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Kansas wheat producers on track for a brighter futureBy Jennifer M. Latzke Soon Kansas farmers will be able to tout their own research facility and new headquarters for Kansas Wheat. A proposed Kansas Wheat Innovation Center is steps closer to reality, following the May 22 joint board meeting of the Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers Board of Directors. In January, Kansas Wheat and Kansas State University received a $200,000 planning grant from the Kansas Bioscience Authority to develop plans for the Kansas Innovation Center for Advanced Plant Design: "Plants for the Heartland." The center would cover not only wheat research, but also research into sorghum, small grains and native plants and grasses. The building would also house the offices for the staff of Kansas Wheat. Kansas Wheat and K-State will lead the establishment of the center, with headquarters located at K-State's Manhattan campus. In planning for the center, several questions have risen in regard to its construction, operation and any intellectual property rights from research conducted by its scientists. Dusti Fritz, chief executive officer of Kansas Wheat, spoke at the joint board meeting in regards to the details that still need to be fine-tuned. For example, KWC is limited in its financial participation of any venture by state legislation that created the organization. Under its mission to support the promotion, research and education of wheat in the state, the safest way KWC could participate would be to help fund the construction of the building, retain ownership and negotiate any land leases from the KSU Foundation that owns the potential site of the building on the K-State campus. As for any intellectual property rights coming from research conducted by the center, the joint committee recommended that KAWG set up a for-profit organization, tentatively called Heartland Plant Innovations. This organization would manage the research and any intellectual property that results from that research for the benefit of Kansas wheat farmers. Because K-State plant scientists will most likely also be housed in the facility, Fritz explained it may be possible to create intellectual property regulations that match what the university currently uses. She advised the board members and commissioners that much more consideration will have to be given before any concrete answers are decided. These plans are all tentative and final answers will depend on what is deemed prudent by lawyers reviewing the plan. More information about the progress toward the new center should be available by the Aug. 5 and 6 Kansas Wheat Conference in Hutchinson. Assessment decisions The Finance Committee discussed the funding of its commitments to U.S. Wheat Associates, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the Wheat Foods Council and the International Grains Program at K-State. KWC Secretary-Treasurer Doug Keesling explained the committee reviewed each entity's accomplishments in the past year and considered Kansas Wheat's recent state membership survey in its decisions. He said many members expressed through the survey that they would rather see more funding to in-state programs and a reduction on funding of national efforts. Therefore, the committee recommended funding IGP at 50 percent of the Fiscal Year 2009 request; USW at 60 percent of the FY08 amount; NAWG at 60 percent of the FY08 amount; and WFC at 61 percent of the FY08 amount. And, while a change in the state assessment will help, it won't come into effect until the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, explained Keesling. Assessments from NAWG and USW are based on production estimates for the year. The commission's budget was later approved by the commissioners with one abstaining from voting. This action follows the decision by the committee last year to reduce its funding of the national organizations by 10 percent. That choice was made because of the perceived need for better communication and accountability between the national organizations and Kansas producers, as well as a below average crop year. While a dialogue was opened among USW, NAWG and Kansas Wheat, and some of the concerns were addressed immediately, the organizations continue to strive for improvement in all areas of concern. Financial health Last year's high wheat prices and overall optimism among growers brought both the commission and the association back to financial health. The KWC financial report showed that as of March 31 the commission had collected $2.996 million in revenue, which equates to collecting assessments on a 300-million-bushel crop. With estimates of the 2007 wheat crop at 288 million bushels, it was clear that many farmers were taking advantage of higher prices at the elevators to clean out bins of old crop wheat, according to Julie Winsor, Kansas Wheat financial and human resource specialist. Winsor also explained the auditing process of first purchasers is going well, but that a change in the assessment might make for a small glitch in the computer program that many of them use to calculate their assessments. The situation should be addressed by the software companies soon. So far, the commission is in a good financial standing. As of March 31, 88.7 percent of the budget had been received in assessments and expenses were only accounting for 66.1 percent of the budget. With one-quarter of the year left the commission has one-third of its budget left to spend, Winsor explained. KAWG's financial report showed that the wheat growers should also stay under budget for the year with a net income of a little more than $19,000 in the bank. Both the commission and the association approved balanced budgets for the coming fiscal year. KWC's $330 million balanced budget took into account that collections could decrease on track with a five-year average. During the joint board meeting, the two groups reviewed the predictions for FY09, and set goals to stop deficit spending and to maintain their cash reserves. Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com. 6/23/08 Date: 6/19/08 Advertisement
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