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Scientists shielding farming from climate change need more public funding. But they're getting less

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Scientists shielding farming from climate change need more public funding. But they're getting less
News

News

Scientists shielding farming from climate change need more public funding. But they're getting less

2025-03-31 21:38 Last Updated At:22:41

Erin McGuire spent years cultivating fruits and vegetables like onions, peppers and tomatoes as a scientist and later director of a lab at the University of California-Davis. She collaborated with hundreds of people to breed drought-resistant varieties, develop new ways to cool fresh produce and find ways to make more money for small farmers at home and overseas.

Then the funding stopped. Her lab, and by extension many of its overseas partners, were backed financially by the United States Agency for International Development, which Trump's administration has been dismantling for the past several weeks. Just before it was time to collect data that had been two years in the making, her team received a stop work order. She had to lay off her whole team. Soon she was laid off, too.

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FILE - Bill Werner, Lead Greenhouse Manager of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis, walks between plants and evaporative cooling pads in a greenhouse at the Core Greenhouse Complex on the campus in Davis, Calif., May 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - Bill Werner, Lead Greenhouse Manager of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis, walks between plants and evaporative cooling pads in a greenhouse at the Core Greenhouse Complex on the campus in Davis, Calif., May 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - A villager tends to his vegetable garden in a plot that is part of a climate-smart agriculture program funded by the United States Agency for International Development in Chipinge, Zimbabwe, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli, File)

FILE - A villager tends to his vegetable garden in a plot that is part of a climate-smart agriculture program funded by the United States Agency for International Development in Chipinge, Zimbabwe, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli, File)

FILE - Katrina Cornish, a professor at Ohio State University who studies rubber alternatives, harvests rubber dandelion seeds inside a greenhouse, Feb. 6, 2024, in Wooster, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Katrina Cornish, a professor at Ohio State University who studies rubber alternatives, harvests rubber dandelion seeds inside a greenhouse, Feb. 6, 2024, in Wooster, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Soil researcher Asmita Gautam, a Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University, prepares a soil sample for carbon content analysis, July 13, 2023, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Soil researcher Asmita Gautam, a Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University, prepares a soil sample for carbon content analysis, July 13, 2023, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Jude Addo-Chidie, a Ph.D. student in agronomy at Purdue University, places a probe in soil as he takes samples from a corn field July 12, 2023, at the Southeast-Purdue Agricultural Center in Butlerville, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Jude Addo-Chidie, a Ph.D. student in agronomy at Purdue University, places a probe in soil as he takes samples from a corn field July 12, 2023, at the Southeast-Purdue Agricultural Center in Butlerville, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

“It’s really just been devastating,” she said. “I don’t know how you come back from this.”

The U.S. needs more publicly funded research and development on agriculture to offset the effects of climate change, according to a paper out in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this month. But instead the U.S. has been investing less. United States Department of Agriculture data shows that as of 2019, the U.S. spent about a third less on agricultural research than its peak in 2002, a difference of about $2 billion. The recent pauses and freezes to funding for research on climate change and international development are only adding to the drop. It’s a serious issue for farmers who depend on new innovations to keep their businesses afloat, the next generation of scientists and eventually for consumers who buy food.

If scientists have reliable backing, they can keep improving crop varieties to better withstand perilous weather conditions like droughts or floods, find new uses for existing crop species, figure out how to protect workers, develop new technology to aid in planting and harvesting or create more effective ways of fighting pests. They can also investigate agriculture’s potential role in fighting climate change.

“This is terrible news for the U.S. agricultural sector,” said Cornell associate professor Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, the lead author of the paper.

As the Trump administration pauses and shutters research programs funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, USDA and other agencies, Ortiz-Bobea and other experts have seen field trials stopped, postdoctoral positions eliminated and a looming gap forming between the reality of climate change and the tools farmers have to deal with it.

The EPA declined to comment, and the USDA and USAID did not respond to Associated Press queries.

Ortiz-Bobea and his team quantified overall U.S. agricultural productivity, estimated how much it would be slowed by climate change in coming years and calculated how much money would need to be invested in research and development to counteract that slowdown.

Think of it like riding a bike into a headwind, Ortiz-Bobea said. To maintain the same speed, you have to pedal harder; in this case, R&D can be that extra push.

Some countries are heading that direction. China spends almost twice as much as the U.S. on agricultural research, and has increased its research investments by five times since 2000, wrote Omanjana Goswami, a scientist with the Food and Environment team at the Union of Concerned Scientists, in an email.

Spending cutbacks have also shuttered agricultural research across almost all of the Feed the Future Innovation Labs, of which McGuire's was one. Those 17 labs across 13 universities focused on food security, technical agriculture research, policy and various aspects of climate change. The stop-work orders at those labs not only disappointed researchers, but made useless much of their work.

“There are many, many millions of dollars of expenditure that will generate nothing now because the work couldn’t be finished,” said David Tschirley, a professor who had been directing another one of those programs, the Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research, Capacity and Influence at Michigan State University, since 2019.

Some researchers hope that other sources of funding can fill the gaps: “That’s where private sector could really step up,” said Swati Hegde, a scientist in the Food, Land, and Water Program at the World Resources Institute.

From an agricultural point of view, climate change is “really scary,” with larger and larger regions exposed to temperatures above healthy growing conditions for many crops, said Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer, a multinational biotechnology and pharmaceutical company that invested nearly $3 billion in agricultural research and development last year. But private companies have their own constraints on R&D investment, and he said Bayer can't invest as much as it would like in that area.

“I don’t think that private industry can replicate" how federal funding typically supports early stage, speculative science, he said, “because the economics don't really work.” He added that industry tends to be better suited to back ideas that have already been validated.

Goswami, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, also expressed concerns that private research funding isn't as trackable and transparent as public funding. And others said even sizeable investments from companies don't give anywhere near enough money to match government funding.

The full impact may not be apparent for many years, and the damage won't easily be repaired. Experts think it will be a blow in other countries where climate change is already decimating yields, driving hunger and conflict.

“I really worry that if we don’t really look at the global food situation, we will have a disaster,” said David Zilberman, a professor at UC Berkeley who won a Wolf Prize in 2019 for his work on agriculture.

But even domestically, experts say one thing is almost certain: this will mean even higher prices at the grocery store now and in the future.

“More people on the Earth, you need more productivity to prevent food prices going crazy,” said Tom Hertel, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. Even if nothing changes right away, he thinks “10 years from now, 20 years from now, our yield growth will surely be stunted” by cuts to research on agricultural productivity.

Many scientists said the wound isn’t just professional but personal.

“People are very demoralized,” especially younger researchers who don’t have tenure and want to work on international food research, said Zilberman.

Now those dreams are on hold for many. In carefully tended research plots, weeds begin to grow.

Follow Melina Walling on X @MelinaWalling and Bluesky @melinawalling.bsky.social.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

FILE - Bill Werner, Lead Greenhouse Manager of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis, walks between plants and evaporative cooling pads in a greenhouse at the Core Greenhouse Complex on the campus in Davis, Calif., May 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - Bill Werner, Lead Greenhouse Manager of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis, walks between plants and evaporative cooling pads in a greenhouse at the Core Greenhouse Complex on the campus in Davis, Calif., May 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - A villager tends to his vegetable garden in a plot that is part of a climate-smart agriculture program funded by the United States Agency for International Development in Chipinge, Zimbabwe, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli, File)

FILE - A villager tends to his vegetable garden in a plot that is part of a climate-smart agriculture program funded by the United States Agency for International Development in Chipinge, Zimbabwe, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli, File)

FILE - Katrina Cornish, a professor at Ohio State University who studies rubber alternatives, harvests rubber dandelion seeds inside a greenhouse, Feb. 6, 2024, in Wooster, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Katrina Cornish, a professor at Ohio State University who studies rubber alternatives, harvests rubber dandelion seeds inside a greenhouse, Feb. 6, 2024, in Wooster, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Soil researcher Asmita Gautam, a Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University, prepares a soil sample for carbon content analysis, July 13, 2023, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Soil researcher Asmita Gautam, a Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University, prepares a soil sample for carbon content analysis, July 13, 2023, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Jude Addo-Chidie, a Ph.D. student in agronomy at Purdue University, places a probe in soil as he takes samples from a corn field July 12, 2023, at the Southeast-Purdue Agricultural Center in Butlerville, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Jude Addo-Chidie, a Ph.D. student in agronomy at Purdue University, places a probe in soil as he takes samples from a corn field July 12, 2023, at the Southeast-Purdue Agricultural Center in Butlerville, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The leader of Hungary's largest opposition party on Sunday told thousands of supporters that he would guide his country out of its international isolation if he defeats Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in elections scheduled for next year.

Péter Magyar, the leader of the Respect and Freedom (Tisza) party, represents the most serious challenge to Orbán's power since the right-wing populist leader took power in 2010. Recent polling suggests that Tisza has overtaken Orbán's Fidesz party as Hungary struggles with a stagnating economy and has been politically sidelined in the European Union over Orbán's policies.

Speaking at a rally in Budapest on Sunday, Magyar said that, if elected, he and his party would restore Hungary's relationships and reputation among its allies that have suffered as Orbán has attacked the European Union and pursued close relationships with autocracies like Russia and China.

“We will finally put our common affairs in order,” Magyar said. "Our homeland, Hungary, will once again be a proud and reliable ally of NATO. Hungary will once again be a full-fledged member of the European Union.”

Orbán, a self-described “illiberal” leader, has been accused by critics of having led Hungary out of the community of European democracies by eroding democratic institutions, violating judicial independence and taking over much of Hungary's media.

Since taking power in 2010, he and his Fidesz party have led the country with a two-thirds majority in parliament, and easily defeated any opposition.

But recent polls suggest that Tisza has pulled ahead of Fidesz in popularity as Magyar's campaign focuses on economic and social issues facing the country like persistent inflation, a poor healthcare system and alleged government corruption.

On Sunday, Magyar said Orbán's system “cannot be reformed, cannot be fixed, cannot be improved. This system can only be replaced, and that is what we will do — lawfully, democratically, but with determination, we will cut down the regime.”

Nóra Farkas, a supporter of Magyar at the rally, said she had hoped for Orbán's defeat in Hungary's last national elections in 2022, but that with around a year to go before the next ballot, she is more confident that change is possible.

“Anyone who thinks things are going well in this country is blind. Orbán and his circle are the main reason for the problems," she said.

Béla Szandelszky in Budapest, Hungary contributed.

Supporters attend a rally for the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Supporters attend a rally for the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar wave a Hungarian flag before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar wave a Hungarian flag before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Supporters attend a rally for the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Supporters attend a rally for the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

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