Newly inaugurated Governor of Indiana Mike Pence, in his recent State of the State address, has pledged to increase state funding to farm research programs.

Farm research funding has been in a precarious position for the last several years. In the wake of the Great Recession, with government budget deficits ballooning, legislators have been looking for ways to cut spending. One of the primary targets for these austerity cuts have been farm spending and agricultural research. The House GOP has spent the past two years pushing for tighter budgets that reduce funding to major farm research programs and universities.

In his State of the State speech, however, Governor Pence bucked the general Republican trend by pushing for increased state funding for farm research. In particular, Pence asked for funding to build a network of university and private research institutions, which he called the Agricultural Innovation Corridor.

The concept is inspired by a report released last summer by BioCrossroads, an investment and development company specializing in agriculture.

According to the president of BioCrossroads, “This is really an effort to try to be sure that we’re in the very forefront of an initiative that we really can lead because we’ve got the right natural resources and the right companies here.”

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer