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Director's
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Greg Bohach,
Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station
Idaho's agriculture relies on research to prepare for the future. At a gathering of federal, state, agricultural industry, and university representatives in Aberdeen on March 30, I was reminded of the importance of our numerous partnerships to advance science and agriculture in Idaho.
I was invited to help dedicate the USDA's new $5.1 million Agriculture Research Service (ARS) Advanced Genetics Laboratory to support essential research on plant breeding and genetics. It will house both ARS and UI scientists. UI and ARS staff, Idaho legislators, and other dignitaries lined up with ceremonial shovels. This event emphasized a simple, vital fact-cooperation with ARS is essential to the success of our research mission.
Idaho is home to more than 130 federally funded ARS scientists, all focused with us on solving Idaho and regional agricultural and environmental problems.
The new Advanced Genetics Laboratory adds to the already significant ARS presence we share at the UI Aberdeen Research and Extension Center. The university and ARS cooperatively address issues ranging from improved breeding of cereals and potatoes at Aberdeen, to sheep and range issues at Dubois, and to support of Idaho's wine industry through research at Parma. Studies on wiser ways to manage water draw us together at Kimberly and Boise, and aquaculture is our focus at Hagerman. These research partnerships depend on support from federal, state, and industry sources.
Funding. Through our land-grant status, we receive annual base support from federal and state formula funding-about $2 million in federal Hatch Act funds and $15 million for research from Idaho's legislature. UI researchers leverage this money to attract another $20 million annually for research at the UI College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Also crucial is support from our Idaho stakeholders. For example, at Aberdeen, potato, wheat, and barley growers support UI and ARS research to develop new varieties, find new uses for products, and improve agronomic practices.
Funds from the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station's many partners help us and our ARS colleagues continue to address issues crucial to agriculture's $4 billion-plus contribution to Idaho's annual economy. Funds also help address regional and global issues.
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