNAP program. The levels 
of lines of people seeking relief on an emergency basis, we 
have never seen those kinds of numbers before.
    All these issues are linked to each other. One of the 
interesting things that we have found is folks who suffer from 
COVID often are people who are victims of comorbidities often 
caused by bad medical conditions, so cardiovascular, diabetes, 
those kinds of things. Health, agriculture, food security, they 
all kind of relate to each other.
    This whole COVID thing almost destroyed the meat and 
poultry industry in this country. Who would have thought 
anything like that could ever happen? Then what you see 
happening around the world, where people are suffering in 
underdeveloped countries that do not have access to the 
techniques and tools that we do.
    I would just add one more thing. Farmers have been 
fortunate. You all have been extremely generous. We have been 
able to at least reduce the amount of hurt to some degree in 
terms of farmers in this country through direct help. I do not 
know whether you are going to be able to afford to do that in 
perpetuity, in the future. There are so many alternative needs 
in agriculture as well, in terms of research, in terms of our 
nutrition programs, both domestically and globally. It is going 
to be a big challenge for you to kind of put all these things 
together and come out with a fair solution.
    You know, given what we have gone through, I do not think 
we have dodged a bullet, but we certainly have prevented total 
catastrophe that could have happened without kind of the 
holistic thinking, particularly in the private sector and 
particularly in the Congress. You guys have done a great job.
    Senator Casey. Well, we have got more to do, and Mr. 
Secretary, I want to thank you. I will send you another 
question about the global food security in writing, and Dr. 
Rosenzweig, I will make sure that you get a question in writing 
as well. I want to thank Dr. Higgs and Amy France for their 
testimony as well.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Roberts. We appreciate that. Thank you very much. 
Senator Fischer. Senator Fischer, we can see you. Let's unmute.
    Senator Fischer. Okay. Am I on now?
    Chairman Roberts. You are certainly on.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too would like 
to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your wonderful service to this 
country. It has been a pleasure to have you as Chairman of the 
Agriculture Committee during my membership on this Committee. 
You have been a mentor to me. I am part of your posse that is 
out there, and it was wonderful to be able to welcome you to 
the State of Nebraska a couple of years ago. Sometimes 
Nebraskans and Kansans fight over things, like water, but 
usually we find ways to always work together and be able to 
serve our constituents. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
    This question is for everyone, but I would like to start 
with you, Secretary Glickman, if I could. The report that you 
mention in your testimony from the National Academies of 
Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine States ``data will be at 
the center of the next revolution in food and agriculture.'' Is 
there a gap between the increasingly data-driven nature of 
agriculture and the availability of decision support tools for 
agriculture producers that is based on modeling or 
visualization, integration of that data from the farm and the 
ranch?
    You need to unmute, sir.
    Mr. Glickman. That is an excellent question. I think that 
the data to farmers from centralized sources about the use of 
fertilizer, pesticides, soil health is better than it has ever 
been. I am not sure that every farmer has been eligible for 
this, and smaller farmers sometimes feel like they have been 
excluded from this. I think you are correct. Data and data 
analysis is going to be critical for the future of production 
agriculture, in terms of inputs, in terms of science. That is 
one of the reasons I keep going back to this issue, is one of 
the challenges for you all, I think, and this Committee, is to 
make sure that we have a pool of talent, smart people, all 
around the country, in both land grants and non-land grant 
schools, that can help farmers cope with these challenges.
    Senator Fischer. How are we going to get USDA, get the 
focus there to get this information and these tools out of 
research and into usage? You know, and I am talking about 
tools. I am a cattle rancher, and I am talking about tools. I 
want to be able to not just answer questions and provide 
information that ag producers do for research, but then have it 
come back to us and make it practical. How important is that 
for USDA to take that step?
    Mr. Glickman. Well, I do think partnerships with private 
sector is one way to transfer those technologies into 
understandable ways that help the private sector, and that is 
one of the things the Foundation for Food and Agriculture is 
working on, is how to move the companies, whether they are seed 
companies, crop input companies, and also the data companies, 
the tech companies that have not necessarily traditionally been 
involved in agriculture, to make the exact link that you have 
been talking about.
    I do not have the exact answer to your question, but I 
think you have gotten to the heart of one of the real issues, 
is how do we transfer that information into a workable plan for 
farmers and ranchers to actually use.
    Dr. Rosenzweig. Senator Fischer, if I may, you know, we 
have been working with Open TEAM, the Open Technology Ecosystem 
for Agricultural Management, which is a FFAR-funded initiative. 
You know, part of the challenge is there are data silos within 
agriculture. We are collecting farm management data but that 
data cannot be used really to make decisions because we cannot 
connect those decision support tools with that data. It is not 
in the right format. It is not collected with that in mind.
    What we are doing through Open TEAM is really creating this 
interoperable ecosystem of tools and technologies and creating 
these tools with farmers. I mean, that is part of the process 
of how we get it out of research and into farmers' hands is we 
co-create them with farmers on the ground. That is the work 
that is happening right now through Open TEAM, and there are 
some really cool advancements coming out of the work.
    Senator Fischer. Do you think it would be important, 
though, to be able to have USDA more involved, to have a 
specific office to make sure this gets out? Every day an ag 
producer does not have a lot of time to do the research and 
figure out where this all is. Usually it is through a county 
extension person or, as you said, with private industry who 
gives them a heads-up on things.
    I really am interested in getting practical usage out of 
all the research that we see, and really, literally, seeing it 
on the ground--on the ground.
    Dr. Rosenzweig. No, I agree, and one of the challenges we 
have to overcome there is data privacy and permissions. Farmers 
have to have control over their data and have the ability to 
share it with their county extension or an NRCS officer. They 
have to have control over that data, but ease of sharing with 
their agronomists or their coach, or whoever it might be that 
can help them with that. That is another kind of issue that we 
are tackling through Open TEAM is how do you maintain the 
ownership while still allowing them to transfer the data and 
open it up to those they want to see it.
    Senator Fischer. I know I am way over time here. I would 
really appreciate if you folks on the panel, if you have 
thoughts on that if you could write us about that. I would 
appreciate it, because it is something that I think is 
extremely important that we get all the great new research that 
is out there, the technology, and get it in the hands of people 
who are making a difference in feeding this world. Thank you.
    Senator Boozman. Senator Smith.
    Senator Smith. Well, thank you very much. It is great to be 
with all of you. I do not know, should I be calling you Chair-
elect or Chair today?
    Senator Boozman. Whatever.
    Senator Smith. Well, I cannot see all of you but I think 
that this must mean that Chair Roberts has stepped away to go 
vote, and so I was just going to remind him about how much I 
appreciate him and how much I have learned from serving with 
him these last three years. I will do that personally in 
another way. I am just really glad to be a part of this panel.
    I wanted to maybe just start with Secretary Glickman. I 
want to just highlight a point that you made a bit ago, and at 
the tail end of somebody else's questions, which is the really 
important link between animal health and human health, and how 
we do not make that link as strongly as we should. Particularly 
as we are living through the very dark weeks of this COVID-19 
pandemic that just seems so important.
    I talk to folks in my home State, where there is a big 
emphasis, of course, on animal health and human health. The 
animal health people tell me that the bigger issue is trying to 
get the human health people to understand that they have a real 
vested interest in cooperating and collaborating with them. 
Actually Senator Young and I have a bill to bring forth a one-
health approach, much more broadly, in the Federal Government. 
I wonder if you just want to comment on that a little bit, not 
necessary on the bill specifically, but I would welcome that.
    Mr. Glickman. I just concur totally with what you said, and 
it has to do with our government and how our private sector, 
and even how our university world is so stovepiped. We have 
seen this with COVID. There was an animal disease that 
transferred to humans and 260,000 Americans have died. People 
just need to be talking to each other a lot more. If your bill 
does that, that is terrific.
    Senator Smith. Yes. It reinforces the need to do that 
collaboration sooner rather than later, and so thank you. I 
just think it is such an important point.
    Dr. Rosenzweig, I just want to welcome you to the panel, as 
my fellow Minnesotan. About 36 years ago I was just graduating 
from business school with my brand-new husband, Archie, and we 
moved to Minnesota so that I could take my first job out of 
graduate school at General Mills. I always feel as if I am a 
proud alum of General Mills, and I really appreciated your 
comments today. I am very encouraged and excited by the MBOLD 
coalition that General Mills and other corporate citizens in 
Minnesota are leading.
    I want to just talk about this a little bit in the time 
that I have. You know, you do not need to talk to Minnesota 
farmers or food producers about the realities of climate 
change. They see it every year in the impacts of drought and 
heat and floods, and it is having a significant impact on their 
ability--their resilience, as you said.
    I am wondering if you could just talk a little bit more 
about the MBOLD coalition, and I am especially interested, 
given that today we are talking about research, just talk a bit 
more about how that partnership with the University of 
Minnesota is working and what we might learn from that.
    Dr. Rosenzweig. Sure. Thank you, Senator. Yes, MBOLD is a 
recently formed coalition of Minnesota's globally leading 
clusters of businesses, researchers, and food and agriculture 
producers, and we are working to accelerate solutions to some 
of the most pressing challenges that food and agriculture is 
facing today, particularly climate change and the growing 
demand for food. It is led by General Mills chairman and CEO, 
Jeff Harmening, along with other leaders in the food and ag 
industry in Minnesota.
    Together we are working to address a couple of key areas--
soil health and water stewardship, packaging sustainability, 
catalyzing innovation and entrepreneurship, and fighting food 
insecurity. Across all of these different areas we are piloting 
these solutions in Minnesota, where we are all based, really 
with an eye toward scaling nationally and even globally.
    Like you mentioned, the University of Minnesota is playing 
a critical role across a number of the different pilots that we 
have ongoing as part of MBOLD. You know, along with Cargill, we 
have launched a project in the Red River Valley of Minnesota 
and North Dakota really focused on helping farmers adopt soil 
health practices, and the University of Minnesota is going to 
be leading a lot of the work in that project, leading the soil 
health and soil carbon testing, and also a social evaluation 
that will help us understand the effectiveness of that program 
at promoting understanding about soil health and increasing 
adoption across the region.
    I will also note that the University of Minnesota's Forever 
Green initiative is leading another project with MBOLD to 
create market opportunities for alternative crops, to help 
farmers in the State diversity beyond the typical corn-soybean 
system. The Nature Conservancy is also leading a pilot of ESMC 
in the State. Those are just a couple of the different 
initiatives we have going on through MBOLD.
    Senator Smith. Thank you. I am really proud of the 
innovation that Minnesota farmers and producers are pursuing, 
and they are showing something that I believe is so true about 
adapting and dealing with climate change, which is we can 
either lead or we can follow. If we lead, we create more 
opportunity, we create innovation, and especially with that 
focus on research we can really increase our competitive 
advantage rather than feeling as if it is damaging our 
competitive advantage. I appreciate that.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Hoeven.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too want to 
start out with some comments thanking our Chairman, Pat 
Roberts, for all his work on behalf of farmers and ranchers. 
Maybe if I go on long enough he will get back for some of it, 
but if not I certainly want it in the record.
    I have truly enjoyed working with Chairman Roberts, and I 
think it is fitting that as he finishes up this term in the 
Senate, in this Congress, that he really goes out on such a 
high note, because he did a remarkable job leading, along with 
our Ranking Member, as well as the Chairman and Ranking Member 
in the House, the way forward in terms of building a remarkably 
good Farm Bill.
    That just seems fitting and appropriate for somebody who 
has really dedicated his life to working on behalf of farmers 
and ranchers across our country, coming from Kansas and truly 
understanding the heartland and understanding agriculture, and 
that the work that our farmers and ranchers do benefit every 
single American, every single day, with the highest quality, 
lowest cost food supply. When we pass a Farm Bill every five 
years that is not just something that benefits farmers and 
ranchers. That is something that benefits every single 
American, every single day. That is remarkable in and of 
itself, but then when you look at this last Farm Bill that we 
were able to pass, with Chairman Roberts' leadership, I think 
we got something like 88 votes on the floor. Is that right, 
Ranking Member?
    Senator Stabenow. Eighty-seven.
    Senator Hoeven. Eighty-seven. You know, that just shows the 
bipartisan work, the quality of the work that was done in 
finishing that Farm Bill. For our future leadership on this 
Committee, and as Senator Smith said so well, I truly enjoy 
being part of this Committee. Agriculture is No. 1 with me and 
always will be. What a marker there for us all as we go forward 
and try to finish future Farm Bills.
    He certainly leaves having done incredible work on behalf 
of not just farmers and ranchers but certainly the people of 
Kansas and the people of this great nation. We thank him for 
that and we are truly appreciative.
    I would like to ask a couple of questions here with my 
remaining time. One is to Secretary Glickman. I was at Chairman 
Roberts' unveiling of his portrait, and as I recall you spoke 
by video. I probably misheard, because I thought you did not 
say you were there for the hanging of his portrait. You said 
you were there for his hanging. I am sure I just misunderstood 
that. One, I thought you might want to touch on that for a 
minute. It was probably something with the, the video. Then I 
also wanted any thoughts you have on how we can do the very 
best job possible in terms of building ag research, which is so 
vital. Secretary Glickman.
    Mr. Glickman. Yes, Okay. There we go. I will leave the 
answer mysterious, whether it was his hanging or the hanging of 
his portrait. As you know he and I are very close personally, 
and we have spent a lot of time making fun of each other. I 
want to say----
    Senator Hoeven. Who has the better humor? I mean, if you 
really had to say, who is better at humor, you or Chairman 
Roberts? Remember, you are under oath.
    Mr. Glickman. I guess I would have to say him, because I am 
smart enough to know that if I said it was me he would probably 
never talk to me again. I will leave it that way.
    I think the answer to your question is that this 
prioritization of agriculture research is really important 
because we will not get additional resources without that. You 
know, I think the Congress has really done a good job, but I am 
disturbed over the last many years to see kind of the real 
amount of spending not go up, and see it go up in other areas 
like the NIH or the Pentagon. I think part of that is that the 
general world, the general non-food and agriculture world does 
not realize the value of agriculture research on an everyday 
basis.
    It is just continuing to tell the story of how important it 
is, is just something I would say.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you. Then with the indulgence of the 
Chairman I would ask one more question for Dr. Steven 
Rosenzweig, and that is talk just a little bit about your work 
with your partnership with NDSU, and also the progress you are 
making on oat research.
    Dr. Rosenzweig. Sure. I would be happy to. You know, 
General Mills has their own oat-breeding program, and we 
collaborate with public universities throughout the Dakotas and 
Canada really to advance new oat genetics. It is really a great 
partnership with public universities because there are no 
private breeding efforts really happening in oats, which is a 
minor crop, and so that work is really important. That public-
private partnership is critical.
    You know, along with NDSU, I mentioned a little bit before 
about our project in the Red River Valley, working on sugar 
beets and wheat, which are critical crops from General Mills in 
the Red River Valley. We are looking forward to a partnership 
with NDSU in addressing soil health in sugar beet systems. Just 
some recent research out of NDSU suggests that you can get a 
cover crop established in those sugar beet systems and it does 
not hurt sugar beet yields, and it helps provide that cover for 
what is otherwise a pretty destructive crop to the soil, as you 
pull out a giant root to try to harvest it. That is really 
promising, and we look forward to working with North Dakota 
State on sugar beet research moving forward.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you for that work. I appreciate it so 
much. I think it is so impactful and I am a strong proponent of 
NIFA and will continue to be. Again, thank you very much. We 
love the bison.
    Senator Stabenow. As the Chairman is coming up, Mr. 
Chairman, I am going to go and vote right now. As I leave I 
also want to take just a moment to thank your staff. We have 
such a wonderful partnership and I want to thank James and all 
of the members of your staff who have done such an incredible 
job for you. James and Joe are the team, and we know we could 
not get things done without our very capable staff. We have, I 
think, the best professionals in agriculture, nutrition, and 
conservation on the Hill, so I appreciate all their work.
    Chairman Roberts. Thank you very much. Senator Thune. Oh, 
he is on a Zoom, for goodness sakes. All right. Senator, I 
figure this is the last time I can call you Coop in public, so 
I am going to do that. Coop, you are up.
    Senator Thune. Okay. Can you hear me, Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman Roberts. Of course. I can always hear you.
    Senator Thune. Okay. Well, thank you, and I have got to 
tell you, I am going to miss that. I am going to miss you and 
your staff and all the great work that you guys have done 
through the years for agriculture. You have been a tireless 
advocate, and I can tell you the farmers and ranchers in South 
Dakota are forever grateful, and across the country, for 
everything you have to create that stronger safety net. As you 
often say, greater certainty and predictability for 
agriculture. We are grateful for all you have done and for your 
service and you will create a big void in American agriculture. 
We know you will be out there speaking up wherever you go.
    Thanks for holding this hearing, to you and the Ranking 
Member, Senator Stabenow. Dr. Rosenzweig, now that you have 
addressed North Dakota State let's deal with the really 
important business and I am going to ask you about South Dakota 
State, jackrabbit country. My understanding is that you partner 
with South Dakota State as well, and I am wondering if you can 
describe the value for private enterprises like General Mills 
of partnering with land grant universities like SDSU to advance 
research that helps to secure the U.S. food supply, and maybe 
more specifically, talk about what General Mills has been able 
to accomplish through its partnership with SDSU.
    Dr. Rosenzweig. Sure. Thank you, Senator. Yes, we gain 
significant value from our public-private partnerships, 
particularly at land grants that have top-notch research 
personnel and facilities. You know, we can just do so much more 
when we work together. As an example, South Dakota is the 
second-biggest oat producer in the country, and General Mills 
is one of the largest oat buyers in the North America.
    In 2016, we partnered with SDSU to establish a state-of-
the-art oat variety development lab on campus, where our oat-
breeding team works in tandem with the top researchers and 
students at the university to improve the supply of quality 
oats in the U.S. and through that partnership we have been able 
to expand our oat research program, and that includes 
collaborating and funding SDSU oat expertise, plus all of the 
advancements in oat varieties and genenetics are in the public 
domains, that we can grow the knowledge base of oats that has a 
reach beyond South Dakota to most of the Upper Midwest States 
and Canada.
    You know, along with SDSU, we have been able to fight this 
fact that climate change and a lack of investment historically 
in oat research has been pushing oat production farther and 
farther north, into Canada and out of the U.S., which limits 
market options for farmers across the Midwest. Partnership with 
SDSU has enabled advancements in oat-breeding technology, 
genomics selection, and oat nutrition measurement that allow 
for new and additional oat markets for the growers of South 
Dakota. We just recently granted $350,000 to South Dakota State 
to better support oat production in organific and regenerative 
systems, to improve oat performance as more and more farmers 
adopt these systems.
    Senator Thune. Thank you. Secretary Glickman, as you know, 
agriculture and the food supply face significant strain due to 
the pandemic, and I think we all saw first-hand in South Dakota 
when the Smithfield pork plant in Sioux Falls temporarily 
closed due to the COVID outbreak. You mentioned the importance 
of cross-agency collaboration to address food and agricultural 
issues, and I agree that this is something that is very much 
needed.
    Based on your previous role as Secretary of Agriculture, 
what suggestions do you have for facilitating that kind of 
collaboration?
    Mr. Glickman. First of all, let me say that oats are a 
great cholesterol-reducing food. As somebody who has to watch 
my cholesterol, I am a big oats fan.
    You know, look, we saw what COVID did to the entire food 
supply chain, from farmers and ranchers to processors to 
restaurants to the way people eat. I think that one of the 
things that we learned is that the issue of farm workers and 
workers in these plants in many cases--not in all cases, but in 
many cases--just were not given the attention on the public 
safety side of the picture. I think that many of the companies 
have learned from this and are doing a better job now with it.
    While I was at USDA I would have to say that we focused a 
lot on food safety issues, but we did not focus very, very 
significantly on farm safety issues in plants. Theoretically, 
that is part of the Department of Labor's jurisdiction and 
OSHA, and there were always some conflicts between USDA and 
OSHA and Labor, in terms of the regulatory issues. Everything 
has to be done with good judgment. The number of people who 
work in these plants who got COVID and died was 
disproportionately greater, and similar to what you found in 
nursing homes, to some extent.
    We have got to do a better job analyzing public health 
issues as it relates to workers in these processing plants, and 
I think most companies really want to do that, because it 
affects their productivity. I hope that we continue to work 
with them and find ways to both be efficient in the production 
of food and resilient in the production of food, but deal with 
this issue of health of the workers.
    Senator Thune. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I do not have a 
clock, but I am sure my time has expired. I have got some other 
questions for other panelists, but I want to thank you again 
and we will miss you. I will miss you calling on Coop when it's 
my time to ask questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Roberts. Thank you. For the education of those who 
do not understand why I call the Senator Coop, I thought he 
looked like Gary Cooper in High Noon, and I realized, and he 
realized at one time, after about the third time around, that 
nobody in the entire hearing room knew who Gary Cooper or what 
High Noon was all about. Anyway, that is that.
    Before I conclude the hearing, I would like to ask the 
Secretary, and I would like to ask Dr. Higgs, if either one of 
our other witnesses wish to respond. We have talked a lot about 
the current COVID-19 situation. We had swine flu. We had avian 
flu prior to that. There will be something else that we will 
have to contend with.
    My question is, we have not, for the last, what, 10 or 15 
years, really paid as much attention to something that happened 
some time back under the Nunn-Lugar Program, we were allowed in 
the secret cities in Russia. Of course, when Putin came in that 
stopped. I was able to go to a lab called Obolensk, about 60 
miles away from Moscow, and discovered warehouses full of 
pathogens with the intent of attacking a country's food supply.
    Now that is a whole different ball game. I know that we 
have NBAF out of K-State. I know we want to make it a national 
security program. I know we used to have exercises about that, 
and Dan, I probably bored you to death with those stories, 
especially with your post as Secretary of Agriculture.
    I do not know of any exercises that we have conducted since 
that time, but I do know that those warehouses existed. I do 
not know what has happened under Putin, but I can imagine that 
situation could still exist, if not ongoing. Again, we do not 
have access to that. Think of Iran. Think of China. There is a 
lot of talk about China, you know, anyway.
    Would you have any comments to make on that, Dan?
    Mr. Glickman. I would just say the U.S.--if you can hear me 
Okay----
    Chairman Roberts. Yes.
    Mr. Glickman [continuing]. the U.S. cannot disengage from 
the world, and global collaboration in terms of not only the 
pandemics but these potential acts of terrorism require us to 
keep good relations with potential threats. They exist whether 
it is in the Middle East or whether it is in Russia or China or 
Iran or wherever. You know, you need a pandemic strategy at the 
White House level, not just at the department level, where 
people are kind of anticipating.
    Prevention is always tough. Dealing with a problem once it 
is on top of you, we are smart enough to find solutions. I 
think your point is really a good one. How do we deal with 
prevention of these kinds of threats. It has just got to be a 
high national security priority.
    Chairman Roberts. Dr. Higgs, part of the reason why you are 
there at the BRI but also at NBAF, which will be concluded in 
the next several months, we hope, and it should be a national 
security issue. That is how this was born, from the revelations 
that we had certain countries, primarily Russia at that 
particular time--well, it was the former Soviet Union--with 
intent to really take down a country's food supply.
    As I said, that led to quite a few exercises. They have 
tailed off. It is not as if the dog is not barking. We all 
wonder about these zoonotic diseases that happen from time to 
time. If it is intentional, we have got a whole different 
problem to work with. Would you have any comment?
    Dr. Higgs. One of the issues with these biological agents, 
Senator, is that they are relatively cheap compared to other 
conventional weapons. So, we know, for example, that al Qaeda 
was considering various pathogens--hog cholera, foot and mouth 
disease, rice blast, and so forth--that they might consider to 
use against us.
    Those threats have not gone away. They probably never will. 
Russia had an incredible biopreparat, secret bioweapons program 
with, huge numbers of people, perhaps 60,000, working on agents 
that could potentially be used against us. Your revelation and 
your experience of going to Obolensk was critical in us 
building the BRI and having our awareness raised.
    At the moment, as we are speaking today, the United 
Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany are slaughtering thousands of 
chickens because of H5N8 influenza. Russia has already killed a 
lot of birds because of that and detected it in wildlife.
    That is something already on our horizon. It is a natural 
threat. The last time we had a serious outbreak of avian 
influenza here in the United States, in the space of less than 
a year, between 2014 and 2015 we lost 50 million birds, and it 
cost $3.3 billion to the United States.
    We just cannot afford to ignore what we know is out there, 
and it is very difficult to prepare for what we do not know, 
but that is what we have to do. It is as simple as that. We 
still conduct exercises, for example staff of the National 
Agricultural Biosecurity Center in Pat Roberts Hall regularly 
with the Kansas Department of Agriculture on FMD preparedness.
    Mr. Glickman. Pat, may I make one more comment, if I might?
    Chairman Roberts. Certainly.
    Mr. Glickman. Okay. This is both a national security issue 
and it is also a regulatory and staffing issue. You know, we 
have made some changes in recent years in terms of APHIS, 
Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, in whose agency it is, 
where it reports to. It has been bifurcated. I think that we 
not only have to deal with the intelligence side of this 
picture, to make sure we have all the data coming in from our 
talented people who are looking at these issues from an 
analytic and operational point of view, but we also have to 
have enough inspectors in the United States, with authority, to 
examine at our borders the food products that are coming into 
this country.
    Chairman Roberts. As I indicated before we did have several 
exercises that dealt with this issue. The consequences were 
unimaginable. I know because I served as president--there was 
not anybody else in town so somebody had to do it. I think Ann 
Veneman was the Secretary, come to think of it, and she 
appeared. It was hoof-and-mouth disease. By the time Texas went 
to close its borders it was into Oklahoma and all the way up to 
North Dakota, and that was largely hoof-and-mouth disease. You 
could name any other possible attacks. As I indicated, the 
former Soviet Union had pathogens in warehouses.
    I will leave it at that. I really want to thank the 
witnesses very much for your contribution. It was a good 
hearing. I will simply say that concludes our hearing today. 
Thank you to each of our witnesses for taking time to share 
your perspectives on agricultural research and securing the 
United States' food supply.
    To my colleagues, I appreciate all of your efforts. Thank 
you for your comments. I wish you the best in the new Congress. 
We ask that any additional questions you may have for the 
record be submitted to the Committee Clerk by five business 
days from today, or by 5 p.m. next Wednesday, December 9th.
    The Committee is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 4:30 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

      
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