Project Title: Aegilops Cylindrica (Biomass)
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $350,000
Location: Washington and Oregon
Purpose: This funding will be used for research to examine weedy cellulosic plants for development of biofuels.
Importance: This research will further efforts to develop cellulosic biofuels that grow best in the Pacific Northwest and contribute to our nation’s energy needs while removing weedy plant material from highly-productive grain-growing areas.
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Project Title: Agricultural Research Service
Facility in Pullman, Washington
Recipient: USDA Agricultural Research
Service
Amount: $43,642,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding would be used to construct a research laboratory facility to support plant science research units that are currently operating in inadequate and outdated facilities and would help farmers’ ability to take advantage of ongoing agricultural research on crops grown in the Pacific Northwest and around the country.
Importance: Construction of a new facility will increase the quality of research efforts of the USDA, which will ensure that American producers remain competitive in a global marketplace.
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Project Title: Aquaculture (WA, ID)
Recipient: Washington State
University/University of Idaho
Amount: $1,500,000
Location: Pullman, WA and Long Beach, WA/Moscow,
ID, Boise, ID, and Hagerman, ID
Purpose: This funding will be used to address constraints limiting the aquaculture industry, including domestic and foreign pathogens and invasive species.
Importance: Aquaculture, such as oyster production, is an important part of the Pacific Northwest agricultural economy and this work will ensure continued success of this vital industry. Without needed research, the aquaculture industry and jobs could significantly decline in the Pacific Northwest.
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Project Title: Asparagus Technology and Production
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $175,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will continue research on production methods and technology to reduce costs in the asparagus industry and promote value-added production.
Importance: Washington State University and Michigan State University are jointly researching methods to reduce labor costs in the asparagus industry. The industry’s labor costs, combined with federal anti-drug and trade policies that have led to a disproportionate increase in imported asparagus have left Washington’s asparagus at a competitive disadvantage. This project will help the industry reduce labor costs while shifting its workforce to value-added employment.
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Project Title: Blue Mountain Station Product
Development Market Center
Recipient: Port of Columbia
Amount: $2,000,000
Location: Walla Walla and Franklin Counties
Purpose: This funding would support the construction of a 12,500 square foot building to house a Product Development Kitchen, a Product Fulfillment Center, an Education and Marketing Center, a Product Retail Market, and Blue Mountain Station Food Processing Park Marketing and Management Staff.
Importance: This project will act as the coordination center for education, marketing, business development, and product fulfillment for Blue Mountain Station, an ecologically cutting-edge natural, organic and sustainable food processing park. The businesses locating at Blue Mountain Station will create much-needed jobs and economic development by creating new agricultural product markets for regional growers.
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Project Title: Competitiveness of Agricultural
Products (WA)
Recipient: Washington State
University/University of Washington
Amount: $1,000,000
Location: Pullman, WA/Seattle, WA
Purpose: This funding will be used to apply science and technology to improve the competitiveness of Washington’s agricultural products by determining new export marketing opportunities, assessing the effect of changing agricultural and trade policies, and solving technical problems.
Importance: Ensuring continued export opportunities is critical to the overall economy of the Pacific Northwest and this program specifically benefits Washington’s rural economies by keeping producers competitive in a global marketplace.
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Project Title: Cool Season Legume Research (ID, WA,
ND)
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $1,200,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will be used for research that supports the identification of genetically superior qualities for legumes through breeding processes.
Importance: Continuing this research is critical to the ongoing sustainability of the U.S. dry pea, lentil and chickpea industries, which are major contributors to Washington’s agriculture economy and producers of healthy foods sold worldwide.
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Project Title: Diabetes Detection and Prevention
(WA)
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $1,033,000
Location: Puyallup, WA
Purpose: This funding will provide educational programs to help individuals with diabetes better manage their condition.
Importance: This program has resulted in meaningful changes by many participants related to diet, physical activity, and confidence and is aimed at catching and responding to diabetes-related health conditions before they become more costly and harmful to individuals’ health.
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Project Title: Food Security (WA)
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $400,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will be used to increase Washington State University’s research capacity for creating value-added foods, fibers, and other bioproducts, while maintaining safety and security.
Importance: These funds will ensure that citizens of Washington and the nation have a safe and sustainable food supply while creating new products and technologies that will develop into robust industries, providing economic opportunity and food system security to Washington and across the country.
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Project Title: Genetic Disease Reduction
Recipient: USDA Agricultural Research
Service
Amount: $900,000
Location: Moscow, ID/Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will provide for acquisition of genetic and disease transmission details leading to development of vaccines to reduce diseases in bighorn sheep, which are critical for continued grazing on public lands.
Importance: In order to sustain the population of domestic sheep, a better understanding must be gained of the causes of die-offs. This research will provide sound science to help guide wildlife and public land managers’ bighorn and domestic sheep management decisions, to ensure the continued survival of the domestic sheep industry.
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Project Title: Grass Seed Cropping Systems for
Sustainable Agriculture (ID, OR, WA)
Recipient: Washington State
University/University of Idaho/Oregon State University
Amount: $500,000
Location: Pullman, WA/Moscow, ID/Corvallis, OR
Purpose: This funding will be used for research on critical environmental and economic challenges facing the cool season forage and turfgrass industries, and will focus on developing sustainable production systems.
Importance: This funding will be used for research on critical environmental and economic challenges facing the cool season forage and turfgrass industries, and will focus on developing sustainable production systems for this industry that is vital to the economies of eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and Idaho.
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Project Title: Organic Cropping (WA)
Recipient: Washington State
University
Amount: $500,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding would be used to research nutrient, soil, pest, and seed management for sustainable organic agriculture and permit small farmers facing economic pressure to take advantage of research being performed.
Importance: Research on organic farming will allow farmers to make their operations more environmentally-friendly, safer, and their products more marketable, particularly small farmers unable to perform their own research on organic growing methods.
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Project Title: Perennial Wheat (WA)
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $200,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will be used for research to develop perennial wheat into a viable part of small grains cropping system, and mitigating effects of soil erosion.
Importance: Developing perennial wheat as an option for Pacific Northwest growers would ensure agricultural sustainability by reducing soil erosion, increasing resistance to pests and diseases, providing wildlife habitat and providing new value-added products such as straw and help create more economic growth within this growing agricultural sector.
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Project Title: PM-10 Study (WA)
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $500,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will be used to address wind erosion by predicting and measuring dust emissions from agricultural soils and assist farmers in adopting best management practices for wind erosion control.
Importance: Many urban areas in the Columbia Plateau have experienced concentrations of these particulates exceeding federal standards in part due to erosion generated from agricultural fields. This research will help address this agriculture and health issue in a scientifically appropriate manner.
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Project Title: Potato Research
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $2,800,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will be used for research that will develop and commercialize new potato varieties that will result in improved product quality, increased yields and a decrease in input requirements.
Importance: Potatoes are a valuable portion of the Pacific Northwest agricultural economy, with a farm gate value of $135 million. This research will result in sustainable production for growers, increased competitiveness for the Northwest and U.S. potato industries, and a healthy food product for American consumers.
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Project Title: Regional Barley Gene Mapping Project
Recipient: Oregon State University
Amount: $800,000
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Purpose: The funding will be used for research to complete understanding of the gene networks that determine important traits in barley, such as resistance to drought, diseases, insects and pests.
Importance: The funding will be used for research to complete understanding of the gene networks that determine important traits in barley, such as resistance to drought, diseases, insects and pests. This research will help barley growers be more competitive and meet environmental challenges they are facing.
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Project Title: Small Fruits Research (OR, ID, WA)
Recipient: Oregon State University
Amount: $500,000
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Purpose: The Center provides competitive grant funds for peer reviewed research into plant diseases of small fruits crops caused by infectious diseases and environmental conditions.
Importance: The work at the Center strengthens existing research programs and adds key research to fill in critical gaps that emphasize research supporting food safety, nutrition and health, international competitiveness, and environmental safety and helps support the industry as it faces many challenges.
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Project Title: STEEP – Water Quality in the
Northwest
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $1,000,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will be used for research efforts to adopt conservation systems to reduce soil erosion, enhance water quality and maximize soil quality.
Importance: This multi-disciplinary, multi-stage approach to problem solving allows growers to be highly involved in setting priorities and goals for a program to prevent soil erosion in the Pacific Northwest, which has a large proportion of agriculture in hilly and erosion-prone areas that must be managed well to remain highly productive.
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Project Title: Virus-Free Wine Grape Cultivars/Wine
Grape Foundation Block (WA)
Recipient: Washington State University
Amount: $300,000
Location: Pullman, WA
Purpose: This funding will be used for research to ensure virus-free vineyards and develop a virus-free foundation block of plant material that will be accessible to growers.
Importance: Viruses can quickly wipe out an entire vineyard, requiring costly replacement of plant material. This research will reduce the likelihood of virus transmission within the industry, provide growers with clean plant material, and create a base for long-term growth of the industry.