Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Minutes of NCAC1 meeting, 1/10/19-1/11/19, San Diego, CA

In attendance: Frank Casey, NDSU, School of Natural Resource Sciences; Jim Kells (chair), MSU, Crop, Soil and Microbial Sciences; Dave Hyten, UNL, Agronomy & Horticulture; Jim Metzger, OSU, Horticulture and Crop Sciences; Brian Slater, OSU, Environment & Natural Resources; Adam Davis, UIUC, Crop Sciences (scribe); Jim English, UMo, Plant Sciences; Nancy Ehlke, UMN Agronomy & Plant Genetics; Mickey Ransom, KSU, Agronomy; Jeff Jacobsen, Admin Advisor to NCAC1; Steve Anderson, UMo Division of Natural Resources; Kendall Lamkey, ISU Agronomy (1/11 only)

Not present: Ron Turco, Purdue, Agronomy; Carl Rosen, UMN, Soil, Water & Climate 

I. Selection of new vice-chair

Adam Davis agreed to be vice-chair in 2019 (take minutes of 2019 meeting; plan 2020 meeting) and chair in 2020 (organize 2020 peer review process, coordinate 2020 meeting participation and chair 2020 meeting). Committee approved this appointment. Kendall Lamkey will be vice-chair in 2020.

II. Selection of 2020 venue & dates

Committee unanimously approved Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, as meeting location for 2020. The meeting dates will be 1/7 & 1/8/2020, with travel on 1/6 and 1/9/2020. AD and BS will coordinate about meeting venue and potential field trip for 1/8 (e.g. Illinois Crop Improvement Association winter nursery). Look at Rafael Hernandez Intl Airport, in Aguadilla, as point of entry.

III. Review process overview

JK: Review submissions are due from primaries in NIMMS by 1/25/2019.

JJ: Research technical committees (NC projects) require most rigorous review. Extension research activities (ERA) have a blend of participants; moderate review rigor. Coordinating committees (CC) have lowest review rigor. Amount of funds allocated to each project type reflects rigor/expectations. North Central multistate review committee (MRC) welcomes rigorous reviews that result in some rejections; not a rubber stamp.

NE: Motion to ask NCRA advisory committee to streamline and standardize review forms for the four types of projects so that there is not so much variability among the different forms for each type of project. Motion passed unanimously.

AD: Discussion of amount of NCRA funds that actually get to NC research projects. Varies from institution to institution as determined by the director, as far as how much of the federal multistate funding goes to faculty salary. Can we have fewer projects that get better funding, and actually give some of the funding to the research projects? JJ: Overall Hatch is about $250M; 25% of this allocated towards multi-state projects (yet each institution handles differently).

BS: even just getting travel money is very helpful to get people together to plan future collaborations (not always about money)

JJ: Some states don’t even provide travel funds. There needs to be some baseline level of support. On the other hand, when allowed, may want to include in hiring letter to faculty ‘You will be involved in a multi-state project,’ so that they don’t just see it as an add-on. For teams submitting proposals, need to make it clear that the rationale for the work ultimately has the U.S. taxpayer as its audience, to keep the taps open.

JK: How to handle project reviews by NCAC1 members that are administrative advisors for projects? JJ: avoid having member as primary, but they can be on a project review. Can work with Christine Hamilton to help by listing the AA for each group in the table of projects for review.

IV. Data call update:

Institutional overview data files have been sent to Darlene Johnson from UMN Agron, OSU, UNL, ISU, KSU, MO Nat Res, ND Soils, IL. Data file submission due date is 1/18/2019.

V. Proposal Review

A. NC1178 (1°: Slater), ‘Land use and management practice impacts on soil carbon and associated agroecosystems services’: group has long history; previous proposal was much better prepared (more comprehensive CRIS review and rationale); was this a rush job (there is material left over from previous iterations)? didn’t address justification for new work; overlap with NCERA59; no detail about how they interact with other entities; no details of collaboration or projected participation report; lukewarm reviewer response (not binary yes/no; ~60% approval)—could there be intermediate ratings on the review form? Comments: very detailed comments by BS in review; encourage NC1178 & NCERA59 to consider meeting jointly and discussing merger or ways of further distinguishing their projects.

Recommendation: Approve with major revision (motion by BS, 2nd by NE, pass)

B. NC 1179 (1°: Davis), ‘Food, Feed, Fuel, and Fiber: Security Under a Changing Climate’:

Not reviewed because group did not submit renewal paperwork

C. NC1181 (1°: Casey), ‘Optimizing land use for beef cattle projection’: strong rationale & literature review, appropriate objectives; high likelihood of success; comment: update participation list

Recommendation: Approve (motion by FC, 2nd by MR, pass)

D. NC1182 (1°: Hyten/Mamo), ‘Management and Environmental Factors Affecting Nitrogen Cycling and Use Efficiency in Forage-Based Livestock Production Systems’: a lot of incomplete sections, not a lot of detail, difficult to review because it was so incomplete

Recommendation: Disapprove (motion by DH, 2nd by SA, pass)

E. NCERA3 (1°: Ransom, will be switched to Casey), ‘Soil and Landscape Assessment, Function and Interpretation’: goals and objectives stated clearly (excellent for research, good for extension); historically, group has representation across the country, with strong impact; high likelihood of success; comment: revise Appendix E (Participant list)

Recommendation: Approve with normal revision (motion by MR, 2nd by NE, pass)

F. NCERA137 (1°: English), ‘Soybean Diseases’: group has strong record of deliverables; good background & rationale; very diverse group with excellent participation, including intl. member, Ontario); appropriate, clear objectives (excellent for both research and extension); excellent potential for achieving objectives; excellent example of potential outcomes; activity is not duplicative; ideas show good progression towards collaborative activity; strong history of collaboration with commodity orgs to disseminate info; comment: formally extend membership to NC states that are not currently involved, since soybean diseases are important in these states too

Recommendation: Approve with normal revisions (motion by JE, 2nd by JK, pass)

G. NCERA217 (1°: Anderson), ‘Drainage design and management practices to improve water quality’: project won the 2018 national award, outstanding work; exceptional record of success/ deliverables; $30M in leveraged funding; excellent objectives, approach & potential for success; comment: encourage evaluation in other important watersheds (e.g., Red River, and Great Lakes)

Recommendation: Approve with normal revisions (motion by SA, 2nd by BS, pass)

H. NC1195 (1°: Hyten/Mamo), ‘Enhancing nitrogen utilization in corn based cropping systems to increase yield, improve profitability and minimize environmental impacts’: concrete goal—improve NUE by 5% over life of project; SA: expects more from this group, as a midterm funded NC project, than they’re currently doing (this is a big issue, but they haven’t made much headway on obtaining external funding and achieving research deliverables; behaving more like an NCERA or NCCC committee than a NC cmte); 2018 mtg report poor; there’s national funding available on this topic, but no activity around this. Given that N in corn is a big deal, why isn’t this project doing more concrete work? Comments: submit minutes on time after meeting, provide better documentation of progress in minutes, and make more substantive progress (including more novel approaches).

Recommendation:  Approve/continue project w/ major revisions (motion by DH, 2nd by JM, pass)

I. NC1203 (1°: Ehlke), ‘Lipids In Plants: Improving and Developing Sustainability of Crops ("LIPIDS of Crops")’: proposal spends a lot of time on methodology; some attention to outreach; some concrete deliverables; reviewers rated from good to excellent; comment: some other linkages could be made to plant metabolomics area, and make more progress in obtaining federal funding

Recommendation: Approve/continue project with revisions (motion by NE, 2nd by AD, pass)

K. NC1204 (1°: English), ‘Advancement of Brassica carinata’: very broad scope overview, very large, diverse and active group since 2016; strong rationale: consider development of B. carinata as oilseed (‘drop-in’ biofuel, very similar to petroleum products; potential for use by Navy and commercial airlines); focus on production and supply chain; list of nine objectives may be over-ambitious (though interesting); detailed approach; detailed list of outcomes/impacts; very large, diverse attendance records (including public/private institutions) and meeting minutes; substantial student involvement; good level of exchange and progress; not a large amount of progress towards deliverables yet. Comments: expand official team beyond SD and FL (why is UMN not a part of it?); consolidate objectives to 3 rather than 9 (for future revisions)

Recommendation: Approve with revision (motion by JE, 2nd by JK, pass)

L. NCCC167 (1°: Davis), ‘Corn Breeding Research’: long, storied history (back to 1930s); not very active in research, but have great, lively meetings; ~60 people at meetings (public and private, though not many project participants overall—7 to 8); ARS participants have not submitted reports; next meeting in St. Louis in March, 2019; big venue for graduate students and postdocs to give talks. Comments: this group meets the spirit of a coordinating committee, but needs to fill out its meeting reports (this is vital to the continuation of the project); non-compliant committee; next meeting won’t be approved without the report; should try to grow the membership; need a leader to help project be productive.

Recommendation: Approve with revision (motion by KL, 2nd by NE, pass)

M. NCCC216 (1°: Davis), ‘Understanding weed biology and ecology to address emerging weed management challenges’: this group is the remnant of a group with a long history that has dwindled over time in its scope; little progress towards objectives, irregular meetings, little coordination among group members, no evidence of interaction since 2017. Not meeting in 2018 appears to be evidence that the group itself has terminated the project. Comment: committee needs to start over with new ideas and energy and commitment to future deliverables.

Recommendation: Disapprove (motion by AD, 2nd by JK, pass)

N. NCERA13 (1°: Anderson), ‘Soil Testing and Plant Analysis’: didn’t meet in 2018; planning on meeting every 2 years thereafter; progress report was excellent; completely soft-funded, but still very active, so project shows an excellent ROI; meeting is well-attended by most states; work of the committee is essential for coordination of the soil testing recommendations Comment: committee could improve their documentation of extension activity.

Recommendation: Approve/continue project with normal revision (motion by SA, 2nd by MR, pass)

O. NCERA59 (1°: Slater), ‘Soil Organic Matter: Formation, Function and Management’: very important project with numerous members from multiple states; 2017 report had statements from all participants; very clear objectives; good coordination and linkages with professional societies and among group members; very active in obtaining extramural funding; excellent progress towards achieving objectives; attendance is good (did they meet in 2018?). Is there overlap with NC1178? Comment: no reporting for 2018, need to be more consistent; did they meet in 2018? get promised articles done and bring on some new members.

Recommendation: Approve/continue with normal revision (motion by BS, 2nd by DH, pass)

P. NCERA180 (1°: Lamkey), ‘Precision Agriculture Technologies for Food, Fiber, and Energy Production’: report missing from 2016 meeting; vague reports from 2017 meeting; no evidence of external linkages; not doing much special as a group (do information exchange in their jobs, but no synergy as a group); there are ~31 participants listed but only 11 at meeting. Project members are leaders in this area—why aren’t they doing something substantive as a group? Comments: group needs to turn in its reports, get its participation up and take on a substantive group activity otherwise a renewal (if desired) is questionable.

Recommendation: Approve with revision (motion by KL, 2nd by MR, pass)

Q. NCERA221 (1°: Ehlke), ‘Turfgrass and the Environment (was NCERA192)’: long-standing (52 years), highly successful committee on turf; multiple collaborative research projects across variety of topics; accomplishments are excellent; coordination and linkages excellent; much technology transfer, with active website supporting education and extension efforts; excellent attendance and participation (12 to 14 institutions, all NC states represented; all bring students, technicians and postdocs). Comments: this appears to be one of our better-functioning committees; for annual reports, focus on publications as deliverables that are directly related to NCRA project.

Recommendation: Approve/continue with normal revision (motion by NE, 2nd by JM, pass)

VI. State reports (most distributed electronically to NCAC1 members)

A. Univ. of Missouri (Steven Anderson; Jim English): many changes in upper administration, settling down; Dr. Rob Kallenbach appointed as Interim Assoc. Dean for Extension; SNR going through strategic visioning process; 2015 Ferguson, MO connected to enrollment crisis (partially fomented by Russian social media campaign)—have been recovering steadily; SNR was the bright spot on campus, one of the few with an increase in enrollment; SNR has had another round of budget reductions; buy-out program for tenured professors 62 or over (with 15 years of service). Stabilizing upper administration. Now have a single P&T committee for the division; no longer have a discipline-based executive representation. In process of overhauling undergraduate curriculum in CAFNR. Working with strategic firm to create/select ‘Programs of Distinction’ (faculty lines, development, grant writing efforts), with emphasis on long-standing programs. Looking at optimal balance of tenure-track to specialized faculty. Division of Plant Sciences merged 4 departments (45 faculty, many non-tenure track). Some hires across schools (e.g. Plant Sciences/Medical School: plant cellular stress physiology). New hire, Bin Yang has joint appointment with Danforth Plant Sciences Institute (plant-microbial interactions). New Asst. Profs.: Megan Hall (viticulture, supported by industry), entomology. Chancellor taking metric-based approach to quantifying ROI: focused on teaching, which hurt CAFNR (lost 27% of funding in last two years because of low IUs).

B. Kansas State University Agronomy, Mickey Ransom: 2018 was a year of change. Upper administration changes had a ripple effect down the line. Mickey is interim; will retire as soon as hire of a new department head. Six of eight departments have interim department heads (hearing from stakeholders about this). Currently have Asst. Prof of Precision Ag (60% ext./40% teaching). Have lost positions due to budget cuts: weed scientist, agronomist. Advertising for two area agronomist positions. Overhauling curriculum to reduce requirements. Building new Agronomy Education Center. Implementing new strategic budget model (based on credit hours, student retention and number of majors); not getting info about cost centers yet.

C. University of Minnesota Agronomy and Plant Genetics, Nancy Ehlke: New President, 17th, first female (Joan Gable), and will get new Provost. 24 tenure-track, 3 non-tenure track, 1 ARS. Wild rice breeder, tenure-track, in St. Paul (funded with direct line each year from legislature; $450K/yr). [Jim E: can a plant breeder get tenure these days?] Running current AGREET searches (comes through MN legislature): cropping systems agronomist (50% research, 50% teaching); integrated weed management specialist (60% extension, 40% research). Permission to fill 3 of the 8 USDA-ARS vacancies. Plant Science concentration (Agronomy or Horticulture; 127 undergraduates). Graduate (Agron & Hort): 31 students currently. College has a structural deficit; hindering hiring and replacing positions.

D. University of Illinois Crop Sciences, Adam Davis: AD functioning as scribe; see report

E. Ohio State University, Brian Slater (SENR) & Jim Metzger (HCS): SENR just celebrated 50th anniversary; soils group consolidating and doing better; slower turnover at administrative level, with full staff; attracted Gary Pierzynski from KSU to become Assoc. Dean for Research, on Columbus campus; mid-40s in faculty number (increase in 10 over past 5 years); undergraduate enrollment is increasing (700 majors; gradually increasing line of general funds, making up for less research and extension funds); 110 graduate students (16 or 17 in soils);

HCS: since new Dean, don’t talk about OARDC anymore, just Expt. Stn; Dean is big on branding (everything says ‘CFAES’; this caused consternation among stakeholders); July 1st 2019, 20th anniversary of merger of Crop Sci and Horticulture; OSU general funds have been stable or increasing because state’s subsidy for instruction has increased, retention rates are best in state; use endowments as program support, leverage funds from grants; over past 25 years, as OSU has grown, have gone from 30% to 15% state contribution to overall budget; 35 tenure-line faculty, 22 Professors, 8 Associate, 6 Assistant; 3 vacant FTE; they expect several new vacancies over next few years. Hired Sherry Kuboda in 2017, in controlled environment horticulture, with good grant success helping to revitalize horticulture. Hired Jess Cooperstone (Hort Science/Food Science), functional food scientist in metabolomics. Both hired on Discovery themes (0.35 FTE/fac position). Hired first Assistant Professor of Professional Practice (100% teaching; only research when off-duty) to bolster teaching program; same salary scale, same promotion schedule but promotion is not mandatory. In 2019, 25% position with Ag Engineering in ‘Plant Health Sensing’; high throughput phenotyping through remote sensing. April 1, 2019, Discovery Themes position in Agroecosystems Management (HCS + An Sci). Strategic planning for future positions. Sustainable Plant Systems (combined previous majors into this; have 5 specializations within this major; e.g. SPS-Agronomy; also Horticulture, Turf, Plant Biosciences, Agroecology). As ACT requirements at OSU went up (close to 30 now), became harder and harder for HCS to recruit UGs. Challenge: How to sell the value proposition of liberal arts education to students?

F. University of Nebraska—Lincoln, David Hyten: UNL’s 150th anniversary (have commission working on vision for next 150 years??); vice-chancellor for diversity and inclusion; Inst of Ag & Natural Resources: one-time cash return + $2.5M permanent cut to IANR (but 1% rather than 4% cut); need to keep tuition affordable: $22M worth of admin cuts (NOT reducing number of administrators; instead being more frugal (e.g., less reimbursement for mileage)). Hires need to be justified through cross-cutting communities at IANR level. New Dean of College of Ag Sciences. IANR initiatives: 1) graduate education framework, including professional development; 2) Cosco partnership. Enrollment: 48 resident MS, 46 distance, 76 PhD. Undergraduate: 140 Agronomy, 120 Horticulture, and 13 turf. New Assistant Professor hires. New departmental recruiter that ties recruitment to curriculum development.

G. Michigan State University, Jim Kells: Three threats at MSU: 1) condition of roads in MI (tax burden that may affect higher education); 2) decline in H.S. grads; 3) Larry Nassar scandal (has hurt many people, as well as health of the university: enormous turnover in administration and staff; active search for new President). College is in process of developing community standards; enthusiasm from faculty, staff and students to participate in process to make it more difficult for something like this to happen again. Good news: enrollment is up (largest class of freshmen admitted in fall 2018; more in-state students admitted). College administration is stable. Department has identified 7 strategic research priorities. Appointments: ~ 56% research, 20% teaching, 24% extension. One undergraduate major: crop and soil sciences. Two associate chairs: administration, research. 77 people with academic appointments in department (64 FTEs). 96 undergraduate majors, 99 graduate students. Good year in bringing in new faculty. Crop specialist positions: 50% industry, 50% university. Five retirements (all over 40 yrs of service, three over 50!); 20 faculty eligible to retire. Plant Resilience Institute (PRI): fundamental research on plant stress focused on agronomic crops; parallel position in Hort department. This was a cluster hire, involving giving up office and lab space in dept. to make room for PRI.

H. North Dakota State University, Frank Casey: Transitions in upper administration. Declines in enrollment. NDSU down 562 students out of 13,000 in 2018 ($6M shortfall). Voluntary separation agreement offered to help address shortfall. Challenge is to grow enrollment. Proposing to invest more in paying Professional/Online program. Salary program being considered in current state legislative session. State Stakeholder Advisory Board helps provide good access to legislative process. School of Natural Resource Sciences (FC has been EO there since 2012) has grown from 21 to 25 faculty. Have had very good faculty retention. Looking towards more integration across units, with a single Natural Resource Management degree. Have put best teachers in introductory courses, and this has had a great impact on student enrollment in course and in major. Enrollment: 217 (143 UG, 74 G). Trying to get ‘environment’ in name.

I. Iowa State University, Kendall Lamkey: Changes in ISU administration (Wendy Wintersteen moved from Ag. Dean to President); interesting observation: ‘things that people hate as Dean they love as President’. Consultants have found that university is ‘inefficient,’ so now they have to consolidate processes through ‘improved services delivery.’ Switch of financial reporting system to Workday (some trepidation about this). New Dean coming soon to Ag College; Dan Robeson from WV; likely that the entire college administration will change. Departmental review in Fall 2018: best team and best review they’ve seen on campus, helped solve some problems in the department; saw need for some restructuring of departmental leadership. Has Associate Chair of Academics; thinking of splitting this into UG and G (have 4 PhD programs). Wants to consolidate their 4 departmental majors (generational difference in support). Wants an operations chair; KL spends a lot of time working on these types of issues. Unclear whether they need someone in charge of future of extension. No external advisory committee; wants to put one together. Doesn’t use the Faculty Advisory Committee much. Has had position discussions with Dean in the past; prefers to have a process. Getting positions back has been a challenge. There’s been a flush of retirements. Enrollment: 300 to 325 UG historically (down to 265 this year); have succeeded in getting female enrollment up to 38%. Four grad programs: 108 grads; 38% female (are they going into private sector? not showing up in applicant pools). Would be interesting to track at a regional scale where the female students are going after graduation; how can we encourage more to become academics? Have 38 tenure track faculty FTEs; 16 term faculty (teaching 47% of section credits through distance program). Salary programs have been self-funded. State legislature has vetoed increasing tuition. 

VII. Broader Discussion

A. NCRA Impact: how do we highlight the rationale for inter-institutional collaboration from these projects? Why do these projects/funds matter? These projects work regionally and beyond. Researchers need to understand the system, and source of funds (funding that’s coming to the institutions that’s already committed to salaries; leverage for obtaining additional funds, and for making sure that institutions aren’t isolated). Former word for these is ‘formula funds;’ they’ve been relabeled as ‘capacity.’ There’s some push to make funds competitive through demands by OMB which have been beat back by the LGU system.

B. State Yield Trials

1. Companies are pulling out of the trials. Pioneer is not in the trial and Dekalb is not in the trial at Michigan.

2. Ideas were presented on how to get private company hybrids into the trial when they are not willing to pay to enter.

C. Soil testing lab

MSU labs is doing well and is self-sufficient. Lab director developed a self mailer that you can buy at lawn and garden stores.
OSU got rid of their lab years ago.
KSU lab is going well.
UIUC has a couple of informal soil labs that provide service at a small scale
Some labs are connected with extension and some are not.