September 1997
Wheat & Barley Growers make inroads on federal ag research
By Tracy Sayler
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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
FEDERAL ATTENTION TO SCAB
An effort this past summer to boost federal attention to solving scab, launched by the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, the Minnesota Barley Growers Association, and a regional scab consortium involving 12 land-grant universities, has drawn the support of over 40 state and national organizations and has helped land new federal funding for scab research.
To understand the problems of scab and vomitoxin better, an informational briefing was held for congressional staffers. Also, representatives of the production, research, and milling sectors met several times with lawmakers and USDA officials to gain greater federal support for scab and vomitoxin research.
In August, the Agricultural Research Service announced that it would shift $200,000 in 1997 from contingency funds to strengthen ARS scab research efforts. Further, $500,000 may be allocated to the ARS Cereal Rust Lab in St. Paul to boost research on emerging diseases, and $500,000 may be allocated to the 12-state regional scab consortium for scab and vomitoxin research activities. The two $500,000 funding projects for Fiscal Year 1998 must be approved by federal lawmakers in the budget vote this fall.
REAUTHORIZATION OF FEDERAL AG RESEARCH
Barnesville, MN, wheat producer Tom Anderson testified this past summer on Capitol Hill before the U.S. House Ag Subcommittee on Forestry, Resource Conservation, and Research, recommending more producer and industry involvement in setting federal research priorities.
He referenced Minnesota's Small Grains Research and Communications Committee, of which he currently serves as chair. The state committee consisting of producers, the media, state and federal crop scientists, and the agri-business sector, has met since 1992 to identify crop problems and industry challenges, and recommend research projects to be funded by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, which administers the state's wheat checkoff.
"I feel this committee has been an efficient vehicle for not only prioritizing the money I as a wheat producer invest in research, but also to talk more directly with the crop scientist about production questions I have that are not being answered, ideas that may help me grow wheat better, and what type of research I think is needed to help improve my crop business. I recommend that a similar advisory system be considered for federally-funded ag research," said Anderson, in his testimony.
He also suggested more regional research and collaboration, with federal ag research funding targeted to priority projects of multi-state or national relevance. "The problem of scab and vomitoxin in wheat and barley fits these new parameters exactly," he said.
"If anything, the scab problem has brought different sectors of the U.S. wheat and barley industry together, to see that this disease gets remedied. Perhaps the scab and vomitoxin problem can be used as a template to build a better public research mechanism - a federal investment to address a broad-based problem, with research components prioritized by an advisory committee consisting of public and private members and coordinated in an efficient manner through the land-grant university system," Anderson said.
Anderson's testimony was included in a series of public hearings that federal lawmakers held in preparation for crafting legislation to reauthorize agricultural research, education, and extension programs.
NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS AG RESEARCH CENTER
It appears all but official that the Northern Great Plains Agricultural Research Service Center in Mandan, ND, will remain open, at least another year. Northern Plains lobbying efforts reversed an earlier ARS decision to close the center. FY98 Funding for the Center must be officially approved by Congress this fall.
"I want to commend the aggressive support this research facility has received from organizations and individuals who recognize the importance of the work it is doing for our region of the country," said ND Sen. Byron Dorgan, in a letter to Tim Dufault, MAWG president. "The Mandan Center is the only facility in the country conducting comprehensive agricultural production research that is site specific to our region's ecosystem. It's internationally recognized research into reduced fallow, continuous cropping and conservation systems, grasses, and grassland management, has been of great service to our region."