Some inside baseball on funding of hops research programs
Public funding of hop breeding and cultivar development is hardly a political priority. The budget for the USDA-ARS hop breeding program has remained frozen since 2000, at a scant $750,000 per year. Of that, when you factor in inflation, mandated program cutbacks, cost of living adjustments, maintenance and other costs, the amount of money actually available to perform research is a paltry $25-30,000 per year.
via Indie Hops.
Good points raised but I question how 750k in 2000 dollars translates to only 25-30k/yr now even with expenses taken out.