04/18/05 National small grains collection in Idaho

The National Small Grains collection is housed at the Agricultural Research Service facility in Aberdeen. It was moved there in the 1980's. Research leader Mike Bonman says Aberdeen is an ideal location because just about any type of grain can be grown there. BONMAN "In the collection we have germ plasm, land races, old varieties from about 120 different counties, probably a 125 thousand different varieties of barley, oats, wheat, rye." They get requests from all over the world for that material. Some of the older varieties contain the basic building blocks for breeders, helping them develop plants that may be drought or pest resistant. Bonman says it's a different game today because the agricultural competition is worldwide. He believes the US has advantages over other nations in at least one area. BONMAN "Its not going to be lower labor costs, its not going to be lower land costs. Its going to have to be better management and research. So if we can provide better technology we can stay competitive. And the way to do that is to continue investing in agricultural research." And they're adding a 12 thousand square foot addition to the research facility in Aberdeen at a cost of over five million dollars. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott