Investment in research is a primary driver of productivity growth in agriculture. However, in high-income countries, as agriculture’s contribution to national economies declines, many public agricultural research systems face stagnant or falling financial support while research costs continue to rise. Public spending on agricultural research and development in high-income member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as a whole has fallen in real (inflation-adjusted) terms since at least 2009. At the same time, society’s expectations of food and agricultural systems have evolved to include a broader set of issues.These forces have induced pressure to reform agricultural research policies. Lessons from research policy reforms include accommodating a larger role for private firms in conducting agricultural research, diversifying funding sources to broaden the public research agenda, and providing stronger incentives for producer-levy funding of research.