Call to action

WSU COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, HUMAN, AND NATURAL RESOURCE SCIENCES

CALL TO ACTION Washington State University is a leader in agricultural research and provides innovative solutions and technologies critical to Washington State’s industries. Through WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences research and extension, our faculty work with partners to identify issues, expedite solutions, and advance sustainable practices—all vital to economic growth and the quality of life of Washington residents.

CAHNRS carefully prioritizes its research and extension efforts to ensure the greatest impact is derived from both. The synergy of combining the research community’s problem-solving skills with extension’s experience and success working with individuals and groups enhances the lives of residents of Washington, the United States, and the world.

A number of WSU priorities are in jeopardy due to the postponement of the reauthorization of the 2008 Farm Bill, sequestration, and the government shutdown. Congress has the power to determine if and how much funding these programs will receive.

CAHNRS’ highest priority is to reauthorize the following programs in the Farm Bill, as well as to find other funding streams to continue supporting important research and extension programs into the future:

CAHNRS HIGHEST FUNDING PRIORITIES • CAPACITY FUNDS. (Hatch, Smith-Lever, McIntireStennis, Animal Health and Disease, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, Renewable Resources Extension Act). WSU has successfully leveraged its partnership with NIFA to link federal and state components of a broad-based, national agricultural research, extension, and higher education system. WSU uses federal funds distributed to universities and institutions to provide funding for salaries, equipment, facilities and technical support personnel. These foundational funds are matched by the state and used by faculty to leverage additional competitive federal, state and private resources to further our world-class agricultural research and extension programs.

• AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH INITIATIVE (AFRI). WSU successfully competes for funding through AFRI, annually receiving awards in the tens of millions of dollars. WSU has received funding focused on feedstock development, sustainable forest production and conversion processes for produc-

ing biofuels and bio-products. These projects bring a successful model of regional cooperation to sourcing aviation biofuels in the Pacific Northwest. WSU is also a major participant in the $20M Pacific Northwest REACCH (Regional Approaches to Climate Change) Coordinated Agriculture Project (CAP), and the Triticeae Coordinated Agricultural Project (T-CAP), and leads several additional AFRI foundational grants. In addition, WSU faculty receive foundational grants that support cutting-edge basic science.

AFRI funding is necessary to allow WSU faculty to compete for funds to advance on-going priorities, including research and extension in:

✓ Plant-microbe interactions ✓ Plant metabolism ✓ Animal biology, genetics and reproduction ✓ Precision agriculture and technology ✓ Food safety ✓ Genomics and bioinformatics ✓ Renewable energy

CAHNRS HIGHEST FUNDING PRIORITIES • CLEAN PLANT NETWORK. WSU implements a significant portion of the National Clean Plant Network, focusing on tree fruits, hops, and wine grapes through the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Keeping these crops virus-free protects the industry from expensive and devastating diseases that could result in the destruction of more than 40,000 acres of vineyards and more than 7.5 million acres of cropland (USDA). The Clean Plant Network leverages a substantial return on this federal investment for Washington State’s $3 billion wine industry and $6 billion tree fruit industry.

• SNAP-ED. WSU supports the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) program by providing nutrition education for people who are eligible to receive food stamp benefits.

SNAP-Ed supports the health and cost effectiveness of the nation’s SNAP investment through a joint agreement between Washington State’s Department of Social and Human Services and the Washington State Department of Health. In 2013, WSU Extension received $6.6 million in funding through the SNAP-Ed program. One hundred and fifty SNAPEd staff reached out to more than 130,000 people through more than 600 local partnerships to administer the program in 27 of Washington’s 39 counties.

The outreach touched a diverse population of families, as evidenced by four tribal projects and evaluation data showing that 47 percent of participants were persons of color. Due to the government

shutdown and interruption in federal funding, SNAP-Ed employees were laid off effective October 1, 2013. The program is currently on hold until funding resumes.

• SPECIALTY CROP RESEARCH INITIATIVE (SCRI).

WSU research teams have successfully competed for funding totaling over $26M from the SCRI program aimed at specialty crops such as tree fruit, wine grapes and potatoes. Research has included: developing biodegradable mulches for specialty crops produced under protective covers; developing a sustainable stem-free sweet cherry production, processing and marketing system; developing tree fruit cultivars with improved resistance to pathogens, superior fruit quality and machine harvestability; and integrated pest management systems that allow farmers to use fewer pesticides.

• ORGANIC AGRICULTURE RESEARCH AND EXTENSION INITIATIVE (OREI). WSU researchers are solving problems critical to organic agriculture through the integration of research and extension activities with the help of OREI grants. Research funded under this program includes developing adapted varieties and optimal management practices for quinoa; creating a system for estimating the carbon sequestration and net greenhouse gas (GHG) balance in organic cropping systems; optimizing dryland, cereal-based cropping systems; and developing organic hops production methods.

We value your on-going foundational support of agriculture, agricultural research, education, and Extension at Washington State University. We are proud of our partnerships with regional agricultural producers and industry members that result in significant developments for Washington’s agricultural industry. These results come, in part, because of another partnership—that of WSU and the federal government. We place a high priority on working with our federal partners to support the continuation of our world-class research and outreach efforts—essential efforts that depend on core formula funding for foundational work so we can be successful in achieving competitive funding.

Together, these resources make it possible for us to reach our highest goals: improving the lives and livelihoods of residents in Washington State and beyond.

Thank you for your support.

If you have any questions, please contact: Ron Mittelhammer, Interim Dean of CAHNRS—mittelha@wsu.edu, 509-335-2574 James Moyer, Associate Dean & Director of ARC—agresearch@wsu.edu, 509-335-4563 Rich Koenig, Associate Dean & Director of Extension—richk@wsu.edu, 509-335-2933