A fund established by the FAIR Act of 1996 to augment existing resources for agricultural research and rural development through an annual transfer of funds from the U.S. Treasury to USDA. One-third of the fund is designated for competitive agricultural research grants, one-third for rural development projects, and one-third for either research or rural development, at the Secretary's discretion. The FAIR Act authorised the U.S. Treasury to transfer $100 million annually to the Fund for 3 years. The Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 extended the authority for the programme through FY2003 with an annual transfer to USDA of $60 million. However, the omnibus appropriations act for FY1999 (P.L. 105-277, October 21, 1998) prohibited the expenditure of the $60 million for Fund grants and projects.