10/26/06 Annual STEEP Research Review

The annual STEEP Research Review is being held week at the Amerisuites Hotel in Pasco, Washington. Hans Kok, Conservation Tillage Extension Specialist with Washington State and the University of Idaho says they'll have a lot going on the first day, Monday, October 30th. KOK - "And all the researchers that have been funded by the STEEP program over the past couple of years will give updates on the research they have been doing. The meeting will start will start at nine am with coffee and registration. Presentations will start at 10 am and we will go until about four in the afternoon." Next Tuesday, October 31st, there will be presentations from people applying for funding with STEEP, the acronym for Solutions to Environmental and Economic Problems. KOK - "And they will be giving short presentations between 8 and 11 that morning. We have ten people that are applying for funding in the STEEP program." The STEEP program is a federally funded regional effort to solve some of the farmers' economic and environmental problems but Kok says its more than just direct seeding. KOK - "We have a lot of research going on in insects, in finding alternative crops for farmers that are economical. We have a lot of canola and mustard research going on. So it is a fairly broad program." The cost for the review is 55 dollars. Bill Scott Today's Idaho Ag News