Chet Edwards For Congress

Supporting Vital Agriculture Research

• In 2007, Chet secured $21.96 million for fifteen farming, forestry, and animal health research programs at Texas A&M. The Administration did not request funding for the A&M program under its budget, so Chet included the needed funds in the 2008 Agriculture Appropriations bill. The $21.96 million will fund several high priority research programs including studying the effects of the Farm Bill on regional farming communities, researching livestock and dairy policy, studying the effects of healthy foods and diet on disease prevention, studying the sustainability of irrigation in rural communities, and revegetating training acreage for soldiers at Fort Hood.


Previous Projects at A&M

• $2 million for Texas A&M for the Renewable Energy, Sustainability and Profit from Animal Waste program. A&M, in partnership with the Texas Agriculture Experiment Station, will work to develop efficient and economical methods to convert animal waste into energy.




• $2 million for designing fruits, vegetables and other food plants for prevention of life-threatening diseases in an effort to determine the effects of diet in disease prevention.




• $1.574 million to address the environmental challenges and air quality concerns associated with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). <




• $4 million for Efficient Irrigation for Water Conservation in the Rio Grande Basin, to develop more efficient irrigation systems for agricultural and urban landscape uses.




• $400,000 for the National Wildlife Research Center, an ongoing research program to address emerging infectious disease issues associated with wildlife populations and the effect on human health and animal-based industries along the southern U.S. border.




• $550,000 for the Hispanic Leadership in Agriculture program which is intended to improve the participation of Hispanic Americans in the assessment, design, delivery and evaluation of educational programs and economic development opportunities offered by the USDA.




• $1 million for the Center for North American Studies, which is conducting research on the effects of NAFTA as it relates to the environment, labor, animal health and pesticide use.




• $1.9 million for the Livestock and Dairy Policy Program, an on-going project conducted at the Agriculture and Food Policy Center (AFPC) at Texas A&M University in collaboration with Cornell University. This program assesses and analyzes the policy changes in the Farm Bill for the various commodity groups.




• $860,000 for the Regionalized Implications of Farm Programs, an on-going project conducted through the AFPC at Texas A&M in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri and Iowa State University and the Farm Sector Financial Analysis branch of ERS/USDA.




• $5 million for Shrimp Aquaculture Research, an on-going collaborative program between Texas, Arizona, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi and South Carolina. This program has been committed to developing advanced disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment methods, genetic improvement, long-term breeding, water quality and environmental protection and bio-secure production systems for both coastal and inland aquaculture production locations.




• $1 million for the Range Revegetation for Ft. Hood, a joint project between the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) and Fort Hood to revegetate 30,000 acres where heavy artillery traffic has disturbed soils and left the land barren.




• $200,000 for the National Center for Electron Beam Food Safety Research, an initiative in support of a joint private, public and university partnership to study the application of electron beams in the processing of food to make products safer and more nutritious.




• $2 million for the Economic and Environmental Sustainability of the U.S. Beef Industry, a new priority initiative between the Texas and Missouri Agriculture Experiment Stations to strengthen the global competitiveness of the U.S. beef industry through the development of unique and innovative technologies, which will enable producers to select cattle that are genetically superior in converting forage and crop feed resources into beef.




• $1 million for the Joe Skeen Institute for Rangeland Restoration, an on-going collaborative research program to help correct critical degradation of public lands, especially desertification of rangelands through research and education.




• $500,000 for TWRI to protect water supplies in Tarrant County, an ongoing program between the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Tarrant Regional Water District.




• $150,000 for Dairy and Meat Goat Research. This program is located at the Prairie View A&M University campus and is designed to promote the dairy goat industry worldwide.




• $100,000 in funding for the Leon River Restoration Project. This project, performed by Texas A&M, is a pilot initiative to demonstrate restoration techniques in the Leon River watershed, while improving wildlife habitat and agricultural production.