SOLEDAD, CA - Earlier this month, leaders from Braga Fresh and Farm Journal Foundation converged with United States Congressman Jimmy Panetta to discuss the importance of ag research and development, highlighting the ways it can benefit global food and nutrition security. While touring Braga Fresh’s farming operations in Soledad, California, Panetta engaged in discussions about how support for public agricultural research and innovation can benefit farmers both in the U.S. and overseas.

“Agricultural research being conducted here in the U.S. benefits American farmers, as well as farmers in developing countries where hunger and malnutrition are unfortunately rising,” said Colby Pereira, Chief Operating Officer at Braga Fresh and Farmer Ambassador with Farm Journal Foundation. “Farmers all over the world are coping with high input costs and increasingly difficult weather and market conditions. We need to be able to access the latest innovations, to ensure that we can be profitable and build sustainable livelihoods and continue to produce enough food to meet rising global demand.”

The insightful event included a visit to Braga Fresh’s on-farm regenerative agriculture trials, as well as demonstrations on how the farm uses agricultural technology and a discussion on the importance of protecting soil health.

As Congress works to craft final appropriations bills and the next Farm Bill, discussions about public support for agricultural development and innovation are particularly important, Braga Fresh shared in a press release.

“From Mother Nature to mandates, markets, and manpower, farmers in California’s 19^th Congressional District and around the country continue to face an increasingly complex set of challenges,” said Panetta. “Expanding agricultural research and innovation is essential to ensuring American farmers lead the global marketplace and drive our efforts to feed the world. I’m proud that our home remains a leader in ag innovation, and I will continue to push for my bipartisan federal legislation to accelerate the development of agricultural breakthroughs so that we can help our local farmers and ranchers continue to succeed.”

While public funding for agricultural research has been declining over the past 20 years, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that ag research has one of the highest returns of any public investment, returning on average $20 in benefits for every $1 invested.

“Investments in agricultural development and research programs are investments in the future,” said Rose Barbuto, Senior Policy Adviser at Farm Journal Foundation. “Support for farmers is critical to ensure they can continue to grow enough food to feed themselves, their families, and their communities, whether here in the U.S. or abroad. Innovations developed in the U.S. can go a long way in delivering solutions to some of farmers’ biggest challenges, benefitting both American farmers and smallholder farmers in developing countries where hunger and malnutrition unfortunately remain significant challenges.”

To read more about this recent meeting, click here, and keep reading ANUK for industry insights.