AR - Ron Talbert, Charles Scifres
(Administrative Advisor); FL - Barry Brecke; GA - Bill Vencill; KY
- Mike Barrett; MS -
David Shaw, Cade Smith; NC - Jerry Weber
(Chairman), John Wilcut (Vice Chairman), George Kriz (Associate
Director); TN - Tom Mueller; TX - Scott Senseman
(Secretary).
Members absent (6):
LA - Donnie Miller, Eric Webster; DC - Jim
Parochetti; OK - Tom Peeper; KY - Bill Witt.
Tuesday, July 28, 1998
Dr. Weber called the meeting to order at 8:15
A.M. He briefly discussed the history of the S-254 Regional Group
and then introduced Dr. George Kriz, Associate Director of the
North Carolina Agricultural Research Service at NC State. He
welcomed the group and provided an overview of North Carolinas
diverse agricultural background. His overview included
geographical orientation pertaining to agricultural in North
Carolina, the importance of agriculture as an $8.3 billion
industry in N.C., the many commodities produced, and the structure
of the North Carolina Agricultural Program including research
stations, faculty, and students.
Dr. Scifres' report began by emphasizing that
since the former S-254 Project had ended after the termination
report had been filed, the group was now officially Discussion
Committee 97-09. He reported that the revised project has passed
the Regional Research Committee and peer review and is now in
Washington, D.C. awaiting approval. Further comments related to
the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station
Directors (SAAESD) meeting in Oklahoma City, OK. He discussed that
an increase in paperless management of projects would likely occur
and may impact researchers soon. The importance of SAAESD and its
function as an organization administering regional projects in the
southern region was the next topic. Dr. Scifres stated that
perhaps next year he would discuss the structure of the
organization further including other connecting groups and
organizations. SAAESD reports to CSREES. He commented further with
Dr. Kriz that regional projects have lost their impact in the last
10 years and he would like to see that change. They discussed the
need for federal funding for regional projects to directly start
this change. Another initiative stemming from the SAAESD meeting
was the development of a regional project web page. The group
discussed a recommended format and mechanism for adding material
to the page. Ron Talbert agreed to work the Arkansas webmaster in
the administration of that page.
Dr. Scifres then commented on the new project.
He discussed two items regarding the difficulty of our project
approval. First, the project review has improved by changing the
system including the Committee of Nine. Secondly, our project did
not sufficiently address interdependency, cooperation, and
synergism. He challenged us to seek ways to reinforce synergism of
the new regional project following the current one. Since this
project will be a three-year project rather than the more
conventional five-year project, the group will need to begin a new
proposal next year in 1999.
Dr. Scifres then brought up discussion of
intellectual property which involved Cotton Inc. who wants to
control intellectual property developed with their funding as
opposed to the researchers and institutions retaining ownership.
He expects this to be a trend with other commodity organizations
that have national recognition and political clout.
Budget issues were then brought forward. An
increase of 3% in the federal budget for Hatch projects has been
included in the new budget and is ready to go forward for
approval. A new Food and Agriculture Initiative of $120 has been
brought forward and moved to conference. These funds will be
administered through CSREES and combined with funds allocated to
NRI. Funds will be accessed through a competitive grant process.
Genomic research, food safety, and precision agriculture are
expected to be high priority areas for these funds.
Dr. Weber then created the New Secretary and
New Site Committee consisting of Bill Vencill, Barry Brecke, and
Cade Smith. This committee will determine the secretary for next
year as well as the meeting sites in 1999, 2000, and 2001. Dr.
Shaw stated that the meeting will be held in Mississippi next
year. The agenda was then discussed and approved. The minutes were
read by the secretary and were approved by the
committee.
Dr. Weber then discussed bioavailability as
related to a PCB problem in North Carolina. He emphasized the
importance of this concept and the potential role that the group
may play in this matter.
Dr. Mueller then discussed the new project. To
get the project approved, he essentially eliminated objective 2
from the original proposal. He reiterated the thoughts of Dr.
Scifres by emphasizing interdependence in the project. Dr. Barrett
and Dr. Scifres both suggested to the committee that we thank Dr.
Mueller for his efforts in rewriting the project and getting to
this stage. He provided a copy of the final revision to all of the
committee attendees. Discussion of new project ideas were then
brought forth for the next project that might allow for a more
natural synergy and interdependence from the group. These ideas
included 1) the impact of Roundup Ready technology, 2) precision
agriculture, and 3) herbicide resistance.
Dr. Mueller went through some reminders
regarding the present project that he referred to on the provided
handout. In particular, another set of recrop plots are to be
established next year and plots established this year need to be
well marked.
Discussion regarding interdependence of the
present project followed. Dr. Weber stated that all data could be
sent to him at the conclusion of the project for modeling
purposes. This should cover the interdependence requirement
sufficiently. He also requested two to three pounds of soil to be
sent to him for characterization. The sample should be a composite
sample from the site where the study is located. A new sample
should be collected next year and characterized similarly. He
asked that the soil series name be included in the information
sent with the soil samples.
Dr. Mueller continued with the final report
for S-254. He stated that he had no written report and would like
accomplishments from each state for each year of the project. Dr.
Scifres asked the committee about the distribution of information
gained from the S-254 project. Dr. Shaw suggested that the utility
of a Southern Regional Bulletin was relatively low. The
recommendation of the committee was that the final report should
include 1) authors, 2) relevant publications, 3) any non-published
data that the authors would like to include with the stipulation
that the material be formatted sufficiently prior to submission in
the final report. That formatting will be the responsibility of
the author. The web site for the last report is
www.msstate.edu/org/saaes. The meeting was adjourned for the
day.
Wednesday, July 29, 1998
The meeting was called to order at 8:25 A.M.
by Drs. Weber and Wilcut. Dr. Vencill's committee reported that
the site selection for the next three years would be 1) 1999 -
Mississippi, 2) 2000 - Texas, 3) 2001 - Georgia. The new secretary
nominated for next year was Eric Webster of LSU. Eric was not
present to accept or decline the nomination. Scott Senseman agreed
to act as secretary in 1999 in Eric's absence if he chooses not to
participate in the project.
Dr. Shaw discussed possible sites in MS for
1999. The group discussed five alternatives all of which seemed
acceptable and appropriate. The date for next years meeting was
the week of July 26-30.
State reports were then discussed. All
objective 1 field plots were initiated in year 1 with no apparent
problems. Dr. Weber asked that any soil analysis performed on soil
samples collected at the test site be sent to him along with the
2- to 3-pound soil samples and series information.
The future project was discussed for the
remainder of the morning. Discussion evolved primarily around
precision farming and weed resistance. Precision farming seemed to
be the more popular choice among the group. Ideas to enhance
interdependency within precision farming were discussed briefly.
Issues related to this discussion included yield mapping, soil
analysis, persistence and carryover, economics, integration of
precision ag into the HERB program software, watershed runoff, and
limited field sites. The question arose whether to mesh with
S-183. The committee was apprehensive due to institutions
typically allowing only one representative to participate in a
given regional project. Dr. Barrett asked if we would meet at the
SWSS meeting again this year. The committee decided to meet Sunday
night at 8:00 P.M.
Dr. Shaw moved that the secretary be charged
with sending thank you letters to the NC State administrative
representatives who met with us and Drs. Wilcut and Weber for
excellent planning of the meeting and activities. The secretary
accepted. After a motion and a second the meeting was
adjourned.