
Recommendations for the Trump Administration: Building America’s agricultural bioeconomy
Over the next four years, the United States must restore its leadership in biotechnology and biomanufacturing to bolster agricultural innovation—supporting farmers, workers, and small businesses in every corner of the country and bringing farming back to America.
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Executive summary
Bold action and investment are needed now to ensure America leads the global agricultural economy for decades to come.
Producing new food products using biomanufacturing can help the United States create the world’s strongest bioeconomy. Our farmers are feeding the world with their crops, and innovation is opening doors for communities across the country. Biotechnology has the incredible potential to benefit everyday Americans, and there is no technology with more untapped potential than food biomanufacturing. These products use crops and feedstock from American farms in biotechnology processes like fermentation to produce the foods that people already eat and love.
Biomanufacturing-enabled food production can diversify protein sources—opening up new markets to benefit farmers and bring down costs for consumers now facing record-breaking prices at their grocery stores, all while generating millions of new jobs.
The United States is currently home to the world’s leading companies and researchers in the food biomanufacturing sector. But a failure of leadership has resulted in serious challenges to America’s dominance in this sector from abroad. A bold vision is needed to ensure that protein diversification and research and development can help drive American food innovation and economic growth in America’s heartland.
The Trump-Vance Administration can secure U.S. leadership in the growing industry of biomanufacturing-enabled food production by fostering innovation, building domestic infrastructure, and improving our regulatory processes. The first Trump Administration marked countless milestones for agricultural innovation, biotechnology, and biomanufacturing. The past four years have not witnessed the level of growth or public support necessary for the scale of innovation that this emerging industry requires.
The Trump-Vance Administration should build upon President Trump’s foundational work supporting farmers, workers, and small businesses in every corner of the country by promoting biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and alternative protein research.
Below are specific actions that the Trump-Vance administration can take to activate American innovation.
Department of Agriculture
The Department of Agriculture can create new opportunities for the country’s farmers and agricultural producers. The agency can facilitate groundbreaking academic research by identifying food biomanufacturing as a research priority within NIFA, increasing funding for innovative products within ARS to $50 million annually, and establishing Sustainable Protein Centers of Excellence at higher learning institutions. The agency should elevate novel food biomanufacturing within education and extension programs and leverage loan and loan guarantee programs to build America’s domestic biomanufacturing production capacity.
For more information, see page 8.
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration can ensure new food products get to market efficiently and promote public health and safety. The agency should ensure new products are labeled to provide clarity, reduce consumer confusion, and encourage innovation. The agency should also proactively engage early-stage food innovation companies and researchers.
For more information, see page 13.
Office of Science and Technology Policy
The Office of Science and Technology Policy can play a leading role in developing the bioeconomy. The office should implement executive-level directives, including President Trump’s 2019 Executive Order on biotechnology, to accelerate the research, development, workforce, and commercialization of American food and agriculture. OSTP should implement recommendations of the “Catalyzing Across Sectors to Advance the Bioeconomy” initiative and increase much-needed interagency coordination within existing entities like the National Bioeconomy Board.
For more information, see page 14.
Department of Energy
The Department of Energy can advance agricultural innovations, diversify and secure our protein supply, and enable U.S. agricultural excellence. The agency should support development and commercialization of innovative agricultural technologies by providing research and biomanufacturing grants and increasing applied research efforts at the National Laboratories. The agency should also re-focus grants, loans, and loan guarantees for innovative uses of biological resources through programs like SBIR and STTR.
For more information, see page 16.
Department of Commerce
The Department of Commerce can supercharge American economic growth by investing in food manufacturing. The agency should leverage the bipartisan Tech Hub and Manufacturing USA programs to support America’s food and agriculture research, development, and manufacturing.
For more information, see page 17.
Department of Defense
The Department of Defense can strengthen national security and fortify our food system by investing in food biomanufacturing. The agency should ramp up its food biomanufacturing investments under the DPA and the Distributed Industrial Base Consortium to commercial-scale levels, i.e., $250 million annually. The agency should also increase R&D funding for efficient, deployable, and essential food production at DARPA, DEVCOM, and BioMADE.
For more information, see page 18.
State Department
The State Department should expand foreign markets for American technologies like precision fermentation. The agency should elevate food biomanufacturing within food and agriculture policy through joint working groups with USDA and other stakeholders.
For more information, see page 20.
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation should increase alternative protein funding, including dedicated funding calls, in line with the consensus, nonpartisan CASA-Bio recommendations. The agency can also drive investment by facilitating public-private and international partnerships for new food sources, including bilateral research agreements.
For more information, see page 21.
Related resources

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Alternative protein innovation bolsters national security
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Alternative proteins ensure American competitiveness
Plant based foods have gained momentum and notable market share. Read our report explaining why the U.S. should build up a domestic alternative protein industry.