Thursday Democratic Senator Dick Durbin announced a bill that will help boost agricultural research funding.
The America Grows Act would help restore the United State’s commitment to publicly funded agriculture research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The bill would increase research funding each year for the next five years.
“Five percent real growth in agricultural research through the U.S. Department of Agriculture every year,” Durbin said.
Durbin said the bill would bring an extraordinary amount of progress in helping farm income and make life better for Americans.
“We need to work together to make agriculture even better than it is now,” Durbin said.
Local Union President of Peoria’s USDA Agricultural Lab, Ashley Maness, said it is exciting to talk about increasing spending, rather than decreasing spending for the lab.
“This time talking of closures and shrinking the budget was very stressful for all of my members,” Maness said. “And has left many feeling unappreciated for the important work that we do”.
At the Peoria Ag. Lab, employees are researching subjects such as new fuel sources made from crops, combating insect bacterial fungal attacks on crops, and how climate change will impact farmers.
“When you start opening the door to research, you open the door to opportunity,” Durbin said.
