The Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, as amended by the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981, provides funding for research to animal health allocated by formula to Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and State Agriculture Experiment Stations (SAES). The Act specifies that animal research should:
- Promote the general welfare through improved health and productivity of domestic livestock, poultry, aquatic animals, and other income-producing animals essential to the nation's food supply and the welfare of producers and consumers of animal products;
- Improve the health of horses;
- Facilitate the effective treatment of and, where possible, prevent animal and poultry diseases in both domesticated and wild animals which, if not controlled, would be disastrous to the United States livestock and poultry industries and endanger the Nation's food supply;
- Minimize livestock and poultry losses due to transportation and handling;
- Protect human health through control of animal diseases transmissible to humans;
- Improve methods of controlling the birth of predators and other animals;
- Otherwise to promote the general welfare through expanded programs of research and extension to improve animal health.
Considering these research goals, Animal Health Research funds will be allocated based on the same policies used for Hatch funds. Therefore, please refer to Hatch Regular Funds for guidelines and required document forms.