The following research areas were identified by the Board of Directors as top priorities for the coming years:

·Improved efficiency of agricultural production, including sustainable development and engineering, enhancing nutritional value, efficient use of resources & agricultural waste, economic evaluation of policies, regulation, and labor; use of functional genomics & proteomics to protect and produce traits supporting increased crop yield and genetic optimization in animals, focus on heterosis opportunities & consequences.

·Plant, animal, and agricultural environment defense, including pest and host genetics, invasive species & emerging diseases, early stress detection and rapid point of care methods, development of safe and bio-secure biological, physical, & chemical control measures.

·Agricultural production challenges in increased marginal conditions, including climate change & abiotic stress factors such as drought, salinity, high temperatures, nutrient, and soil stress.

·Food quality, safety, and security, including improved assessment and detection methods, nutritive value and post-harvest treatment, reduction of food loss & waste, enhanced supply chain quality and technologies, functional foods, development of alternative quality protein sources including plants, fungi, algae, insects, & tissue.

·Soil & water, quality, and quantity, including efficient use of low-quality water (grey, black, saline), improved economic return for water in agriculture, crop response to soil & water quality & their constituents, impact of nutrients and agricultural chemicals on water quality.

·Agricultural Engineering/Precision Agriculture - Sensors, instrumentation, & control systems; robotics and artificial intelligence; mechanization for improving labor efficiency; biological engineering, biotechnology, nanotechnology.

·Sustainable Agri-environmental management, including sustainable ag-based energy systems for reduced energy costs, bioconversion technologies, agricultural feedstock, controlled environment and urban agriculture, renewable resources and ecosystem services, circular bioeconomy, reducing agricultural waste.