85 



Problem Four: The facilities are remote from scientific 

 centers. 



In order to effectively carry out research, scientists need 

 to interact with each other. In its February 1983 report 

 and again in later reports, the UAB said that scarce program 

 funds must be judiciously applied to high priority programs 

 rather than thinly spread among a multitude of projects. 

 Many ARS facilities are too small to provide a "critical 

 mass" of scientists, and are located too far away from other 

 research centers to allow for regular collaboration. 



Problem Five; There is no national agricultural science 

 facility plan. 



Because there is no overall priority setting, there is no 

 national planning for new facilities. If biotechnology is 

 the "hot" issue in a given year, then all five facilities 

 built that year are biotech facilities despite pressing 

 needs in other disciplines. In addition, we are building 

 new facilities at such an alarming rate that we do not have 

 sufficient staff to operate many of the labs once they are 

 built. 



Problem Six; The system of allocation is politicized. 



The July 1982 report expressed the Board's concern that many 

 of the ARS facilities were established in an era of Federal 

 expansion. Moreover, their locations appeared to have been 

 determined by politics rather than agricultural needs. 



The system for allocating research funds for research 

 facilities has become even more politicized since that 

 report. The pressure to build new federal research labs and 

 state facilities comes not only from Members of Congress, 

 but also from the universities that benefit from having new 

 labs built on their campuses. Universities are hiring high- 

 priced lobbyists to win congressional appropriations. 

 Universities tell their Congressmen that without modern 

 facilities, they are frozen out of the competition for 

 research grants. 



In absence of a strategic national plan for facilities, 

 there is little reason to resist earmarking. It is the only 

 game in town. 



Problem Seven; There is no end in sight. 



Unfortunately the facility problem is not going away. A 

 1988 National Science Foundation report found that 38 

 percent of state agricultural facility space was inadequate. 



