From its inception in 1906, when the University of California obtained a little stretch of fertile land in the state’s Central Valley, a silent promise was made: this area, formerly known as University Farm, would one day grow mighty. UC Davis has long been regarded as one of the world’s agricultural research powerhouses.
All of this changed in a matter of days, as the Trump administration stopped financing, shuttered facilities, and prevented scientists from obtaining grants for future study.
Poultry genetics research was halted, fruit and vegetable test plots were left unwatered, and efforts to assist small farmers in protecting against crop loss was delegated to partners overseas when government funds, by far the major source of financing, dried up.
Millions of dollars in funds from the shuttered United States Agency for International Development vanished, and U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federally funded grants were frozen, while broad new administration diversity rules hampered critical science on food security and climate resilience at one of the nation’s top agriculture schools.
According to conversations with more than a dozen agricultural researchers, professors, and economists, the changes at UC Davis and other land-grant colleges have put farm-related research programs on hold in the middle.
Future food and agriculture research is also jeopardized, as fresh government funding are bogged down in legal battles.
And Davis may have to turn away graduate students this fall: Jobs at the scaled-back laboratories may simply not be funded.
UC President Michael Drake told Reuters that admission offers to students who filed a declaration of intent to enroll have not been withdrawn. However, due to financing uncertainties, some graduate schools have placed applicants who have not accepted offers on waitlists, he added.
According to UC records, federal grant wins and bids to Davis reached over $2.75 billion in fiscal 2024, surpassing the $1.83 billion in financing from state grants, corporate, and non-profit donations. The institution stated that it does not have an estimate for the current reduction because Trump’s executive orders are still being challenged.
In a statement to Reuters, the State Department stated that its moves were intended to align its programs with the administration’s foreign policy goals and ensure that taxpayer monies are spent in the national interest.
The USDA did not reply to a request for comments.
Money remains blocked while the Trump administration reviews appeals to court judgments that overturned the suspension on $3 trillion in government grants, loans, and other financial help.
Author: Abdul Ghani
