The “slow magic” of food security: Why Philip Pardey is sounding the alarm on agri-food R&D

In January 2026, a headline in the New York Times posed a sobering warning: "For the World's Food Supply, Federal Funding Cuts Have Long-Term Impacts." For Philip Pardey, PhD, a professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS), this article he is quoted in wasn’t just news — it was confirmation of an alarm he has long been sounding.

Pardey, who recently received a University of Minnesota 2025 Award for Global Engagement, has spent decades tracking a phenomenon he calls "slow magic." In agriculture, the "magic" is the scientific breakthrough — a seed that resists drought or a new production technology that accelerates crop yields — but the "slow" part is the catch. There is often a 20- to 30-year lag between the initial investment in a new line of  research and the point where farmers at scale actually see the resulting benefits in their fields.

Speaking at the 2025 World Food Prize, Pardey emphasized that this timeline makes current funding cuts particularly dangerous. We are essentially eating the "research fruit" of seeds planted in the 1990s and early 2000s. If we stop planting those R&D seeds now, the cupboard will be bare for the next generation.

The math of hunger

In a recent piece published in Nature titled "Food will be more affordable — if we double funds for agriculture research now," Pardey and his co-authors laid out the R&D realities behind this crisis. While private-sector funding for agriculture has risen, it tends to focus on shorter-term gains and specific products. Meanwhile, public funding — the kind that supports "foundational" science like soil health and long-term climate and pest resilience — has plummeted. In the U.S., public ag R&D spending has dropped by a third in inflation-adjusted terms since its peak two decades ago, returning to levels not seen since the 1970s.

Pardey argues that this isn't just a budget line item; it's a threat to global stability. As he noted in a 2024 CFANS article, titled "Why you should care about ag R&D," agriculture is increasingly asked to do the impossible: produce more food for a growing population while using less water and land. Without a sizable and sustained infusion of additional research and development dollars, the math simply doesn't add up.

Data as the new fertilizer

Pardey doesn’t just study the problem; he builds the infrastructure to solve it. As the co-director of GEMS Informatics — a joint venture between CFANS and the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute — he treats data as a resource as vital as water.

GEMS is designed to solve one of the biggest headaches in modern science: turning "unruly" data into actionable information. Agricultural data is often scattered across different formats, from weather logs and soil sensors to genetic sequences and economic surveys. GEMS makes these data "interoperable," meaning it cleans and syncs these disparate sources so researchers can see the big picture. For example, a plant breeder can use data streams coupled with coded workflows being developed by GEMS to predict how a specific wheat variety will perform in the different climates that are likely 20 years from now. By turning messy, isolated data into scalable analytical tools, GEMS allows scientists to collaborate across borders, disciplines, and, especially, the public and private R&D divides in ways that accelerate data-driven agri-food innovation.

This collaborative spirit extends to his work with 2Blades, a private non-profit organization dedicated to combatting crop diseases. By bridging the gap between sophisticated lab science and the myriad of input, output and service providers along agri-food value chains in the U.S. and beyond, Pardey helps ensure that innovation reaches the people who need it most.

Investing in the harvest

While the global recognition highlights his influence, Pardey’s focus remains on the urgency of the mission. For him, basic agricultural R&D is the ultimate "public good." It is the science that keeps grocery store shelves full and prevents the next global food crisis before it begins.

As he noted during his panel at the World Food Prize, the challenge isn't that we lack the brilliance to solve these problems — it's that we are losing the patience to fund them. In a world of instant gratification, Pardey’s work is a reminder that some of the most important progress takes decades to ripen, and we cannot afford to wait until we are hungry to start investing in the harvest.