Congress is currently considering a new multi-year farm bill to govern U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, including those in the Department’s Research, Extension, and Economics (REE) mission area. The administration, the land grant university system, and a congressionally authorized task force have put forth proposals to make major changes to the structure of the REE mission areal. The farm bill research title that the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research approved in May 2007 reflects some aspects of these proposals in that it calls for unified annual budget for the REE agencies, establishes an Agricultural Research Institute to help coordinate intramural and extramural research and extension activities, and creates a National Institutre for Food and Agriculture, supported by mandatory funds, to administer all competitive grants. The report will be updated as the 2007 farm bill progresses.