"US farm productivity is stagnating, the agricultural trade deficit is set to reach a record high, and geopolitical competitors such as China are outspending the US 2-to-1 on agricultural R&D," adds the report, pitched as a "policy roadmap for American agricultural dominance."

Notably, the US is being outpaced by China on patents, academic papers, and regulatory approvals of gene edited crops, and urgently needs "updated and streamlined biotechnology regulations," says the report.

"At the same time, some policymakers are proposing to ban proven productivity-enhancing technologies and cut agricultural research funding."

Asked what productivity-enhancing tech the report is referring to, co-author Daniel Blaustein-Rejto told AgFunderNews: "We are largely referring to proposals and statements from [the US Department of Human Health Services secretary] RFK Jr. to ban various pesticides. During his campaign, he vowed to 'ban the worst agricultural chemicals already banned in other countries' and has openly discussed how he hopes to effectively ban glyphosate by helping generate evidence that lawyers could use.  

"He has also pushed to pause bird flu vaccine production and administration. And while he hasn't proposed banning GMOs or gene edited organisms, he has said (albeit before becoming health secretary) that they are 'very very dangerous' and that gene-edited microbes like Pivot Bio's are an 'urgent danger.'"

Simplifying and streamlining biotech regs
The Breakthrough Institute's roadmap for a "science-based, pro-growth strategy" includes overhauling biotech regulations, safeguarding ag R&D funding, and reducing "counterproductive" subsidies for first-generation corn-based biofuels.

In the case of ag biotech regulations, it notes, firms sometimes have to deal with three different agencies—the USDA, EPA, and FDA—to secure approvals, and are "continually hampered by a lack of sufficient coordination between the agencies."

To address these issues, it adds, Congress should pass the Agricultural Biotechnology Coordination Act and the Biotechnology Oversight Coordination Act, bipartisan bills that would reduce duplicative efforts between federal agencies and simplify the regulatory path, which is particularly challenging for startups that lack experience navigating the system.