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- Wheat Commission approves record $6.6 million budget
Wheat Commission approves record $6.6 million budget
- By No Author Listed
- Published 05/21/2008
- Agriculture
- Unrated
The Washington Wheat Commission approved a record budget May 14, when the grower-elected board of directors approved spending nearly $6.6 million, according to a commission news release.
Most of that money, $3.1 million is going for research.
The Washington Association of Wheat Growers will receive $305,000, which includes $154,000 to support the association’s magazine, Wheat Life.
This year almost $1.5 million is allocated under Grower Services. In addition to the WAWG money, $1 million is set aside to support an endowed chair in agricultural economics at Washington State University.
That money will be added to the $1 million the grower board set aside last year. A $2-million endowment is required for the university to reciprocate by launching a search and paying the faculty member’s salary, the release said.
The wheat commission has funded two other endowed chairs. The Vogel Endowed Chair in Wheat Breeding and Genetics held by Kulvinder Gill and the Cook Endowed Chair in Cropping Systems held by Scott Hurlbert.
Growers tax themselves on each bushel of grain to fund the commission, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
It is one of the few commodity commissions in the United States to receive assessments on a percentage of the price at the first point of sale, so the budget has increased with the price of wheat.
The extra money has come at a good time, according to the release. As the state’s contribution to research has declined, the wheat commission’s portion has increased.
The release said that ten years ago, researchers’ portion of the commission’s budget was a third of that approved by growers at their May meeting.
Among budgeted items were “Evaluation of Wheat Varieties” and “Biotech for Wheat Improvement,” both funded at $115,000.
The total for research projects including breeding soft white, hard red, hard white and perennial wheat, will be $343,000 during the 2008/09 budget year.
Tom Mick, chief executive officer of the Washington Grain Alliance, said scientists at WSU are depending more heavily on the commission to fund their projects.
“Our commissioners take their task very seriously. They understand this is an unusual year or two and they want to avoid over-extending their reach when they might just have to pull it back in the future,” he said.
Hal Johnson, chairman of the commission, said he was pleased by how his fellow commission members found common ground.
“It goes without saying that we approached this year’s budget with trepidation. It’s a lot of money and we want to be sure we spend it well. Some things got postponed, because we need more information. The researchers’ equipment request is on hold because we need to know exactly what the university has before we fund anything new,” he said.
Other budget line items are $873,000 for marketing and $50,000 for public education, a new item this year.
Johnson said he intends for the money to be used to communicate with and educate the general public about the most important field crop in Washington.
Most of that money, $3.1 million is going for research.
The Washington Association of Wheat Growers will receive $305,000, which includes $154,000 to support the association’s magazine, Wheat Life.
This year almost $1.5 million is allocated under Grower Services. In addition to the WAWG money, $1 million is set aside to support an endowed chair in agricultural economics at Washington State University.
That money will be added to the $1 million the grower board set aside last year. A $2-million endowment is required for the university to reciprocate by launching a search and paying the faculty member’s salary, the release said.
The wheat commission has funded two other endowed chairs. The Vogel Endowed Chair in Wheat Breeding and Genetics held by Kulvinder Gill and the Cook Endowed Chair in Cropping Systems held by Scott Hurlbert.
Growers tax themselves on each bushel of grain to fund the commission, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
It is one of the few commodity commissions in the United States to receive assessments on a percentage of the price at the first point of sale, so the budget has increased with the price of wheat.
The extra money has come at a good time, according to the release. As the state’s contribution to research has declined, the wheat commission’s portion has increased.
The release said that ten years ago, researchers’ portion of the commission’s budget was a third of that approved by growers at their May meeting.
Among budgeted items were “Evaluation of Wheat Varieties” and “Biotech for Wheat Improvement,” both funded at $115,000.
The total for research projects including breeding soft white, hard red, hard white and perennial wheat, will be $343,000 during the 2008/09 budget year.
Tom Mick, chief executive officer of the Washington Grain Alliance, said scientists at WSU are depending more heavily on the commission to fund their projects.
“Our commissioners take their task very seriously. They understand this is an unusual year or two and they want to avoid over-extending their reach when they might just have to pull it back in the future,” he said.
Hal Johnson, chairman of the commission, said he was pleased by how his fellow commission members found common ground.
“It goes without saying that we approached this year’s budget with trepidation. It’s a lot of money and we want to be sure we spend it well. Some things got postponed, because we need more information. The researchers’ equipment request is on hold because we need to know exactly what the university has before we fund anything new,” he said.
Other budget line items are $873,000 for marketing and $50,000 for public education, a new item this year.
Johnson said he intends for the money to be used to communicate with and educate the general public about the most important field crop in Washington.