Mr. WHITTEN. How is it possible at New Orleans to study how to better utilize peanuts without in turn dealing with quality? Dr. HERRMANN. Well, they are dealing with quality in terms of trying to develop new industrial and other uses for peanuts. Mr. WHITTEN. Improving the quality-isn't that the first start toward using something? They are not interested in quality? Dr. HERRMANN. Yes, utilization is interested in quality but not from the viewpoint of improving grades and standards and methods and equipment for measuring market quality objectively. They are interested in quality as related to the development of a new product or an extended use. Marketing research in pursuing its responsibility for improving market quality is concerned with the effect on quality of variety, cultural practices, maturity, curing, shelling, storage conditions, handling, and residues from treatments to prevent insect damage in storage. Mr. WHITTEN. Yet I have had a good deal of correspondence lately from cottonseed people who are very much upset. They say the Department of Agriculture stopped them from using the cottonseed oils or vegetable oils in peanut butter. I checked and found out that it was a case of labeling. The peanut butter people were told by the Food and Drug people to show a proper label. Further, in talking to the peanut folks, they said they needed the cottonseed oil because peanut oil would tend to separate from the peanut butter, whereas the vegetable oils would keep it from separating or stabilize it I believe is the word they would use.. LOCATIONS OF PEANUT RESEARCH Now you are not doing any work in Texas or in the southwestern region on peanuts at all? Dr. HERRMANN. We have had one contract in Texas for a couple of years. That contract-entered into in 1961-has to do with an attempt to determine the causes of a bitter flavor in products processed from peanuts produced in the southwest area. This is a contract that is financed jointly by AMS and the Southwestern Peanut Shellers Association on a 50-50 basis. Mr. WHITTEN. Who is doing it? Dr. HERRMANN. The Agricultural Experiment Station at Texas A. & M. is doing the work. The production research of ARS is rather widely scattered. As you probably heard last year, the Agricultural Research Service has a small amount of peanut harvesting work at Holland, Va. They also have some scientists there working in other lines, such as production entomology and improved varieties and cultural practices. understand that there are also a number of ARS scientists stationed in North Carolina and at Tifton, Ga., working on production problems. I have no information regarding ARS peanut research in Texas or Oklahoma. Mr. WHITTEN. I would like you to supply the various places where research work is going on for peanuts, either in production, quality or utilization. Also provide a description of the work at the New Orleans Laboratory. (The information is as follows:) Estimated obligations for USDA research on peanuts, fiscal year 1963 1 Production research: SUMMARY Crops-production, breeding, quality, and disease investiga- $161, 350 20, 090 Marketing research: 21, 900 Total, Agricultural Research Service--- 203, 340 Economic Research Service: Farm economics research___ 6, 600 Total, production research.. 209, 940 Utilization research and development: Agricultural Research Service: 173, 300 305, 700 79, 800 5,000 390, 500 32,000. 805, 740 Agricultural Marketing Service: Marketing quality research______ Economic Research Service: Marketing economics and economic and statistical analysis.. Farmer Cooperative Šervice: To strengthen farmer cooperatives. _ Total, marketing research Nutrition and consumer use: Agricultural Research Service: Composition and household use of peanuts and peanut oils. - Alabama, Auburn: Production, disease, and quality investigations ($15,200); and control of nematodes in peanuts ($4,000) --- Georgia: Experiment: Peanut disease investigations, particularly stem Total, Georgia. Maryland: Beltsville: Evaluation of peanut germ plasm and physiology of the peanut plant ($31,100); evaluation of herbicides for control of weeds in peanuts ($1,430); nematology ($4,060); taxonomy of fungi attacking peanuts ($1,230); and pesticides in plants and soil related to peanuts ($3,000); plant introduction ($4,450); and new crop development ($1,370); executive direction, printing, biometrics, and other central services located at Beltsville, Md., Washington, D.C.; and the 4 field administrative divisions ($28,540). 19, 200 9, 600 56, 900 66, 500 75, 180 New Jersey, Moorestown: Taxonomy studies of insects having 100 860 500 Texas, Stephensville: Peanut variety evaluation studies. 200 1 Excludes obligations under Federal grant funds administered by the USDA's Cooperative State Experiment Station Service. For such obligations, see the table "Estimated obligations for State research on Peanuts," Federal grant and non-Federal funds, fiscal year 1963" which appears below. Estimated obligations for USDA research on peanuts, fiscal year 19631-Continued Virginia, Holland: Reseach on peanut disease, particularly stem Washington, D.C.: Taxonomic studies of insects having actual or Total, production research... Utilization research and development: Louisiana, New Orleans: Investigations of the constituents and Washington, D.C.: Executive direction, printing, biometrics, and Total, utilization research and development_-- Marketing research: Bainbridge (employees stationed at Albany): Development $37, 100 10, 300 209, 940 157, 500 15, 800 173, 300 13, 200 Dawson (employees stationed at Albany): Development of 48, 450 Savannah: Insecticide evaluations specifically related to pea- 50, 000 46, 270 Tifton: Practical methods to protect farmers' stock peanuts Total, Georgia_ _ _ Maryland, Beltsville: Market quality evaluation research, including development of instruments to improve grading of peanuts-North Carolina, Raleigh: Curing studies on Virginia peanuts, methods and equipment for grading all types of peanuts, and development of sample cleaner ($49,000); economic evaluation of commercial utilization patterns for peanuts at the sheller level ($14,700) - - . Washington, D.C.: Design new and improved layouts and structures for conditioning, handling, and storing farmers' stock and shelled peanuts, including administrative costs ($73,780); sheller margins and market patterns for peanuts; marketing margins and costs for peanuts and peanut butter; costs and practices of peanut shellers; situation and outlook on supplies, demands, prices, marketing, and utilization of peanuts; and related administrative costs ($65,100); and strengthening of farmer cooperatives ($5,000) Total, marketing research Nutrition and consumer use: Maryland, Beltsville: Investigations on composition and household use of peanuts and peanut oil, including applicable executive direction, printing, biometrics, and other central services_. Total, peanut research... 157, 920 25,000 63, 700 143, 880 390, 500 32, 000 805, 740 RESEARCH ON PEANUTS-CONDUCTED BY INDUSTRY AND BY USDA AGENCIES IN COOPERATION WITH INDUSTRY Cooperative research work with industry Some of the Department's research work is conducted in cooperation with industry. Most industry support is given in the form of material and facilities and personnel assistance rather than cash contributions. For example, the peanut mechanization research at Holland, Va., is conducted by the Agricultural Research Service with equipment furnished by the peanut industry; and, in some instances, chemicals are supplied by industry to supplement our research on the control of insects. Utilization research on peanuts at the Southern Utilization Research Laboratory at New Orleans, La., includes cooperative work with industry as follows: Last year a 2-day industry conference was held at the Southern Utilization Research and Development Division to discuss problems in the peanut industry and opportunities afforded by utilization research to aid the industry. In attendance were 48 representatives of peanut growers, shellers, and manufacturers. With increased funds provided in fiscal year 1963, a new project has been initiated to determine the influence of processing methods on the properties of peanut products, an area of research recommended by the industry. Also, a contract is being negotiated on another project recommended by the industry to isolate, identify, and characterize constituents of processed peanut products to form the basis for producing improved peanut products of greater consumer acceptability. A considerable amount of consulting work on the production of peanut butter is provided, particularly from small processors. The Southern Laboratory has cooperated with the medical profession in New Orleans, La., on the preparation of a peanut flour for treatment of hemophilia. Cooperation was extended to a peanut processor in the preparation of 20,00030,000 pounds for this purpose. Similarly, the Agricultural Marketing Service conducts some of its research on peanuts in cooperation with industry, as follows: The Southwestern Peanut Shellers Association is contributing $30,000 (one-half the total cost) of a contract between Agricultural Marketing Service and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station for research to determine the influence of variety, stage of maturity, and curing practices of raw peanuts on the market quality of processed peanut products. The Georgia-Florida Peanut Association made available to Agricultural Marketing Service a peanut facility at Bainbridge, Ga., for use in conducting tests and experiments in developing improved methods, techniques, and equipment for handling, cleaning, and drying farmers' stock peanuts at commercial storages and other off-farm facilities. The Columbian Peanut Co. furnishes cleaned farmers' stock peanuts and common labor for use in carrying out handling and drying studies. The Tom Huston Peanut Co. provides space for Agricultural Marketing Service to install, operate, and demonstrate experimental aeration systems. The company also provides labor, electric power, electric wiring, and related equipment, and predetermined types and quantities of farmers' stock peanuts. Under an agreement with the Agricultural Marketing Service, the Stevens Industries, Inc., furnishes experienced labor for use in carrying out peanut shelling and handling studies, for which the Agricultural Marketing Service reimburses the cooperator in an amount not to exceed $5,000. Research conducted by industry There is no information available as to the extent of research on peanuts that industry is conducting. It has been roughly estimated that industry devotes approximately 30 man-years to research on peanuts, mostly on harvesting equipment and peanut processing and processing equipment. Using $25,000-$30,000 per man-year, this would amount to approximately $750,000-$900,000 invested in peanut research. In addition to amounts invested in research directly by industry, some portion of the non-Federal funds used at State agricultural experiment stations is contributed by industry. Information as to how much of such non-Federal funds from industry is devoted for research on peanuts is not available. 95910-63-pt. 3- -15 Estimated obligations for State research on peanuts, Federal-grant and non-Federal funds, fiscal year 1963 In addition there is a non-Federal research project in Oklahoma which covers more than 1 commodity. There is no information available as to amount of funds applied to this research on peanuts. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAMS Breeding, quality, and cultural practices Breeding for superior types and evaluation of fertilization and cultural practices. (Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas.) Fertilization of peanuts with major and minor elements, studies on the development of rancidity, new varieties, use of supplemental irrigation in growing peanuts, characterization of substances in peanuts responsible for flavor and aroma, and effect of treatments on keeping quality. (Georgia.) Breeding for variety improvement including the use of radiation techniques, influence of plant nutrition on productivity, and the productivity of peanut soils as influenced by crop sequence. (North Carolina.) Soil-plant nutrient relationships. (Virginia.) Diseases and insects Research on soil-borne and other diseases of peanuts (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia); entomological studies on insects affecting peanuts (Virginia). Engineering and other production research Handling of peanuts during harvesting, curing, drying, and storage. (Georgia, Virgilia.) Farm economics Effect of Federal price support programs for peanuts on farm land values. (Virginia.) Marketing Chemical and physical properties during storage and their effect on market value, and fermentation products produced by fungi growing on a peanut sub(Alabama.) strate. |