Corvallis (KMTR)- From NASA to the Department of Energy, 17 federal agencies accounted for two-thirds of the record $275 million Oregon State researchers received during 2009-2010.
"It's a reflection of how in tune the research community here at Oregon State is with the leading issues," says OSU VP of research Rick Spickard. "Whether it be climate, whether it be food security, whether it be public health- these are the kinds of issues that resonate with the public- after all, these dollars come from the taxpayers."
$500,000 of that money allows OSU Crops and Soils to help develop thousands of different wheat strains. In 100 years, thanks in part to OSU research, the amount of bushels grown per acre in Oregon has gone from 20 to 60. This year Oregon is expected to grow close to 60 million bushels of wheat on close to a million acres.
And while for years the effort has been to increase the amount of wheat grown, OSU researchers say that's changing as people's needs and wants change. "Maybe we go back to some of the taller varieties for the biofuel purposes," says Russ Karow of OSU Crops and Soils. "But in irrigated environments that we have in the state you'd be interested in the shorter types and so you need this kind of diversity- and even the diversity that you can't see as far as disease resistance."
While about ten percent of the record $275 million came from stimulus money, none of it was a handout. OSU researchers had to compete with other researchers across the country for the money. "We had to demonstrate to the sponsors that we had the best ideas and the best skill set and the best facilities to conduct that research," says Spickard.
