Washington, D.C. — As President Trump freezes a Georgia peanut program, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is pushing back.
Following the Trump Administration’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Sen. Ossoff urged the Trump Administration to swiftly restore funding at the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Feed the Future Innovation Lab (FTFIL) to help Georgia’s peanut farmers strengthen yields and fight crop disease.
“I write to urge you to expeditiously reinstate funding for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut at the University of Georgia, which supports agricultural research at one of the United States’ leading land-grant universities,” Sen. Ossoff wrote toMarco Rubio, Acting Administrator of USAID and Nadeem Shah, Deputy Director of Office of Acquisition and Assistance at USAID. “Since 2018, the University of Georgia has hosted the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut. Researchers at this Lab have studied the impacts of different temperatures and rainfall patterns on peanut growth, developed new disease-resistant peanut varieties, and created a risk index tool to help U.S. farmers increase yield potential and improve peanut quality.”
In 2023, USAID announced an additional $15 million investment in UGA’s FTFIL. Last month, UGA received notice that the Trump Administration was terminating the program.
“I request a written response within one week with an update on funding for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut at the University of Georgia,” Sen. Ossoff continued. “I also request detailed reasoning for the State Department’s decision to terminate funding for agricultural research that helps American farmers.”
Sen. Ossoff continues working to support Georgia’s peanut farmers.
Last month, Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock urged the Trump Administration to swiftly distribute Federal disaster assistance for Georgia farmers that Congress secured after Hurricane Helene.
In December, Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock successfully fought to pass a bipartisan disaster relief package that included $21 billion in agricultural disaster funding and $10 billion in economic assistance to help Georgia farmers recovering from the disastrous impacts of Hurricane Helene and farmers nationwide impacted by natural disasters.
Last year, Sen. Ossoff delivered resources to help establish a precision agriculture laboratory at the University of Georgia’s Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture in Tifton.
Click here to read Sen. Ossoff’s letter.
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