President Donald Trump administration’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has brought work to a standstill at a network of farm research laboratories located at land-grant universities across 13 states, impacting the scientific world, according to Reuters.
The closures mark another blow to US agriculture under President Donald Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the federal government, stalling research aimed at advancing seed and equipment technology and expanding international markets for US agricultural products.
Farmers are already grappling with disruptions to government food aid purchases, as well as delays in agricultural grants and loan programs. Land-grant universities, established on federal land donated to states, are at the heart of this research network.
Global research partnerships in jeopardy
The network of 17 laboratories, funded by USAID through the Feed the Future Innovation Labs programme, has been conducting research in collaboration with countries such as Malawi, Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Rwanda. The research not only benefits partner nations but also supports US farmers by developing production practices that could be applied domestically and providing early warnings about pest threats.
David Tschirley, who leads a USAID-funded lab at Michigan State University and chairs the Feed the Future Innovation Lab Council, noted that the labs employ around 300 people and collaborate with as many as 4,000 international partners.
It presents an American face to the world that is a very appreciated face.
The reduction of USAID’s work also generated many accusations among European politicians and activists, as the programme supported initiatives including cooperation with European companies in scientific development. Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont expressed astonishment at the impact the closure of the US programme had on global science.
The new regime promoted by Trump, Musk, and Vance is not a democratic shift towards the radical right. It is much worse. It is an amendment to the democratic system driven by the Enlightenment, which linked knowledge with progress, equality, and freedom. Only in this way can one understand that the new American administration is putting scientific research under surveillance and cutting off its funding (one of the strengths of US global leadership). It is frightening to read the impact it is having on the scientific world when it has not even been a month since the administration was inaugurated…
Stop-work orders and layoffs
All 17 labs received stop-work orders at the end of January following President Trump’s freeze on most foreign aid. Since then, they have received no further guidance or responses to their queries from the State Department, which oversees USAID, Tschirley explained. Some labs are appealing to their host universities to cover costs, with varying degrees of success.
Michigan State University has allowed Tschirley’s lab to retain staff, anticipating that USAID will eventually approve the expenses. However, Peter Goldsmith’s Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois has not been as fortunate.
Goldsmith laid off all 30 staff members last week and plans to close the lab by 15 April. His lab had been providing technical support to African farmers planting soy and to companies building soy-processing plants.
According to a 2020 report on the lab’s website, its partners included major agribusiness firms such as Bayer, Corteva, BASF, and Archer-Daniels-Midland. Bayer, a global leader in crop seeds and chemicals, stated it is assessing the impact of the funding halt, while the other companies declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries.
Broader impact on US agriculture
The freeze on foreign aid is not the only Trump administration policy affecting US farmers. Tens of millions of dollars in US commodity purchases were temporarily halted after the 24 January order freezing most foreign aid.
Additionally, farmers nationwide report delays in receiving payments from federal farm programs due to Trump’s directive to freeze federal loans and grants, which has since been blocked in court.
As the agricultural sector faces mounting challenges, the suspension of critical research and international partnerships further complicates the path forward for US farmers and their global counterparts.
