Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

1. Meeting called to order by Hoeft at 6:30 pm. 2. Administrative Advisor Slack joined the meeting at 6:40 by speaker phone. Ideally final reports will be submitted by February 15  these should be sent to Hoeft who will forward them to Slacks office for official submission to be completed by March. Impact statements are becoming more important and thus reviews should comment on the quality of project impact statements. Currently the federal budget is still operating under a continuing resolution. President Obama hopes to have a budget passed within the current year. Budget proposals have 3-5% increases in them for federal programs and thus passage would be of benefit to our stakeholders. Meanwhile, the proposed stimulus package also includes increases to large fed grant programs like NIH, NSF, etc. Of three grant proposals that came out of the Farm Bill, there will be RFAs for these again. The RFA for the SCRI is out now; funding is at $47M and a 100% cost share is expected. In addition, $25M are allocated to a biomass research and development initiative, and a final RFA will be forthcoming on an organic agriculture and extension initiative with $17.3M allocated. (Cardwell noted that a total of 60 awards are expected for the SCRI, some up to $1M. Given the magnitude of the process, it will be difficult to identify review panels that do not create conflicts of interest.) Slack signed off at 6:52. 3. Hoeft called for approval of the agenda: Clayton proposed discussing location of the next meeting during Wednesday or Thursday morning sessions. No other additions were made to the agenda. 4. Rasmussen moved approval of the minutes of the previous years meeting; Ishimaru seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Cardwell (USDA/CSREES National Program Leader for Plant Pathology) reported that the Federal Register has provided an opportunity for input from stakeholders toward the development and structuring of the National Institute for Food and Agriculture. Enabling language for this institute was contained in the USDA reorganization act of 1994, and was modified in 2008 in the recent Farm Bill. By October 2009 all authorities of CRSEES will transfer to NIFA. From the statement of Guiding Principles: The National Institute will provide national leadership through the administration of Federal support for extramural research, education and extension in coordination with other REE agencies that focus primarily on intramural research and data collection. Specific guiding principles are: Advance knowledge and science of food, agriculture, human health and well-being, the environment, and communities; assure relevancy and responsiveness; promote understanding and appreciation of science in the public sector; utilize protocols that promote the best science; provide accessibility; ensure transparency, accountability, effectiveness, and efficient use of resources; enhance the stature of food and agricultural science. Other programs/funding opportunities of note include plant biosecurity within AFRI; CAR RAMP projects involving methyl bromide; crops at risk; risk assessment; critical and emerging issues; and organic transitions. In the coming budget it is expected that there will be increases of 4-6% in Hatch/Smith-Lever funds. 6. A subcommittee of Rasmussen, Clayton, and Hoeft were approved as the nominating committee by general consent. 7. A total of 5 projects were reviewed (review details appended). For each project the review was approved unanimously by the committee. 8. Adjourned at 9:15 pm., and reconvened at UPR Mayaguez at 9:40 am. 9. State reports were then provided. Generally, concerns were expressed about budget matters, which might include budget cuts, reversions, furloughs, financial emergency, etc. Other brief comments: " IL: Horticulture faculty are in the process of transferring into Crop Science from Natural Resource and Environmental Sciences; creating a change from 30 faculty to 45. Cleo DArcy has retired. " IA: A fungal biologist was recently hired with 3 years of funding from the soybean association. No additional hiring is expected in the foreseeable future. The plant and insect diagnostic facilities have been merged. " KS: Seven people have been hired in the last 3 years, although there is currently a hiring freeze on the campus. An undergraduate minor has been added in biotechnology and applied genomics. " MN: Because of retirements, the department will soon have 12 faculty; a recent CSREES review was very positive and the dean is supportive and interested in investing in the program. Their BL3 facility has been commissioned " NE: Funding changes will require that greenhouse facility, farms, diagnostic clinic rely more on grant support or even self-funding. A Doctor of Plant Health degree has been created, and it is hoped that positions will come available in phytobacterial genetics, and virology. " ND: A new greenhouse with a BL2 facility is under construction. Salary increases(!) average 5.5% in the current year; the governor recommended 5% for next year. There was pressure to merge with entomology, but entomology decided to join natural resource management instead. " OH: A new biosecurity course is popular with students. Other initiatives include using Facebook, Youtube, and other media to connect with students and alumni. County agents are invited to the campus, and department personnel are going out to counties to interact with agents. " WI: Leong and Grau have retired, Keller transferred to bacteriology, and Kerns and Barak joined the department. Amanda Gevens will join as a potato/vegetable crops pathologist, and a search for a virologist is ongoing. With other departments in the building, an administrative service center has been formed to provide IT, mechanical services, student services, and pre- and post-award support. 10. The nominating committee recommended Mike Boehm be secretary for the next meeting. There was general consent for this recommendation. Further, it was recommended that the group meet in California and meet with local grape growers. Throughout the NC there is increasing interest in grape production, and it would be valuable to anticipate disease pressures and management needs.

We reviewed regional research projects assigned to individual committee members, presented state reports, and discussed issues of mutual concern and interest. We toured the plant diagnostic clinic and the experiment station at Mayaguez, and the Illinois Crop Improvement Farm near Ponce. A deeper appreciation of tropical agriculture was gained and connections were made with UPR Mayaguez researchers and prospective students.