AGENDA

NORTH CENTRAL REGIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
STATE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION DIRECTORS

One Hundred Seventy-First Meeting
September 27, 2004
Westin Hotel
Oklahoma City, OK

Sunday Sept 26, 2004
Registration and Reception, 6:00-10:00pm

Monday Sept 27, 2004
Breakfast: 7:00-8:00am
NCRA Meeting, 9:00am-12:00pm

ATTENDEES: Steve Pueppke (IL); Randy Woodson, Marshall Martin (IN);  Wendy Wintersteen (IA); Doreen Woodward (MI); Bev Durgan, Jennifer Obst (MN); John Gardner (MO); Darrell Nelson, Alan Baquet (NE); Ken Grafton, Virginia Clark Johnson (ND); Steve Slack, Dave Benfield, Bill Ravlin (OH); Kevin Kephart, Jim Doolittle (SD); Margaret Dentine (WI); Daryl Lund, Nicole Nelson (NCRA)

Lunch, 12:00-1:00pm
ESS Meeting, 1:00-5:00pm
Reception and Dinner, 7:00pm-? 

AGENDA BRIEFS

Agenda Item 4.0: NCRA Chair's Report
Presenter: Wendy Wintersteen

4.1: Accountability Issues (Federal POW)

Based on the issues brought up during the March 2004 meeting regarding Increased Efficiency and Accountability in the Multistate Research system (incl. the POW), Dean Elton Aberle set up a task force for further discussion of these topics.  Their charge: To investigate changes in the Farm Bill. Scott Smith is the chair of this task force, supported by committee members Jack Payne, Catherine Woteki, Jeff Armstrong, Bob Moser, and Bob Steel.  Colien Hefferan will be the ex officio member.

4.2: Dairy Consortium  - This initiative is moving forward (for information only). 
4.3: National Swine Research and Information Center - This initiative is moving forward (for information only). 

Agenda Item 5.0: Executive Director's Report
Presenter: Daryl Lund

July:

Executive Vice Chair ESCOP July meeting in Orlando (at the All COPS meeting)
Co-chair DOE/NASULGC Project 1 on Communication and Cooperation
Member NIMSS Oversight Committee
Chair IFT Summit Committee
Member Sigma Xi Lectureship Committee
Chair International Union of Food Science and Technology Distance Education Task Force

August:

BAA-Budget and Advocacy Committee ESCOP Alternate
Member IFT Task Force on Leadership Development
Member Rural Renaissance Act Steering Committee
Chair Scientific Advisory Council The World Food Logistics Organization
Member Board of Directors National Institute for Agricultural Security
Member National Multistate Coordinating Committee

September:

NASULGC Food and Society Project
IFT Editor-in-Chief Peer Reviewed Publications
Executive Vice Chair NRSP Review Committee (through September 2005)
Member FDA Food Advisory Committee
Co-PI USDA Food Processing Video Project

Summary of Office Activity:

1. Many of the activities mentioned above have recurring, regular spaced teleconferences.
2. The NCRA Office posted 10 impact statements and set a schedule for completing impact statements from all NC, NCCC, and NCERA committees.
3. Nikki completed 6 credits this summer with a 4.0 GPA.  She has now completed 10 credits total and is taking 6 credits this Fall semester.
4. Nikki generated and distributed the second NCRA newsletter designed for AAs.  She has gotten really great reviews on its content especially from NPLs at CSREES.  The intent is to post these and make them available to anyone accessing the NCRA website.
5. Nikki has begun training sessions on the new NIMSS for NC personnel.
6. Nikki is working with AAs on timely submission of project reports (annual meeting minutes and SAES 422).
7. Nikki has organized all the NRSP information for presentation at the ESS meeting.  She also prepared power point presentations for me (on items to be voted on) and Gary Lemme (for NRSP Review Committee report and voting).

Agenda Item 6.0: MRC Report
Presenter: Marshall Martin

Agenda Item 6.1: New NCDC for NC215: Persistence of Heterodera Glycines and Other Regionally Important Nematodes

The MRC recommends approval of this NCDC project. 
NCRA Action Taken: Approved; Steve Pueppke (IL) will be the AA of this committee; the new project number will be NCDC206.

Agenda Item 6.2: New NCDC: Difficulties With Mid-size Agricultural Enterprises and the Options for Improving Their Viability

The MRC recommends approval of this NCDC project. 
NCRA Action Taken: Approved; Alan Baquet (NE) will be the AA of this committee; the new project number will be NCDC207.

Agenda Item 6.3: NRSP Review Committee - Daryl Lund

Daryl outlined the NRSP Review Committee voting procedure that will take place during the afternoon ESS meeting.  Ballots were distributed (one per station) for use during the afternoon vote. 

Agenda Item 7.0: Publication of a NC Regional Climate Atlas
Presenter: Bob Seem

The CSREES research committee NC1018 (formerly NC94) has developed a full-color draft publication of a North central Regional Agricultural Climate Atlas as an outcome of their previous five-year plan of work.  This atlas has been the culmination of work on this committee to collect information about the agricultural climate in the North Central Region including high-quality comprehensive county-level climate, crop yield and soil information for the thirty-year period 1971-2000. 

This atlas is a first of its kind, current overview of many measured and derived data of the agricultural climate of a highly intensive agricultural area of the country.  Comprehensive information about the area is not available in any other location.  To fill this need we propose to print this atlas to be distributed to states in the region including agricultural experiment stations, colleges of agriculture and other interested parties. 

We therefore request funding in the amount of $24,200 to complete development of the publication, printing and delivery to states in the region. 

	Cost
Final development	$1,500
Publication (1000)	$22,000
Delivery	$1,000
Total	$24,500

We are currently in the process of sending the book out for review before attempting the next draft.  This "coffee-table" version will be supplemented with a continually updating website for more current information as the data become available. 

Thank you for your consideration,

Dennis Todey
NC1018 Chair

Action Requested: NCRA funding in the amount of $24,500 to complete development of the publication, printing and delivery to the states in the NC region. 

Discussion: NCRA members clarified with Bob that supplemental material in addition to the "coffee-table" version of the atlas will be available via internet as well as CD-ROM. 

Action Taken: Wendy will take this idea to the Midwest Planning Service (located at Iowa State).  She believed that they would be able to print not only the atlas, but also produce the CD-ROM.  Stations, on an individual basis, will then be able to order as many copies of the atlas as are necessary/requested. 

Agenda Item 8.0: CSREES  - no report provided
Presenter: Mary McPhail Gray

Agenda Item 9.0: Nominations Committee
Presenter: Bert Stromberg

Agenda Item 10.0: Resolutions
Presenter: Marshall Martin

Agenda Item 11.0: Review of BRT
Presenter: Darrell Nelson

The BRT is renewing the contract and review the team. Darrell  Nelson needs to have comments regarding this review submitted to Dick Wootton as soon as possible.  The ESCOP Bud/Leg Committee has also been asked for input.  Darrell needs to have all comments in to Dick Wootton by Oct 8.

Action Requested: Submit any comments re: the BRT's contract review to Darrell Nelson by October 8. 

Action Taken: The directors will speak with their colleagues upon their return from Oklahoma City and send items on which they would like to provide input to Darrell Nelson by the specified date. 

Agenda Item 12.0: Announcements

Agenda Item 12.1: NCRA Spring Meeting - April 2005
Presenter: Steve Slack

The 2005 Spring NCRA Meeting will be held April 6-8, 2005 in Columbus, OH at the Hilton Columbus.  The hotel is located within the new Easton Town Center (www.eastontowncenter.com).    

More information will follow on the registration fee, hotel reservations and the meeting agenda.