(The Center Square) – Ground was broken Tuesday by officials from Washington State University and the United States Department of Agriculture on an advanced agricultural research facility to be located on campus.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today participated in the ceremony for a new Plant Sciences Building that will house scientists from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, or ARS, and WSU.
“Innovative agricultural research is a requisite to confronting many of the challenges we are facing, from feeding a growing world population and improving farming practices, to tackling the effects of a changing climate,” Vilsack said in a news release,
The new WSU Plant Sciences Building will house research on health, sustainability and profitability of dryland and irrigated agriculture in the Pacific Northwest.
Other speakers at the ceremony included U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and WSU Provost Elizabeth Chilton.
Some 15 USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists and 15 university scientists will share the space. The building will host four USDA ARS units, and according to WSU Insider, members of WSU Departments of Plant Pathology, Crop and Soil sciences, and Horticulture.
“The new USDA-WSU building reflects USDA’s commitment to innovative research and cutting-edge solutions that make our farmers more productive, profitable and resilient,” said Chavonda Jacobs-Young, USDA chief scientist, in the news release.
The project has received close to $125 million in federal funds and has been underway for 20 years, according to WSU Insider. It is on track to open in 2025, and according to the news release, the Army Corps of Engineers will provide planning, environmental, contracting, design and construction contract oversight.
WSU has been partnering with the USDA ARS since 1931. Vilsack said the groundbreaking opens a “new era in a long research partnership” and “pushes the boundaries of what is possible” in agriculture.
“It also underscores the importance of our partnerships,” Jacobs-Young said, “and USDA’s commitment that the best and brightest agriculture scientists and researchers are working in state-of-the-art facilities equipped with the tools they need to take on the world’s greatest agricultural challenges.”
The USDA released a three-year science and research strategy in May to “transform the U.S. food system.” According to the news release, facilities like this help further the department’s efforts to “respond to the needs of the diverse communities” across America.
