USDA Resets 2026 Research Priorities, Elevates Bioenergy and Trade

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signed a memorandum on December 30 directing all USDA agencies to realign research and development funding around five new priority areas, effective immediately. The directive reshapes which projects the agency's grant-making arms — particularly the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) — will fund in 2026 and beyond.

For agricultural researchers, food scientists, and bioenergy startups, the memo is a signal flare: align your proposals with these priorities or risk being left behind.

The Five Priorities

The memo establishes five areas where USDA will concentrate new R&D funding:

1. Market expansion and new commodity uses — including biofuel, bioenergy, and novel biobased products that increase demand for U.S. agricultural products
2. National security — strengthening supply chains and reducing dependence on foreign inputs
3. Trade barrier resolution — generating science and data to resolve longstanding sanitary and phytosanitary barriers that block U.S. exports
4. Agricultural productivity — advancing technologies that improve yields while reducing input costs for American farmers
5. Consumer protection — food safety research and development

The bioenergy priority is the most significant shift. NIFA's Bioeconomy, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts (B3) programs already fund research in sustainable biofuels and biopower, but the Secretary's directive elevates these from one program among many to an agency-wide mandate.

What Changes for Grant Seekers

Rollins' memo directs all USDA agencies and staff offices to "focus new research and development activities on projects that prioritize one or more of the five new priority areas" to the maximum extent permitted by law. This means existing NIFA competitive grant programs — Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), SBIR, and others — will weight proposals that address these priorities more heavily.

Researchers in bioenergy, agricultural trade, and food security should frame upcoming proposals around these themes explicitly. The directive does not create new funding, but it steers the existing portfolio.

Next Steps

NIFA's funding opportunities page lists current open solicitations. Researchers should monitor it for updated program descriptions reflecting the new priorities. For tracking USDA deadlines alongside other federal opportunities, Granted provides cross-agency search and alerts.

In-depth analysis of USDA's priority shift and its implications for competitive grant strategy is available on the Granted blog.