AAU joined a number of scientific organizations and associations in urging Congressional leadership and President Obama to consider the impact of the fiscal cliff on the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). AFRI is the USDA’s competitive research program and the letter notes that “Sequestration-level cuts to AFRI would be devastating to food, agricultural, and environmental research…” In FY2012, AFRI was funded at $265 million

 AAU writes leaders of the House Agriculture Committee in support of competitive research at the USDA and urges them to drop language that would require excessive USDA reporting on current projects and agency requests for proposals. 

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The AFRI Coalition urges members of the House and Senate appropriations committees to fund the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) at the President's requested FY13 level of $325 million.