Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Minutes of the 2006 Annual Meeting Southern Coordinating Committee - 33 The 2006 Annual Meeting of SCC-33 Information Exchange Group was held Wednesday and Thursday, February 1-2 at the Inn at Ellis Square in Savannah, GA. Twenty-six registered members attended the 2006 meeting (list of attendees attached), along with six spouses and one guest. There were eight invited speakers and five members participated in the program. Don Day and Paul Rose of the University of Georgia and Monty Malone of Delta King Seed Co. served as co-chairs for the 2006 meeting. Debra Ahrent of the University of Arkansas handled pre-registration and registration. Donna Wyatt and Mitch Gilmer of the University of Georgia assisted with arrangements, door prizes, registration, and with technical details of the meeting. Wednesday Program: Don Day served as moderator for the Wednesday session (copy of program attached). The meeting started at 8:30 am. Don and Dr. Clarence Watson explained the review and renewal process conducted in 2005, which resulted in the name change from SRIEG-33 to SCC-33 (Southern Coordinating Committee 33). It was explained that HATCH requires a certain portion of funds to go to multistate research and SCC-33 would now be eligible for those funds. Dr. James Sutton from the Georgia Department of Agriculture gave an overview of the scope of agriculture in Georgia. Paul Rose gave an overview of the OVT program of the University of Georgia. It was mentioned in discussion that seed companies would like to have OVT data in an Excel spreadsheet available on the various web pages. Dr. Stephen Harrison of Louisiana State University spoke about the SunGrain Cooperative, "A Regional Southern UNiversity GRAIN Breeding Program". Dale Wood of the University of Georgia spoke about breeding for improved soybean seed composition, the Asian Soybean Rust screening program conducted at Attapulgus, GA - which consisted of 3608 plots, and equipment and procedures for end trimming soybean plots. Dr. George Shumaker of the University of Georgia spoke about the impact of high fuel prices on Georgia farmers and provided a historical perspective of energy costs. Chris Schepis of the National Farmers Union, Washington DC, explained how the Energy Policy Act of 2005 will effect agriculture, especially the Renewable Fuel Standard which mandates 7.5 billion gallons of domestic ethanol production by 2012 with 250 million gallons of that cellulosic ethanol by 2013. He stated that his organization expects 12 billion gallons of ethanol production by 2012 is attainable, but that oil companies will resist more production than that and that legislation to mandate greater production would be needed, as well as a biodiesel standard, in the Energy Bill. He mentioned other sources of renewable fuel. His comments were to be available online at: nfu.org. Darrell Dunn of the Georgia/Florida Soybean Association spoke about their efforts at biodiesel production and the importance of tax incentives for a 20% blend. His company can be found online at biodiesel.org. The morning break was sponsored by Armor Soybean. The meeting adjourned at 12:20 pm. Dinner Banquet: The evening banquet was held at the Inn at Ellis Square at 6:30 pm, catered by Johnnie Ganem, Inc. of Savannah. 35 people attended the banquet, including spouses and guests. Howard Mason of the University of Missouri won the grand door prize. Gwen Roland of the University of Georgia spoke about her transition from ten years living on a houseboat in the Atchafalaya basin in Louisiana to working with the Southern Regional Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Thursday Program: Monty Malone with Delta King Seed moderated the meeting, which started at 8:00 am. Lee Stewart of Syngenta spoke about seed treatment and the crop protection business in the south. He stated that soybean would displace corn as the primary user of crop protection in the future. He mentioned some new products coming along for cotton, soybean, corn, peanut, and wheat. There was some discussion about skull and crossbones warning labels and concern over inadequate handling facilities at the universities and a largely student work force. He stated that the diluted compound on the seed is as stated on the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) even though the 1968 seed law says it must be labeled the same as the 41% concentrated material. Some of these compounds provide the full spectrum protection of a nematicide, insecticide, and fungicide to the seed and seedlings. Dr. Jerry Johnson of the University of Georgia joined Lee Stewart and Don Day in a panel discussion of seed treatment. A survey conducted of the universities present to determine current seed treatment practices is as follows:
Wheat -

• no systemic, all treated with fungicide: GA, AL, KY, AR, LA, TN, NC
  
• allow systemic fungicide, says nothing about insecticide: MS
  

Corn -

• request fungicide and systemic seed treatment: GA, TN, AL, NC, MS
  
• request no seed treatment, use 'Counter' or 'Force 3G': AR, KY
  
• allow both systemic fungicide and insecticide: MD
  

Grain Sorghum -

• fungicide only: GA, TN, MS
  

Soybean -

• allow non-systemic fungicide: GA, AL, NC
  
• request un-treated, then treat own with non-systemic fungicide: MS
  
• all non-systemic fungicide: TN
  
• no treatment: AR
  
• allow any seed treatment: KY, MO (footnoted)
  

Cotton -

• Option 2 or 6, fungicide only, no systemic, no overcoat: GA, AL, TN, all states
  

Monty Malone spoke about Delta King's soy diesel plant under construction in Stuttgart, AR. Don Day spoke about Dr. Gale Buchanan's nomination to Under Secretary of Agriculture and his subsequent inability to attend our meeting as a speaker. Business Meeting: Monty Malone moderated the annual business meeting. Minutes of the 2004 meeting in Memphis were included with registration material and were approved as written. In order for Debra Ahrent to have the checking account name changed, she can use the minutes of this meeting along with a letter from Dr. Watson to Station Directors indicating our name is officially changed to: Southern Coordinating Committee 33. The treasurers report was delivered by Debra Ahrent, stating the previous balance as $1063.59 along with pre-registration and one sponsored break of $1395.00 giving a balance of $2458.59 before costs of the hotel, meal and awards and does not include registration receipts at the hotel and the second sponsored break. There was a discussion of who controls the list serve. Don Day will contact Dewey Barefield about the list serve. Bill Bruening of the University of Kentucky was nominated by Paul Rose to serve as co-chair for 2007 meeting. The motion was seconded and, following some discussion among the Kentucky contingent, unanimously approved. Kelly Whiting of Delta & Pine Land Co. was nominated by Fred Allen to serve as industry co-chair for the 2007 meeting. Upon his consent, the motion was seconded and unanimously approved. Some potential meeting sites mentioned included Lexington, Sandestin Resort in Destin, FL, or Puerto Rico. Following former custom, two Outstanding Service Awards were presented. Monty Malone announced that Dr. Walter Mayhew of Monsanto was the recipient from industry and Don Day announced that Fred Allen of the University of Tennessee was the recipient from university. Their plaques will be forwarded to them. There was further discussion about having university data available in Excel or Access format. Lingxiao Zhang of Mississippi State University requested that data be forwarded to him as a means table in Excel. There was further discussion about Best Management Practices (BMP) and commodity advisory committees to OVT programs. The business meeting was adjourned at 11:50 am Respectfully submitted by Paul Rose. 2/7/06 Budget Addendum to minutes  Don Day and Paul Rose $2458.59  starting balance after pre-registration and one sponsored break of $250 From GA Crop Improvement Assoc. $600.00 - additional registration at the meeting $350.00 - sponsored break from Armor Soybean $3408.59 Expenses  $ 365.00 - Ganem Caterer and Hotel deposits $1288.72 - Banquet and Bamboo tour lunch $ 797.96 - Hotel expenses $ 92.44 - Two plaques $2544.12 Balance  $ 864.47

Individual state variety trial reports can be accessed via the SCC-33 website at:

http://www.mafes.msstate.edu/scc33/ieg.html