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About Us
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The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Our job is finding solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. Here are a few numbers to illustrate the scope of our organization:

690 research projects within 15 National Programs 
2,000 scientists and post docs 
6,000 other employees 
90+ research locations, including overseas laboratories
$1.1 billion fiscal year budget
 

Mission Statement


ARS conducts 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;
Provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole; and
Provide the infrastructure necessary to create and maintain a diversified workplace.

 

Pacific West Area

With 47 research units at 21 locations and several additional worksites where ARS employees are located throughout eight states, the Pacific West Area (PWA) is the largest and most diverse of the eight Areas in ARS.    There are 375 scientist positions in PWA and total workforce of about 1,400 employees.    Research in PWA is conducted in 21 of the 22 ARS National Programs and addresses all five REE research priorities:

1) Climate Change

2) Food Safety

3) Children's Nutrition / Health

4) Global Food Security

5) Bioenergy

Total base funding for PWA research projects is $164 million (net to location).    Base funds are augmented by about $16 million in trust, reimbursable, interagency and CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) funds direct to ARS; and about $4 million of in kind support.   

Intellectual property and technology transfer activities in PWA include over 30 active CRADAs, over 80 issued patents, over 60 pending patent applications and 65 active licenses.