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Hernando Today

Funding Gives Ag Research Another Year

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: February 27, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - Perched on a hill above one of Hernando County's most scenic valleys, researchers work to answer cattle questions.

Which mix of breeds is best for the hot, sub-tropic environment that extends from South Texas to South Florida?

What are the best kinds of grasses for cattle to thrive?

How does a ranch with thousands of animals affect water quality in the area around it?

The work toward the answers will continue another year at the SubTropical Agricultural Research Station, on Chinsegut Hill north of Brooksville, now that the center will receive a $1.3 million slice of the federal government's budget.

It almost didn't work out that way, though, and there's no guarantee the money will be there next year.

The funding was slated to be among President Bush's budget cuts. The plan was to move staffers to other U.S. Department of Agriculture's cattle research facilities in Nebraska or Arizona.

But U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite fought to have the funding restored. The allocation is included in the fiscal year 2009 omnibus spending bill that passed the House on Wednesday.

"I think the kinds of research there are necessary for our cattle industry, and I thought it was incumbent upon me to make sure it stays in our backyard," Brown-Waite said.

The researchers want to remain in Brooksville, too, and are thankful for Brown-Waite's efforts, said Sandy Miller Hays, spokeswoman for the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

The Brooksville station is one of 100 research stations in the country, but the only one in the Southeast that conducts research on beef cattle. The experiments on how the heat affects the crossbreeds is important work for the cattle industry in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, Miller Hays said.

Brooksville also gets cold enough to find out how the breeds do when the mercury drops.

"Brooksville is very, very special, because they are doing work that not only isn't being done somewhere else, but couldn't be done somewhere else," she said.

It's getting harder to do that work, however, said Dr. Samuel Coleman, a research animal scientist at the station.

The station, which opened in 1932, is comprised of a total of 3,800 acres in three locations in the county. The main facility is on 1,800 rolling acres that span from Chinsegut Hill to Lake Lindsey. It's part of land donated by Col. Raymond Robins in the early 1900s and is next door to the majestic manor house that now serves as a conference center for the University of South Florida.

Another tract is located a little farther north on U.S. 41. The third is in Nobleton.

The station hasn't seen a budget increase in more than a decade and because of inflation had to cut one of its scientists back in 2005, Coleman said. Another scientist will have to go in June, leaving three, he said.

The station partners with several research universities throughout the country, and has an especially close relationship with the University of Florida, which pays for five of its 17 full-time staffers. With another scientist cut, the station will have to increase its collaboration with UF, Coleman said.

"If we're living one year at a time, it's hard to do research," Coleman said. "It's a long-term commitment."

If funding stays the same or shrinks, it will mean a slow death for the station, he said.

He put it this way: "Do you chop our head clean off or do you leave the jugular open and we bleed to death."

Because USDA is part of the executive branch, the Agriculture Research Service division must respect the president's budget decisions and can't lobby Congress for more funding, Miller Hays said.

But stakeholders that benefit from the research, such as the Florida Cattlemen's Association, is doing that lobbying.

Larry Rooks, a past president of the association and a lobbyist for the industry on the state and federal level, helped convince Brown-Waite to fight for the station.

"The research done there is vital to cattle production as a whole, especially in subtropical states," Rooks said. "Any research to keep us producers sustainable, and in different years profitable, is very important for us."

But Rooks' job is getting harder.

"It's a difficult situation because even in good times everyone's vying for funding, but it's a whole lot easier to ask for it then," he said.

Brown-Waite said she's committed to the station.

"I will continue to fight each year to ensure the facility has the funding they need to stay open and stay in Brooksville," she said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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