WSU: Passage Of Capital Budget Great News For Ag Program

Earlier this month, the Washington legislature approved a capital budget, which means a host of projects across the Evergreen state will now get the needed funding to move forward.  Washington State University can now move forward on several projects that will benefit the ag industry.

Jim Moyer, Associate Dean for Research with the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Resources Sciences and the Direct of the Agricultural Research Center, said the funding will allow for the construction of the Plant Sciences Building in Pullman.  He told the Washington Ag Network this state of the art facility will allow the college to relocate 17-20 programs that are currently spread across the campus, many of which are in buildings from the 1960s and 1970s.

“We’ve done all of the renovations we can do.  We’ve maxed out on the other infrastructure, electricity, water, being able to put in state of the art equipment so that our faculty can provide the research and the foundation for extension for our ag industry.”

Moyer noted the Plant Sciences Building will help researchers advance the cause of agriculture, but also attract the best and brightest students.

"Particularly the graduate students, they’re wanting to be able to do state of the art research so they will be able to compete for the best jobs in the workforce.  More and more now, in many fields it’s absolutely essential that undergraduates as part of even their undergraduate work training have laboratory internships.”

Moyer said the capital budget will also allow for much needed improvements tot the dairy barns and programs.  As far as across the state, The Capital Budget also provides for an HVAC upgrade at WSU’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center at Prosser.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com