July 17, 2008 - Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson announced that the Appropriations Committee adopted a bill granting Nebraska constituencies more than $4 million in direct funding earmarks for agricultural research and rural development projects included in the Fiscal Year 2009 Agriculture Appropriations bill. "As a state that provides much of the country with its food needs, our rural communities and agricultural industry are in need of support," said Senator Nelson. "This bill provides this much needed support, while also investing in the future of agriculture through research and infrastructure." In addition to the specific earmarks for Nebraska, the bill retains funding for the Rural Entrepreneur and Microenterprise Development Program which Nelson wrote into the 2008 Farm Bill creating a program to assist rural entrepreneurs and small businesses get started and stay in business. This innovative new program will receive at least $15 million over the next 4 years. "Small businesses are essential to the success and vitality of rural communities," said Nelson. "The Rural Entrepreneur and Microenterprise Development Program provides these communities with the necessary resources to ensure their continued health and existence. It is similar to a program I created as governor which has shown great success in the state." The bill also contains direct funding for the following Nebraska projects: * Systems Biology Research Facility, University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL), ARS Building: $1,390,000 For construction costs associated with a facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln which will house researchers from both UNL and USDA who collaborate on research in the areas of renewable energy and water resource conservation and management. * National Drought Mitigation Center, UNL: $500,000 To develop and evaluate existing drought policies and plans in the United States and elsewhere with the goal of improving drought-coping capacity and to develop and evaluate new techniques and methodologies for monitoring drought severity and its impacts, identifying and classifying its characteristics, and disseminating data and information to decision makers and other users in the United States and elsewhere. * Sweet Sorghum Research, UNL: $149,000 To determine the conditions where sweet sorghum is superior to corn or grain sorghum for ethanol production and to develop nitrogen management and planting guidelines for sweet sorghum production. * Midwest Advanced Food Manufacturing Alliance, UNL: $365,000 To improve food safety and food processing technologies through research. * Alliance for Food Protection, UNL: $130,000 For research on food allergies and the risk assessment of crops/livestock produced through agricultural biotechnology. * Ruminant Nutrition Consortium, UNL, South Dakota: $600,000 For research into the availability of traditional cattle feed. * Rural Policy Research Institute, Lincoln: $889,000 To continue supporting the public policy research going on at this multi-state, interdisciplinary research consortium. The Agriculture Appropriations bill funds the Department of Agriculture for the next fiscal year. The bill will now be considered by the full Senate and will then be sent to a House-Senate conference committee. To learn more about earmarks, visit Senator Nelson's Nebraska Earmarks webpage at: http://bennelson.senate.gov/issues/earmarks/index.cfm -30-