(The Center Square) – U.S. Representative Kim Schrier (WA-08) introduced a bipartisan bill that seeks to support Washington state farmers by fixing the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.
The initiative funds a variety of research projects that range from combating fungicide resistance in wine grapes, to preventing pestilence in onions and to improving precision irrigation for fruit growers, according to a press release from Schrier.
Schrier’s bill proposes to allow the Secretary of Agriculture to waive matching funds requirements when they are considered prohibitively expensive for research institutions. That authority was eliminated by a 2018 farm bill.
“This bill will allow Washington State University and other vital agriculture research institutions, who would have otherwise been unable to afford the matching requirement, to receive federal support for conducting groundbreaking research,” Schrier said in a statement. “I will work to get this legislation added as part of this year’s farm bill.”
Awards from the Specialty Crop Research Initiative range from $50,000 to $10 million, according to the initiative’s webpage. The estimated total program funding is listed at $80 million available.
Qualified projects must address focus areas including research in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and other methods to improve crop characteristics; efforts to address threats from pests and diseases; efforts to improve specialty crop policy and marketing; and methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control and respond to potential food safety hazards in the production of specialty crops.
Wendy Powers, the dean of the Washington State University’s College of Agricultural Human and Natural Resource Sciences, added that by waiving the matching funds requirement, the university would be able to continue research in support of the $9 billion Washington agriculture economy,
Representatives Rick Larsen (WA-02), Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) joined Schrier in introducing the bipartisan bill. The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, Northwest Horticultural Council and the U.S. Apple Association endorsed the bill.
The bill was introduced on Jan. 31 and referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
