CAST Launches National Listening Tour to Shape the Future of American Agricultural Science and Technology

News & Media

Sessions convene cross-sector leaders as part of effort to build a National Academy of Agriculture.

July 8, 2026
By Communications Office

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) has launched a national listening tour to inform the development of a National Academy of Agriculture (NAA), a proposed institution that would provide American agriculture with a forward-looking national strategy function for the first time.

CAST CEO Dr. Chris Boomsma is leading the tour alongside CAST’s Strategic Advisory Council (SAC), convening sessions with leaders across agriculture, research, technology, and investment in regions across the country. The sessions are designed to gather candid perspective from the people closest to American agriculture’s most pressing challenges — and to pressure-test the ideas that will shape what the NAA becomes.

The first session took place in June at the NC State Plant Sciences Building in Raleigh, North Carolina, hosted in partnership with the NC State Plant Sciences Initiative and the NC Chamber. Dr. Adrian Percy, Executive Director of the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative and a leading figure in agricultural science and technology, provided the welcome and helped frame the discussion.

“American agriculture stands at a moment of uncertainty and tremendous change,” said Dr. Boomsma. “Scientific advancement is accelerating, global competition is intensifying, and the economics of farming continue to be challenging — yet agriculture in general and its innovation sector in particular lack long-term direction. Innovation pipelines advance independently, policy responds to immediate pressure points, funding exists but isn’t strategically aligned, and stakeholders operate within strong verticals with too little horizontal coordination. These conditions limit the American agricultural system’s ability to shape its future and sustain its leadership in a globally evolving agriculture landscape. The system is producing innovation, but not consistently directing it toward shared, strategic outcomes that strengthen American agriculture to its fullest extent. CAST is exploring how it can help address this pressing challenge, and this listening tour is critical for gathering input from stakeholders at key food and agriculture innovation hubs across the country.”

The listening tour is ongoing. Additional sessions are planned across the country in the coming months. CAST will share updates as the tour expands.

Organizations and leaders interested in participating in future sessions are encouraged to follow CAST’s progress at cast-science.org and across social media: