USDA Funding secured for establishment of Midwest Agricultural and Food Policy Center

The Midwest Council on Agriculture announced today that $2 million from the FY 2024 Agriculture Appropriations bill has been directed to USDA to establish a Midwest Agricultural and Food Policy Center. The bill passed the U.S. Senate today and will head to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

Former U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman and Congressman from Minnesota’s Seventh District Collin Peterson said that after he left office, it was apparent that despite the Midwest having the most agriculture density in the country, agriculture groups were not working together in a way to leverage and focus that power in the policy arena.

“I developed this idea to help fill the void for food and agriculture policy information in the Midwest,” Peterson said. “For years, Texas A&M University and the University of Missouri have been doing excellent work for policymakers in Washington DC, but there has not been a real focus on key commodities and agriculture economics throughout the 12 Midwestern states that will be represented here.

“Without Senator John Hoeven and his staff, we would still be spinning our wheels,” Peterson said. “From the beginning, he has supported this idea and helped to get it to fruition. We are incredibly grateful for his strong work on this endeavor.”

 The Midwest Agricultural and Food Policy Center will complement the work being done by the Texas A&M Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) and by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri (FAPRI).

“The AFPC has been a standard-bearer in agriculture policy in Washington DC with their Representative Farms across the country, and FAPRI has long-standing credibility with their model that tells how policy changes affect different crops nationwide,” Peterson said. “Our policy center will be part of this broader effort and build expertise in other areas like crop insurance, dairy, livestock, and biofuels.”

While the center will be based at North Dakota State University, the Land-Grant Universities in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin will be key partners in the research and policy areas where they have the most expertise.

"This is an incredibly positive development for agriculture in our region," Midwest Council on Agriculture President Nathan Berseth said, “With the critical support of more than 80 of our members across 12 states, our council has successfully helped to move the needle forward in agricultural advocacy throughout the Midwest.”