Agricultural Research Service

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with extending the nation's scientific knowledge and solving agricultural problems through its four national program areas: nutrition, food safety and quality; animal production and protection; natural resources and sustainable agricultural systems; and crop production and protection. ARS research focuses on solving problems affecting Americans every day.

ARS has more than 2,200 permanent scientists working on approximately 1,100 research projects at more than 100 locations across the country, with a few locations in other countries. ARS has four regional research centers: the Western Regional Research Center (WRRC) in Albany, California; the Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC) in New Orleans, Louisiana; the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria, Illinois; and the Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania. Innovation and commercialization are the heart of these facilities (equipped with pilot plants for commercial-type research), which have given life to hundreds of products, processes and technologies. ARS's Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Maryland, is the world's largest agricultural research complex. ARS operates the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, Florida.

ARS also has six major human nutrition research centers that focus on solving a wide spectrum of human nutrition questions by providing authoritative, peer-reviewed, science-based evidence. The centers are located in Arkansas, Maryland, Texas, North Dakota, Massachusetts, and California. ARS scientists at these centers study the role of food and dietary components in human health from conception to advanced old age.

ARS’s complex role in conducting scientific research for the American public is reflected in its mission, which is to conduct research to develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority and provide information access and dissemination to:

• ensure high quality, safe food and other agricultural products,
• assess the nutritional needs of Americans,
• sustain a competitive agricultural economy,
• enhance the natural resource base and the environment, and
• provide economic opportunities to rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole.

ARS research complements the work of state colleges and universities, agricultural experiment stations, other federal and state agencies, and the private sector. ARS research may often focus on regional issues that have national implications, and where there is a clear federal role. ARS also provides information on its research results to USDA action and regulatory agencies and to several other federal regulatory agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

ARS disseminates much of its research results through scientific journals, technical publications, Agricultural Research magazine, and other forums. Information is also distributed through ARS’s National Agricultural Library (NAL). ARS has more than 150 librarians and other information specialists who work at two NAL locations—the Abraham Lincoln Building in Beltsville, Maryland; and the DC Reference Center in Washington, D.C. NAL provides reference and information services, document delivery, interlibrary loan and interlibrary borrowing services to a variety of audiences.

ARS Culture Collection (NRRL)

ARS maintains a culture collection also called NRRL.^[2]

See also

• Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• Agricultural Resource Management Survey
• Germplasm Resources Information Network
• Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging
• National Clonal Germplasm Repository
• National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame
• U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory
• National Interagency Confederation for Biological Research

References

• "Agricultural Research Service". Archived from the original on 8 October 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2005. 
• "Image gallery". Agricultural Research Service. Archived from the original on 6 October 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2005.  - An online catalog from the Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.
• "Western Regional Research Center". Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009. 
• "Southern Regional Research Center". Archived from the original on 26 August 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009. 
• "National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research". Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009. 
• "Eastern Regional Research Center". Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009. 
• "ARS Human Nutrition Research". Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009. 
• "National Agricultural Library". Archived from the original on 16 November 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USDA Agricultural Research Service.

• Official website
• Agricultural Research Service in the Federal Register

Research and development agencies of the federal government of the United States of America Independent agencies National Science Foundation (NSF) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Smithsonian Institution research centers and programs Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Economic Research Service (ERS) United States Forest Service Research and Development (R&D) Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Defense Air Force Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) Army Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) Navy Office of Naval Research (ONR) Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) Naval Warfare Centers Air (NAWC) Surface (NSWC) Undersea (NUWC) Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance (NCCOSC) Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Other Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) Education Institute of Education Sciences (IES) National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) Energy Office of Science (DOE SC) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) National Laboratories Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Food and Drug Administration science and research programs Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Homeland Security Directorate for Science and Technology (S&T) Coast Guard Research & Development Center (CG RDC) Interior United States Geological Survey (USGS) Transportation Research and Innovative Technology Administration Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering, and Development Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration Office of Research and Development (ORD) Multi-agency initiatives U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program (NITRD) National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Policy-making bodies Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) (defunct) House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Agencies under the United States Department of Agriculture Headquarters: Jamie L. Whitten Building Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture Krysta Harden, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Farm Service Agency Foreign Agricultural Service Risk Management Agency Commodity Credit Corporation Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment Forest Service Natural Resources Conservation Service Office of Environmental Markets Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development Rural Housing Service Rural Utilities Service Rural Business-Cooperative Service Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Food and Nutrition Service Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety Food Safety and Inspection Service Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics Agricultural Research Service Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Economic Research Service National Agricultural Library National Agricultural Statistics Service Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Agricultural Marketing Service Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration