04/06/07 Dairy research center

The Idaho Legislature is backing a proposed Dairy Environmental Research and Training Center in the Magic Valley. During the just completed session the lawmakers voted to put up ten million dollars in tax money for the center. The University of Idaho will come up with another ten million dollars and the Idaho dairy industry will be responsible for five million. The University has land that it can sell to raise ten million dollars but state representative Darrell Bolz says the federal act that established land grant institutions would be violated. BOLZ-"That is endowment land. Under the current statute with the Morrell Act that land, the sale of it, can only be used to purchase other land and it cannot be used to build facilities and such. So there is going to be an effort made in Congress to try to change that act so that any time that land is sold it can go for facilities as well as land." If the law isn't changed within two years the ten million allocated by the state would be withdrawn. Idaho Dairymen's Association executive director Bob Nearebout says they've identified some potential sites in the Magic Valley but there's a lot of work to be done before land is purchased. NEAREBOUT "The time table that we're looking at is breaking ground, trying to come up with all the dollars, and then breaking ground probably in about two years." Construction on the dairy/livestock research center would take another 12 months so its three years at a minimum before it would be up and running. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott