Prediction Pays Off In The Form Of Specialty Crop Funding

Finally, something I predicted in a column came true. Even better, just in time for this issue! What did I predict? No, not the ongoing financial meltdown, although I’ve been wondering for quite a few years about the country’s fiscal situation. Nor was it the apple crop nationwide, which I have been predicting all along would be both large and profitable. And not even that this year’s presidential campaign would seem to run too long, get too negative, and not pay attention to agricultural issues.

Here it is, my bold prediction way back in July’s column: Specialty crops would soon see an unprecedented investment in research and Extension. It happened on Oct. 8. Winners in the first round of the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) were announced. Nearly $30 million was awarded by USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) in a competitive program that considered well over 200 proposals before selecting 27 for funding.

More specifically, I predicted that the availability of such an opportunity would energize researchers, reward collaborative teams, change the way research and Extension in specialty crops is conducted, and provide short- and long-term benefits to producers and processors.

Based on the number of applications and the late night and early morning email traffic, the research and Extension community is clearly energized. Multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, and multi-regional teams were assembled, organized, and navigated the Web-based application process. They secured the 100% matching funds required. Successful projects demonstrated legitimate collaboration. For the first time, input on economic and sociological issues was considered an essential component.

Based on the projects funded, the SCRI’s emphasis on stakeholder involvement and potential for economic impact is sincere. And while I cannot unequivocally conclude right now that specialty crop industries will enjoy any specific benefits, I’ll make another prediction. We will. And they will be significant.

However, just as the recent global financial crisis has shown, stuff happens. Hopefully, Congress will continue to fully support the Farm Bill section that mandated the SCRI. Hopefully, CSREES will continue to staunchly pursue the intent of the legislation to focus on stakeholder-driven, collaborative research. I also hope that Congress does not neglect the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, and provides increased base funding for that agency to pursue its research.

A final hope, and an important one: that specialty crop industries and their representative organizations will continue the partnered efforts that accomplished so many good things in the Farm Bill, not only in research, but also in nutrition, market access, and competitiveness. In the meantime, those successful research projects will be getting to work in a number of exciting research areas with resources of sufficient magnitude to make a difference.

Broad-Scale Investment

For many years specialty crop industries have been seeking these kinds of resources, with an emphasis on team research and a systems approach, convinced this was the best way to deal with the magnitude and multiplicity of the challenges faced by our producers.

I have described some of those efforts previously in this publication: the American Nursery and Landscape Association’s Horticulture Research Institute, the National Tree Fruit Technology Roadmap, the National Grape and Wine Initiative, and the National Berry Crops Initiative, along with considerable activity by various specialty crop associations at the federal and state level.

Perhaps it seemed like tedious ag policy wonking, grandiose posturing, or just a lost cause, all really boring material for a column in a technical publication in which the reading audience is more interested in the latest horticultural techniques. Sometimes it seemed like all three to me, and I would turn my attention to the day-to-day challenges of conducting research on crop load management in tree fruit.

However, we can now point to an exciting new group of research projects that target an impressive array of real-world problems, ones that challenge producers and processors of most specialty crops nationwide. The projects will involve a dizzying array of scientific and engineering expertise in everything from automation to genomics to sensors to software to old-fashioned plant physiology. Project team members come from land-grant institutions and USDA-ARS labs throughout the country. I am particularly excited that they also come from non-traditional ag research providers like Carnegie-Mellon, and a number of innovative and entrepreneurial private sector technology providers.

Those of us believing that research and Extension in specialty crops is essential can rejoice that we are beginning to see our efforts pay off. As Dr. Gale Buchanan, USDA Undersecretary stated in the August 2008 American/Western Fruit Grower, “We must look to the future and be willing to change and meet new challenges with new, creative, and innovative ideas and approaches.” The SCRI is exactly that kind of approach. I thank USDA for it.

Now, back to predictions. By the time you read this column, the winner of the presidential race will be. …

Pet Projects

You can read more about some of the Specialty Crop Research Initiative projects that received funding from USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. For a complete list, go to www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2008news/10081_scri.html.