Update on federal barley research operations
Several weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), home of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), announced they would be releasing a reorganization strategy that would align the agency with the goals of the current administration. It was rightly assumed, given the significant cuts occurring throughout the federal government, that there was a potential for this new strategy to impact barley research operations. The National Barley Improvement Committee advocated strongly to retain critical research infrastructure, and leadership was vocal on the locations and researchers that were necessary to accomplish that work.
For the past several weeks, the timeline on announcing this strategy has been pushed multiple times as the USDA readjusted to staffing displacements realized through the voluntary resignation and retirement programs offered. Furthermore, the intent of a reorganization has been brought into question by the court system, which has generally forced the pause of any significant mass layoffs, also known as reductions in force (RIFs). It is unclear at this time if a reorganization strategy will ever be shared, but the FY26 budget proposal from the USDA released on Friday, May 31st does provide some insight into the priorities of the administration.
You can find the entire budget proposal at the USDA website. It is important to note that this is only a proposal and it is still up to Congress to set the budget through the appropriations process, which is currently ongoing for the upcoming fiscal year. The explanatory notes shared in the ARS portion of the budget highlights proposed funding changes and staff reductions (full-time equivalents, FTEs) from the previous fiscal year. At a topline level, the ARS budget in 2025 was $1.789 billion. The budget proposal for 2026 calls for a slight reduction to $1.700 billion, primarily captured in a reduction of over 1,300 FTEs. For reference, ARS had 6,285 FTEs in 2025 with a proposed lowering in 2026 to 4,965.
By far the most positive messaging from this budget proposal was that no research locations significant to barley research have been identified as potential closures or consolidations. Furthermore, no specific research project has been identified as a potential for elimination. Likely, the most significant impacts to barley research if this proposal is realized, will be through the decreased human capacity to accomplish the research. The table below highlights four research locations of significance to barley and their proposed cuts to financial obligations and FTEs as a percentage change over 2025.
NBIC will continue to monitor the situation and bring relevant information to barley stakeholders when available. Advocacy efforts will remain focused on supporting a strong and robust research community focused on barley improvement.
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