The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency.

ARS conducts research to develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority and provide information access and dissemination to:

• ensure high-quality, safe food, and other agricultural products
• assess the nutritional needs of Americans
• sustain a competitive agricultural economy
• enhance the natural resource base and the environment, and
• provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole.