During a House Agricultural Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) spoke about the Trump administration cutting funding for USDA research programs.
00:00Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to dig a little deeper in terms of a part of a conversation that we've been having on public-private partnerships and investments in our land-grant universities and our state universities as a part of that public-private partnership for research in agriculture. As I said, change was constant.
00:25Mr. Cameron, you've been one of the innovative farmers and our role model and you've done a whole host of efforts as it relates to using various efforts to reduce the use of pesticides and I would like you to comment in terms of the importance of that partnership with our research with not only the USDA but the California State Department of Agriculture, our land-grant universities, Cal State University,
00:55our field stations that are at the cutting edge of developing these new efforts to have more drought-resistant crops, those that are less determinant on pests, more pest-resistant plants, and the critical importance.
01:13I've been critical of this administration this year in their reduction of funding for these kinds of programs, some that have been in efforts for several years. Could you care to comment?
01:32Thank you, Mr. Cameron.
01:33Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
01:34Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
01:35We know that there had been federal funding frozen on five-year projects, one at UC Merced.
01:44They were two and a half years into the project.
01:47Their funding stopped.
01:49They didn't know what they were going to be doing.
01:51This was critical to farming in California, it was water-related.
01:56Fortunately, their funding came back and they're going to be able to finish their project.
02:01But we've seen where cuts have been made, projects have been stopped in their tracks, and the uncertainty that that brings is really devastating to the research that they're working on, and ultimately to the growers within California and the U.S.
02:20Do you think it would be helpful if we attempted to try to find an effort to how many of these programs throughout the country are being taken in which sound research, sound science is taking place, and we're abruptly canceling these efforts that are critical to the future of American agriculture?
02:42Absolutely.
02:43Absolutely.
02:44We know that the research that we're doing today is going to be the technology of our future.
02:50If we hold back on agricultural research, that hurts all of agriculture.
02:56It hurts the community.
02:59It hurts the whole process of food production.
03:04So anything we can do to maintain funding for serious agricultural research, we need to be on that.
03:14We don't want to get behind.
03:15We know other countries are moving ahead rapidly with technology and innovation, and I think we should be the leaders in the United States.
03:24Well, and with climate change and other factors we're dealing with, food, again, is a national security issue, and it will only grow in importance in our ability to compete.
03:34You have a particular experience with the ligus outbreak and Pima cotton and the lack of effective tools that were engaged in research.
03:44This is just one pest.
03:46There are others who have mentioned.
03:48The dialogue between the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Pesticide Research was trying to develop sustainable crop protection.
04:00What happened when there was a disruption that took place in the efforts to pursue this effort on ligus?
04:10There was a situation in 2023 where ligus became an extremely important pest in cotton production because of the bowl of the flour to drop off, hence you lose production.
04:24There were products that were registered throughout the other states.
04:29It actually had a lawsuit against it in California.
04:33It was brought back in.
04:35It still doesn't have full registration.
04:39There was an emergency exemption in 2025, but in 2023 California Pima cotton growers lost $41 million of production in just one year due to one pest.
04:53My time is expiring, but quickly, you know, California is among the most strictest pesticide and herbicide regulations in the country.
05:00The efforts to harmonize our own state regulations with the federal protocol, are we having any success there?
05:10We know that the federal EPA and the California EPA Department of Pesticide Regulations are both overburdened, trying to get new registrations.
05:20Since we have dual registration, we need to coordinate, California needs to coordinate with the federal EPA, so we have dual registration going on at the same time.
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