February 26, 2008

USDA to enhance grain research center

The USDA will renovate its Grain Marketing and Production Research Center (GMPRC), which is set on a 12-acre land in Kansas.

Research on cereal grains will soon be enhanced, as the project nears completion, USDA officials said. GMPRC is being modernized as part of a 10-year project. The center is operated by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency.

The center comprises a 60,000-square-foot combined laboratory and office building, a pilot plant and a 150-foot grain elevator. It works with several partners, including Kansas State University.

ARS Administrator, Edward B. Knipling, said the remodeled facility would provide the necessary environment for the center's scientists to conduct issue-driven, problem-solving research in production, harvesting, storage and marketing of the nation's staple grains, including wheat, corn and sorghum.

GMPRC scientists will also develop new technologies to protect and improve US grain production and products that are important human foods, livestock feeds and potential sources of biofuels in both domestic and international markets, the agency said.