U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Representatives Marion Berry (AR-01), Vic Snyder (AR-02), and Mike Ross (AR-04) today announced that the Senate and House have passed the Conference Report for the Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which contains funding for Arkansas priorities.

“Funding provided in this legislation significantly contributes to the development and growth of local communities throughout Arkansas. As Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am pleased that we are taking positive steps towards securing federal dollars to support the agriculture industry in our state,” said Lincoln. “I’ll continue my fight to ensure that much-needed funds reach Arkansas’s communities as I focus on issues that are critical for our rural communities.”

 

 “As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I worked hard to promote funding for research, rural development, conservation, nutrition, and other agricultural programs critical to Arkansas. The final product supports our state’s agricultural industry and helps lifts up farmers and rural residents,” Pryor said. “I’m proud this legislation also contains my initiative to lift the ban on Chinese poultry imports while ensuring they are safe for American consumers.  Food safety and trade are not mutually exclusive, and both are very important to the economy of Arkansas.   The final agreement protects Americans from unsafe foods while shielding American poultry producers from retaliation. It’s is a win-win outcome for consumers and producers.”

 

“Because farming, forestry, and aquaculture represent a substantial part of our regional economy, the passage of this bill will help address our state’s vast agricultural needs and strengthen rural America,” said Berry.  “The legislation will help promote renewable energy, provide funding for community improvement grants and protect public health by strengthening food safety programs.  This bill reinvests in rural America and I'm proud to have helped secure funding for such worthwhile projects that will help so many people.”

 

“I am proud to have helped secure many of these critical federal investments that support rural development and our state’s research efforts in agriculture and nutrition,” said Ross.  “They are not only vital to our economy in Arkansas, but also critical to our nation because of the enormous contributions they make to public health, agriculture and to ensuring our nation has a safe and secure source of food and fiber.”

 

The following are critical state and local priorities for Arkansas included in the bill:

 

A $1 million increase above the FY09 funding level for the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Little Rock, AR for investigations on optimizing the nutrition and health of children from conception through adolescence.  (Estimated $6.55 million total)

 

A continuation at the FY09 funding level for Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville, AR to develop scientific principles and technologies that enhance the profitability of small scale farms.  ($1.805 million)

 

A continuation at the FY09 funding level for Rice Research, Dale Bumpers Rice Research Center, Stuttgart, AR (Estimated $3.942 million)

 

A continuation at the FY09 funding level for the National Center for Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.  ($654,000)

 

A continuation at the FY09 funding level for Endophyte research at Small Farms in Booneville, AR.  ($994,000)

 

A continuation at the FY09 funding level for the Harry Dupree National Aquaculture Research Center, Stuttgart, AR for research on the genetic improvement of hybrid striped bass.  (Estimated $3.52 million)

 

A continuation at the FY09 funding level for Sorghum Research at Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center in Little Rock.  ($135,000, included in ACNC’s $6.55 million total.)

 

A continuation at the FY09 funding level for the Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit at the University of Arkansas.  (Estimated $1,771,000)

 

A continuation at the FY09 funding level for the UAPB Aquaculture/Fisheries Center of Excellence.  ($519,000)

 

$3.937 million for the Delta Obesity Prevention Research Unit, which is toinitiate community-involved planning, implement interventions, and initiate research to assess the effects on health and nutrition status in counties throughout the Delta Region.  This is a consortium consisting of ARS and six universities located in LA, MS, and AR. 

 

 

$1 million for the Animal Science Food Safety Consortium (AR, IA, KS) for food safety research and education activities.  In Arkansas, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital will benefit. 

 

$775,000 for Institute for Food Science and Engineering at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville for research and education activities to improve the study of food science and human nutrition.

 

$175,000 for Enhancing Agricultural Profitability and Sustainability through Specialty Crops at the University of Arkansas for research designed to help growers, producers, and processors to develop profitable production systems of specialty crops.

$319,000 for the Center for Integrated Forest Management Strategies at the University of Arkansas in Monticello for forestry research and education activities.

 

$1,248,000 for Geographic Information Systems.  Arkansas is one of eight states that participate in this project.

 

Big Slough Watershed Project ($57,000). This project, located in Clay County, addresses flood water damages to approximately 17,000 acres of cropland, several stretches of U.S. Highway 49, and the urban communities of Piggott, Rector, and Greenway.

 

Departee Creek Watershed Project ($110,000). This funding will reduce flooding, sediment, and scour damages on crop and pasture land in the 12,650-acre Departee Creek Watershed in Jackson and Independence Counties.

 

 

 

The Committee provides $2.8 million for the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas program.

 

The Committee awards $2.979 million for grants to the Delta Regional Authority. 

 

 

 

The Committee provides $58,745,000 for the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson County.