Wheat industry lobbies for research funding

Farm and Ranch February 16, 2009 Federal funding of wheat research was the focus last week of a fly-in to Washington D.C. Among those making visits to Capitol Hill were the National Association of Wheat Growers, the National Wheat Improvement Committee and the North American Millers Association. In a teleconference with reporters, Oregon State University wheat breeder Jim Peterson, who chairs the National Wheat Improvement Committee, says funding for a Cereal Rust Disease Initiative is one the priorities given the seriousness of stem rust UG 99. Peterson: “But beyond that a lot of what we are trying to do is to address the deficiencies in ARS funding. The crippling on budgets due to salary increases that are unfunded, particularly for our four wheat quality labs around the country, our regional small grains genotyping laboratories that have become so important to us in deploying new technologies, new genes and traits. Again other programs like our insect pest research where again we are losing support because of continuous drain of resources and in personnel.� Funding for enhancing the work at the small grains collection at Aberdeen, Idaho is also on the request list. Tomorrow Peterson and NAWG CEO Daren Coppock relate the responses they got from their research lobbying. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.