That's what most senior scientists do. Give talks and seek out funding for junior scientists. I'm still relatively junior, but I already feel the pinch of losing of active research time. It's kind of the circle of life in research.

Of course, senior scientists become more respected and have more clout to do big picture or "50,000'" research. Though at this point, the senior scientist doesn't necessarily have time to do the detailed research or worry about the minutia anymore. They have become a manager at this point.

For university professors, it's even worse for them and one of the reasons I didn't become a professor. From the very start, they are expected to seek out funding for graduate students, and the graduate students are the ones that write the papers. Of course, there are the superhuman professors and rock-star senior scientists that still are able to first-author papers, but that's fairly rare for the majority.

I suspect this is the way of life for many trades and professions, but it still doesn't make me any less sad that it will become increasingly harder for me to do the research myself. I like to make artifacts, see the "gee-whiz" when something new works, or the "eureka" of a new discovery.

EDIT: I just wanted to mention this is of course a totally US perspective on research. I believe European professors don't have to worry about this as much, but I could be incorrect.