Data for public and private expenditures for agricultural and food research and development (R&D) cover the years 1970-2019 (public) and 1970-2014 (private). Private food industry R&D is also reported for 1970-2019. R&D spending by private agricultural input industries is reported for 1970-2014. Data are shown in current dollars and in constant dollars (adjusted for inflation in the cost of research).
Public R&D expenditures are constructed by USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS), based on data from two sources:
- R&D expenditures by USDA intramural research agencies are from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.
- R&D expenditures by State land grant universities and other cooperating institutions are from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Research, Education, and Economics Information system (REEIS) data portal and Current Research Inventory System (CRIS) annual funding summaries.
Private R&D expenditures are constructed by ERS, based on the methodology described in the ERS report:
-
Research Investments and Market Structure in the Food Processing, Agricultural Input, and Biofuel Industries Worldwide
(ERR-130, December 2011).
Private agricultural and food R&D includes R&D by business firms in food manufacturing and agricultural input supply. Private agricultural input industries research is more likely to have impacts on agricultural productivity than private food industry research, so these components of private research are also reported separately.
In the files below, data are available in both current and constant dollars. Research expenditures in current dollars are not adjusted for price inflation. Research expenditures in constant dollars are adjusted for inflation using the Biomedical Research and Development Price Index (BRDPI) from the National Institutes of Health.
For more details see Documentation and Definitions and Related Resources. Note that the series methodology and estimates have been revised with this release, see Update and Revision History for details.
