Today we are formally launching a new enterprise in USDA science, a National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). NIFA will be a real agent of transformation in how we do science at USDA, not just in this new agency, but across the board. As I reflect on this pivotal moment for USDA science, I am reminded of another transformative episode in USDA history: the Morrill Act of 1862 that created the land-grant university system that has been the scaffold for building the research enterprise we have today.
