Students learn to advocate for ag research

Doctoral student Matt Davis traveled to Washington, D.C., recently to experience first-hand the intersection of agricultural science and federal policy-making.

“We were there to learn about careers in government and policy,” Davis explained. “We learned how to communicate with legislators and went to the legislators’ offices to talk about the 2024 Farm Bill and the importance of funding agricultural research.”.

Davis is in the plant biology graduate group, in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. He went with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, an organization created by Congress to fund agricultural research that helps farmers become more productive and sustainable.

“It was a really cool experience,” Davis said.  “We learned that, for every $1 spent on agriculture research, $20 in value is generated.”

If this year’s Farm Bill were to pass, it would grant almost $1.5 trillion to food- and agriculture-related programs over the next 10 years. A small portion of that would fund agricultural research.

A part of the experience for Davis and fellow attendee Mira Morales Conyer, a UC Davis microbiology graduate student, was learning how to convey the significance of research to government officials. This is a skill championed by Louise Ferguson, a professor of UC Cooperative Extension in the department. Ferguson has been a long-time advocate of agriculture research and said she will lobby for the Farm Bill come April.