TAMPA, Fla. – The U.S. wheat industry is urging the federal government to keep its knife away from agriculture research when it does its budget cutting.
Congress is contemplating a 15 percent reduction in spending for the remainder of 2011 on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and in the research grants it doles out to agricultural universities.
President Barack Obama’s proposed 2012 budget calls for further cuts to those programs, although they are not as deep.
As well, funding for some wheat-specific programs would be in-creased under his plan.
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Jane DeMarchi, director of government affairs for research and technology with the National Association of Wheat Growers, said the wheat industry needs research spending increases rather than cuts.
Agriculture research funding has been flat for 20 years while expenses for salaries and new technology haverisen.
Wheat is disproportionally dependent on public research for new varieties compared to crops such as corn and soybeans.
DeMarchi said 78 percent of U.S. wheat acreage is planted with varieties developed through public research programs.
It could be a big setback to the industry if Washington shaved $100 to $200 million off of ARS’s $1.2 billion budget.
“We’re very reliant on public funding. We can’t afford to have more cuts,” said DeMarchi.
Most of the leading seed technology companies have announced significant investments in wheat research since 2008.
Companies are buying wheat breeding firms, working with universities and international wheat research centres and signing deals with one another in an effort to provide growers with better germplasm and seed technologies.
“We’re really excited about the investment that’s going on in wheat. We think it’s really going to benefit growers,” said DeMarchi.
However, it takes 11 years to breed a conventional wheat variety, so the industry will continue to rely heavily on public breeding for years to come.
