(156c) New Opportunities for Agricultural Materials

USDA has a portfolio of programs that support the research, development, demonstration and marketing of biobased products and bioenergy. These new opportunities extend beyond the traditional programs for agricultural production and are anticipated to stimulate new uses of agricultural materials, promote technology transfer, and expand markets. The Cooperative State Research, Education, Extension Service supports fundamental, early applied research and pre-commercialization research through various programs, www.csrees.usda.gov; the Natural Resources Conservation Service administers the Joint Biomass Research and Development Initiative in partnership with the Department of Energy Office of Biomass, www.bioproducts-bioenergy.gov; the Rural Business Cooperative Service offers programs that support value-added processing and renewable energy technologies, www.rurdev.usda.gov; the Farm Service Agency supports the Bioenergy Program, www.fsa.usda.gov; and the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses maintains a website that describes the status of the program for federal purchasing of biobased products, www.biobased.oce.usda.gov