[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 14, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2534-E2535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL K. SIMPSON

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 14, 2009

  Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, in accordance with the policies and 
standards put forth by the House Appropriations Committee and the GOP 
Leadership, I submit a list of the congressionally directed projects I 
requested in my home state of Idaho that are contained in the 
Conference Report to accompany H.R. 2997, the FY2010 Agriculture 
Appropriations bill.
  Project Name: Aquaculture Research Initiative
  Amount Received: $529,000
  Account: USDA/CSREES
  Recipient: University of Idaho
  Recipient's Street Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
  Description: Research and development of strains of barley for the 
production of high-value protein concentrates from barley and oats that 
can be used as fish feed. Increasingly, fish that are consumed world 
wide originate from aquaculture. This increase has taxed global 
supplies of marine protein and oil traditionally used in aquafeeds 
resulting in record prices for these commodities. Idaho is a leader in 
the national aquaculture industry, producing over 70% of the nation's 
commercially grown rainbow trout and generating $100 million per year. 
Funding would support innovative research to develop new ways of 
addressing problems in the industry.
  Project Name: Barley for Rural Development
  Amount Received: $547,000
  Account: USDA/CSREES
  Recipient: University of Idaho
  Recipient's Street Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
  Description: Funding for this program would support research directed 
at the continued development of improved malt, feed, cellulosic ethanol 
and food barley varieties for growers and value added end-users in 
rural Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota communities. This research is 
starting to expand and meet market opportunities, addressing the 
critical need of growers in production agriculture to increase economic 
yield, enhance domestic and international market access, improve 
production technologies, better compete with Canadian imports and 
reduce dependence on government subsidies. Research supported by this 
project will increase the manufacture and sale of value-added barley 
products (malt, beer, fuel, food, livestock) in these states, having a 
substantial positive impact on their economies, supporting jobs, 
generating business activity, and federal, state, and local tax 
revenue. Maintenance of the strength of barely in the Idaho economy 
requires continual efforts to improve crop quality and productivity. 
This can only be accomplished by investing in strong research programs 
that keep the industry at the forefront.
  Project Name: COOL Season Legume Research
  Amount Received: $350,000
  Account: USDA/CSREES
  Recipient: University of Idaho
  Recipient's Street Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
  Description: This program is an aggressive cooperative research 
program between the USDA, the University of Idaho, and the University 
of Washington that seeks new, high yielding, high quality, nutritious 
dry pea, lentil, and chickpea varieties to meet producer and consumer 
needs. This research focuses on the breeding of new, superior varieties 
of legumes; management of nematodes, insects, plant diseases and weeds 
that can limit production; and reduction of soil erosion and water 
degradation associated with production, as well as the development of 
value-added new products. The technology being generated through the 
research is essential for the pea, lentil, and chickpea industries to 
remain competitive and profitable. Funding would be provided to the 
University of Idaho through the USDA ARS facility located at 29603 U of 
I Lane, Parma, Idaho 83660.
  Project Name: Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee
  Amount Received: $605,000
  Account: USDA/APHIS
  Recipient: Idaho State Department of Agriculture
  Recipient's Street Address: 2270 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise, ID 
83712
  Description: Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are each required by law to 
manage brucellosis-infected wildlife within their borders in order to 
prevent the spread of brucellosis to non-infected wildlife, cattle, or 
domestic bison. The Committee is coordinating with federal, state, and 
private actions in eliminating brucellosis from wildlife in the Greater 
Yellowstone Area and preventing transmission of this disease from 
wildlife to livestock. The funding will be used to develop and 
implement brucellosis herd unit management plans; to perform functions 
and duties of Idaho relative to the Greater Yellowstone Interagency 
Brucellosis Committee; to conduct brucellosis prevention, surveillance, 
control and eradication activities in Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone 
Area.
  Project Name: Increasing Shelf-Life of Agriculture Commodities
  Amount Received: $603,000
  Account: USDA/CSREES
  Recipient: University of Idaho
  Recipient's Street Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
  Description: In order to prevent serious food safety issues, this 
project will fund research and development of bio-electronic sensors 
that can detect the presence of microbial pathogens in food and food 
products. Preventative detection and treatment at the agricultural 
commodity level and fast, accurate detection of biological pathogens 
and dangerous food toxins is an important element for ensuring safety 
and shelf life. The research being conducted in this area at the 
University of Idaho will advance and expand previous work on biosensor 
systems to further enhance preventative detection and treatment of 
biological pathogens and dangerous food toxins.
  Project Name: Nez Perce Bio-Control Center
  Amount Received: $176,000
  Account: USDA/APHIS
  Recipient: Nez Perce Tribe Bio-Control Center
  Recipient's Street Address: 102 Agency Road, Lapwai, ID 83540

[[Page E2535]]

  Description: The Nez Perce Bio-Control Center is authorized by the 
Noxious Weed Control and Eradication Act of 2004 and manages and 
establishes nurseries to increase biological control organism 
availability, distribute biological control organisms, monitor their 
impacts, and provide an increased number of annual technology transfer 
workshops to Cooperative Weed Management Areas and other landowners and 
managers regionally. This funding will continue the partnership between 
USDA and the Nez Perce Tribe to maximize the effectiveness of 
implementing a complete bio-control of weeds program in an Integrated 
Weed Management strategy. The Center will increase the availability of 
agents for landowners and managers throughout the region. Biological 
control offers long-term management of invasive weeds and can be used 
with other integrated pest management approaches.

  Project Name: Potato Cyst Nematode Research
  Amount Received: $349,000
  Account: USDA/CSREES
  Recipient: University of Idaho
  Recipient's Street Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
  Description: This funding would be used by the University of Idaho 
for research and development of means to eradicate and better protect 
the Idaho potato crop from the soil-borne pathogen potato cyst 
nematode, hardened nematode bodies filled with eggs which can persist 
in the soil for up to 25 years. Current eradication depends upon methyl 
bromide, which is not totally effective and which may be banned because 
of its ozone depleting properties, as well as other chemicals which are 
even less effective and several of which may also be banned. The funds 
will be used to maximize the efficiency of methyl bromide while it is 
available and develop new ``green'' replacement eradicants (such as 
green manure or biologically derived nematicides) and procedures 
(advance hatching frequency), as well as to improve planting material 
screening procedures and to study plant-vector-virus relationships, 
which may also lead to new ways to fight potato viruses. Previous 
funding established the groundwork and prepared the University of Idaho 
to fully implement the needed research. This project will work in 
concert with the ongoing USDA eradication program by providing new 
methods of treatment. This crop pest can result in 80% yield reductions 
and has negatively affected agricultural trade. There is a good chance 
that if this threat is addressed with adequate research and treatment 
it can be eliminated.
  Project Name: Small Fruit Research, ID, OR, WA
  Amount Received: $307,000
  Account: USDA/CSREES
  Recipient: University of Idaho
  Recipient's Street Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
  Description: The Small Fruits Initiative-Plant Improvement project 
will build upon the strengths of existing cooperative research programs 
aligned through the Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research. This 
ongoing tri-state program supports the development of small fruits as 
an alternative agriculture crop in the Pacific Northwest. The funding 
will strengthen existing programs throughout the region and add key 
programs to fill in critical gaps that are not met by the existing 
infrastructure associated with the Center, providing key resources for 
Idaho scientists to address problems that negatively impact the 
emerging berry, grape, and wine industries in the Northwest.
  Project Name: STEEP IV--Water Quality in the Northwest
  Amount Received: $444,000
  Account: USDA/CSREES
  Recipient: University of Idaho
  Recipient's Street Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
  Description: Soil erosion affects 10 million acres of cropland in the 
Inland Pacific Northwest, reducing farm productivity. STEEP is a 
coordinated research and technology transfer program designed to 
develop and implement erosion control practices for agriculture. 
Emerging environmental and human health concerns also require control 
of erosion and other environmental impacts of agriculture. New 
strategies and cropping systems for the protection of soil, water, and 
air resources are being developed and assessed through collaborative 
research conducted by scientists in the Pacific Northwest. The STEEP 
program continues to provide Pacific Northwest farmers and supporting 
agribusiness entities the new conservation technologies, tools, and 
understand to meet with evolving demands of agriculture, the 
environment, and Pacific Northwest residents.
  Project Name: Tri-State Predatory Control
  Amount Received: $926,000
  Account: USDA/APHIS
  Recipient: USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service
  Recipient's Street Address: 9134 West Blackeagle Drive, Boise, ID 
83709
  Description: This project would continue assistance to Idaho, 
Montana, and Wyoming to control wolves and other predators. The 
Yellowstone wolf population has reached levels 3 to 4 times the initial 
recovery goals, leading to a delisting from the ESA earlier this year 
for the wolves in Idaho and Montana and leaving states responsible for 
managing the increasing wolf populations. As a result, ranchers are 
facing increasing threats from these predators. The continuation of 
this program will ensure that the tri-state area will be able to 
address predator management.
  Project Name: Northwest Center for Small Fruit Research
  Amount Received: $275,000
  Account: USDA/ARS
  Recipient: University of Idaho
  Recipient's Street Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844
  Description: The Small Fruits Initiative-Plant Improvement project 
will build upon the strengths of existing cooperative research programs 
aligned through the Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research. This 
ongoing tri-state program supports the development of small fruits as 
an alternative agriculture crop in the Pacific Northwest. The funding 
will strengthen existing programs throughout the region and add key 
programs to fill in critical gaps that are not met by the existing 
infrastructure associated with the Center, providing key resources for 
Idaho scientists to address problems that negatively impact the 
emerging berry, grape, and wine industries in the Northwest. Funding 
would be provided to the University of Idaho through the USDA ARS 
facility located at 29603 U of I Lane, Parma, Idaho 83660. Biological 
control offers long-term management of invasive weeds and can be used 
with other integrated pest management approaches.
  I appreciate the opportunity to provide a list of congressionally-
directed projects I requested that are included in the Conference 
Report to accompany H.R. 2997, the Agriculture Appropriations Act for 
FY2010 and provide an explanation of my support for them.

                          ____________________