Ag Research pays off
“That would be like eating our seed corn,” he said.
Pomeroy met Thursday with officials from the Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center in Fargo.
The center, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, is on the North Dakota State University campus.
Researchers at the Fargo center, which receives about $15 million annually in federal funds, work with crops, animals, weeds and insects.
Pomeroy said he fought successfully to restore $8 million for research funding in the agricultural appropriations bill that passed the U.S. House earlier this month.
Ag research in North Dakota would be hampered without the funding, he said.
William Kemp, director of the Fargo research center, was diplomatic when asked about funding cuts.
“We’ll work with the resources we have. I’m excited about the future of agricultural research,” he said.
The Fargo research center is active in a nationwide fight against sclerotinia. The crop disease, also known as white mold, can do major damage to many crops, including sunflowers and soybeans. Brady Vick, a member of the Fargo center’s sunflower research unit, said 15 new lines of sclerotinia-resistant sunflowers have been introduced in the past year.
Pomeroy said Thursday that he’s optimistic a new U.S. farm bill will be approved by Christmas.
The current farm bill expires this year.
The U.S. House has passed a version of the next farm bill. The U.S. Senate is working on its own version, and the Bush administration is also involved.
The House version would be better for North Dakota than the existing farm bill, according to an analysis from the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies at North Dakota State University.
The new House bill would enhance net farm income and offer improved protection against poor prices for North Dakota producers, Won Koo, director of the ag policy and trade studies center, said during the meeting with Pomeroy.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jonathan Knutson at (701) 241-5530
