If the President’s budget passes in its current form, the US stands to lose its prestige as a world leader in agriculture research.
That was a concern shared by scientists and politicians, of both parties, during a joint press conference at the Peoria County Farm Bureau Tues.
President Donald Trump’s budget proposal, released last week, would eliminate funding for Peoria’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, as part of a 20 percent cut to the USDA.
“I shot a picture that’s hanging up over there, talking about how the Ag Lab is the future,” Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, said. “A short-sighted budget like this is not looking toward the future.”
Before speaking with media, the group toured the USDA’s lab.
If the Ag Lab closes, current research on products, such as fuel alternatives and disease-resistant seeds, would come to a dead halt.
"I’m going to work as hard as I can in the House to make sure that we keep the Ag Lab open to make sure we have the appropriate dollars here,” Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, said.
The budget proposal is still considered a “blueprint,” as it requires approval by both chambers of Congress.
Reps. LaHood and Bustos penned a letter that urges the President and the Appropriations Committee to maintain funding for the Ag Lab.
The first paragraph reads: "Cuts to this program would endanger the modern farm economy."
LaHood and Bustos were joined by local government leaders, including Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis and County Board Chairman Andrew Rand.
Rand says while research that comes out of the lab "may not be the most sexy or sizzling topics," many studies have a direct impact on farmers and consumers, particularly the research on seeds and methods to increase successful crop yields.
"But most important to me, when it's all said and done, is we have jobs here at stake too, and families, people we all know," Rand said.
The USDA says the Peoria site alone employs 200 people and has a local economic impact of at least $100 million. The lab is also a historic site for its role in the mass production of penicillin in the 1940s by Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
The presidential budget blueprint reduces funding for the Agricultural Research Service by $360 million, or 26 percent. That means shutting down 17 research centers, including the lab in Peoria.