GROWING WASHINGTON
Industry-Based Unified Agriculture Initiative
$10.8 million 2007-2009 Biennial Operating
Budget Request
Washington State University
Sept. 21, 2006
Printable Adobe PDF version
Key agricultural and food
industry leaders, producer associations, commodity commissions, and other
stakeholder groups in the state made an unprecedented review of the WSU
agriculture budget. This request is the result of that review and reflects
what they consider critical to remaining globally competitive.
Dozens of organizations
representing virtually all of the state’s 250 agricultural commodities
join Washington State University in requesting $10.8 million to
add critical scientific capacity in the areas of agricultural and food
sciences. This enhanced capacity will build the economic viability and
sustainability of Washington’s $29 billion food and agriculture industry,
which employs 170,000 people and is the second most diverse in the nation.
This request grows out of
50 intensive meetings
with key industry leaders, producer associations, commodity commissions, and
other stakeholder groups, including the Washington Wheat Commission, the
Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, the Washington Dairy Federation,
the Washington Council of Farmer Cooperatives, the Washington Farm Bureau,
and the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network.
This $10.8 million state
general fund operating request is only one component of a package to help
grow the Washington agriculture and food economy.
It is coupled with internal reallocations, federal contracts, and private
funding. WSU has already reallocated 23 faculty positions as a result of
industry discussions.
The
request delivers three distinct outcomes for the state:
-
Development of high-value uses for Washington-grown agricultural
products, leading to new products that generate income and jobs.
-
Improved product quality and reduced costs that will lead to global
competitiveness.
-
Mitigation of the impacts of agricultural production on land, water, and
air quality.
Highlights of the Request
-
Generating $250 million of economic benefits over the
next several years.
The proposal will create significantly more income in the longer run as
research investments generate new technologies that are adopted by
industry participants.
-
Filling research gaps in the development of value-added
agricultural products and economically and environmentally sustainable
food production.
More than half of the 24 new faculty and 36 support staff
positions will be located off the Pullman campus at locations around the
state.
-
Plugging critical research gaps for Washington’s Wine
Industry.
The request includes an enologist and a statewide
Viticulture and Enology Program leader to enhance service to the
state’s rapidly expanding wine industry.
-
Reinvigorating WSU’s cherry breeding program.
The request enhances the program that produced the Rainier sweet cherry
with a stone fruit breeder co-located in Prosser and Wenatchee.
-
Developing new products
from Washington-produced wheat and other grains with a new food
technologist position.
-
Developing new tree fruit varieties
with characteristics demanded by domestic and international consumers
through a new researcher in Wenatchee.
-
Restoring WSU research and extension centers
located
throughout the state with $1.3 million in long-needed core funding.
-
Quickly addressing emerging state issues
with an
industry-advised $1 million annual competitive grant funding process for
WSU research and extension faculty.
-
Refining research in organic and sustainable production
systems
with $400,000 annually in competitive grants for
Biological Intensive and Organic Agriculture.
-
Fostering entrepreneurship
with Puyallup and
Wenatchee-based value-added business development extension specialists.
-
Increasing faculty support of dairy, beef, sheep, and
other livestock producers.
The positions include two livestock nutrition and management positions,
a large animal veterinary clinician, a veterinary outreach specialist, a
livestock reproduction specialist. Two livestock nutrition and
management positions, one located in northwestern Washington and one in
eastern Washington.
-
Establishing one-on-one assistance in the identification
of home and commercial pests
with a new plant and insect diagnostic lab dedicated to serve central
and eastern Washington.
-
Spurring the development of new technologies aimed at
reducing farm labor requirements and enhancing farm worker safety
with two new positions – one in Prosser, one in Pullman.
-
Improving water quality and salmon habitat and increasing
the profitability of western Washington farms
with a water resource
specialist in Mount Vernon.
-
Growing in-state talent
with environmental
horticulture continuing education courses and a four-year degree in
western Washington through WSU Puyallup.
More information is
available by contacting:
Larry Ganders, Assistant to the WSU President
360-280-6320,
ganders@wsu.edu
Dan Bernardo, dean of the WSU College of Agricultural,
Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
509.335.3590
bernardo@wsu.edu
Linda Kirk Fox, dean and director of WSU Extension
509.335.2933,
lkfox@wsu.edu
Ralph Cavalieri, associate dean and director of the WSU
Agricultural Research Center
509.335.4563,
cavalieri@wsu.edu
For the complete text of the Industry-Based
Agriculture Initiative, and a link to a printer-friendly copy,
click here.
lg/Draft D
