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[General response of yes.]

Mr. HIGHTOWER. It is more than one? Do you have a good man doing sunflower research and we had one doing guar and we closed down our guar program to add one to the sunflower research? Dr. BERTRAND. That is correct.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Why?

Dr. BERTRAND. Dr. Kinney, can you answer that?

Dr. KINNEY. Again, Mr. Hightower, it is a matter of setting priorities. Our assessment of guar relative to-

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Dr. Kinney, we are closing down a whole program. We are saying that guar is not important. Guar is a tremendously important cash crop, not only in my district, but it is a developing crop. It has so many uses.

I could fill this table up with more products than you have right there that are a result of guar, or where guar is used. The development of guar has been a dramatic story. Perhaps you are familiar with it.

For us to come along and cut back and cut back, and then when we are doing it with just one man in one place and say that you are going to do away with that program, concerns me.

I want to cut back as much as any Member of Congress, and more than many do, and I want us to be sure that our money is properly spent. But when we do away with programs completely rather than cutting them back, it means that some better informed successor of ours is going to have to come along and reinvent the wheel and go back and pick up because of lost time, lost effort, and lost energy.

It is just more than I can understand. Why would we cancel out an important area of research in order that one man, one scientist who has spent many years in this field, can move over and be one more number with an allied research effort?

Dr. BERTRAND. Mr. Hightower, I am informed by staff that the gentleman that was moved to Bushland is continuing some variety testing with guar at the Chillicothe station. But the problem is the location in Amarillo.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. That is 200 miles away. Are we going to have more travel money in this budget?

Dr. BERTRAND. I would imagine this is being done by the technician principally with his overview. I have not looked into it, but I will.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. A technician on the ground is really not carrying on effective research, nor is somebody in an office in Washington that might lay out a program of work and send it down for a technician to do.

When you have a scientist that has spent a good many years it is a waste to lose him. We had several scientists down there at one time that had spent years and had really made this a multimillion dollar industry for agriculture.

I have used this example so many times, but it seems to fit in a lot of places. There is an old song about we have built a building seven stories high and we have gone as high as we can go. Everything is looking great in Kansas City.

Too often people arrive at a certain plateau and they say everything has been invented, or everything has been done. We have gone as far as we need to go.

But if a scientist takes that attitude, or a researcher takes that attitude, Lord help us all.

Dr. BERTRAND. I will look into this and see what has transpired and what can be done.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. I hope you will also look into the tremendous potential that there is for guar and the real need that we not lose any time by backing up to a point where we will have to come and spend a good deal more money later on to try to pick up and catch up from where we left off.

COTTON DUST RESEARCH

Let me move on. Last year we made the first appropriation in regard to the causes of health problems commonly referred to as cotton dust. Can you tell us what the plans are and what is being done?

Dr. BERTRAND. I believe we can get the best information from Mr. Nelson Getchell who is here and who has been close to that. We are using this fund as directed by Congress in conjunction with industry.

I would turn to Mr. Getchell to give us the details.

Mr.GETCHELL. Working with the National Institute of Occupational and Safety Health and with several industry groups, we have put together a steering committee which is developing a research plan. The primary objective will be to eliminate completely this health hazard for cotton mill workers.

Our first approach will be to evaluate washing as a means to reduce the hazard. Research will also be aimed at identifying the source and nature of the causative agent or agents, and to develop a bioassay to determine its presence or absence in a sample of cotton fiber.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Where is this work being done?

Mr. GETCHELL. It was being done at several locations. Major thrusts are being carried out at the Cotton Pilot Spinning Laboratory in Clemson, South Carolina, and at the Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. There is also important work at College Station, Texas, and at Beltsville, Maryland. Mr. HIGHTOWER. Does this budget request any additional funds for this particular area of research?

Dr. BERTRAND. No, sir, it does not.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Is your anticipated funding for 1981 higher than 1980?

Mr. GETCHELL. Yes, the 1981 program is considerably higher than the 1980 program, approximately double.

Mr. VICTOR. Congress provided, I believe, an additional $975,000 for increased research on byssinosis.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. So, as far as the progress report is concerned, your feeling is that they are reaching out and getting started? Mr. GETCHELL. Yes, that is correct, but this is not going to be a problem that is easily and quickly solved.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Of course, you do not get that kind?

Mr. GETCHELL. Cotton dust/byssinosis have been identified as the number one problem of the cotton industry, but I believe there are hopeful signs in what we are now doing. I am very encouraged. Mr. HIGHTOWER. We want to be supportive. Thank you very much.

PLANT STRESS AND MOISTURE LABORATORY

Dr. Bertrand, could you provide the Committee the status report of the research effort in planning for the plant stress and soil water conservation research program and the proposed laboratory? Dr. BERTRAND. The proposed laboratory in plant stress and moisture conservation has been in the planning stages during the last few months.

The architect has developed his initial plans and has made his initial cost estimates. We now have the design work completed. We are very pleased with the design work and what we have to date would indicate that we would be able to go forward with construction if funds were available on schedule.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. How does this budget provide for the construction of the proposed laboratory?

Dr. BERTRAND. This budget does not request construction funds for that facility.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. If you are going to move as you would propose to move, expeditiously, should not this budget contain those requests?

Dr. BERTRAND. The policy of the Department, through this budget preparation, has been that we would hold to an absolute minimum our requests for facilities. Therefore, this budget does not include this request.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Does that throw the scheduling of the laboratory off a year?

Dr. BERTRAND. Yes, sir, it does. It would also, of course, mean an increased cost as a result of inflation if we are delayed a year. Mr. HIGHTOWER. If this Committee put that in, how much money-even though it is not requested-should there properly be? Dr. BERTRAND. The central facility is estimated to cost about $22 million.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. That is for the facilities and the building?

Dr. BERTRAND. Yes, the building, the greenhouses, the central laboratory; yes. This would be one of a kind, a very unique facility in that it would bring together those scientists that have the capability of contributing to the overall plant and moisture stress problem that faces us.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. You are very much familiar with the area that I am concerned about. We have heard comments about the small investment and the tremendous amount of agricultural dollars that become involved very quickly.

There is no question in your mind about the need for such a facility; is there?

Dr. BERTRAND. No, sir-▬

Mr. HIGHTOWER. And you think it is going to be something that will more than pay for itself in benefits to the taxpayers over a very brief period of time; do you not?

Dr. BERTRAND. Yes, sir. Plant stress, moisture stress, insects, diseases, and other stress factors are costing us millions of dollars annually. This laboratory would provide us an opportunity to respond quickly to the research needs in those areas.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. In one of the richest agricultural areas in the United States, the water table is declining rapidly. We do not have a lot of time to wait to get some of these answers, do we? Dr. BERTRAND. That is correct.

REDUCTION FOR WOOL AND MOHAIR

Mr. HIGHTOWER. This budget proposes to cut $1,075,000 out of the wool and mohair research. Since wool is a natural fiber and is a renewable resource, and is an alternative to man-made fibers, why are we cutting this area?

Dr. BERTRAND. I would again like to turn to Mr. Getchell to comment on that, if I may.

Mr. GETCHELL. This is again a question of priorities. The sheep population in the United States has been steadily declining over a number of years. It is at a low ebb at the moment. Also, man-made fibers have taken over many of the markets once held by wool. We have looked at the research possibilities. There is no question about the urgency of problems facing the wool industry; however, we feel they can be addressed effectively by the states and by the industry itself.

Mr. WATKINS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Certainly.

Mr. WATKINS. I attended some livestock shows which were followed by auctions. The biggest surprise I had was the tremendous increase in sheep numbers in that hill and mountain country, which at one point did not have a sheep within one hundred miles. They told me it was one of the fastest growing livestock activities in the several surrounding counties. I was very impressed because having studied agriculture and not being accustomed to sheep, they told me they were making more money off one ewe than they were out of any of the hog production in that part of the country and even cow production.

I was elated. This is very positive. I was very surprised to hear you say that sheep production is going the other way. It is coming on very strong in Southeast Oklahoma.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. The need for warm clothing is, of course, always going to be there. We know the cost of synthetic fibers is going to continue to go up as the cost of petroleum goes up.

And, at a time when it would appear that the potential for wool is greater, that is the time we ought to spend more money rather than less money for research.

We are spending billions of dollars-or the Congress is spending billions of dollars now on trying to find alternatives for the use of petroleum. Here is a natural. We have had this since the beginning of time.

I think perhaps it is not the best judgment to go the other direction at this particular time.

Thank you very much.

SHIPPING CATTLE

Is there any work being done on shipping cattle by rail car? I know there was some work being done a couple of years ago in Amarillo. I have not had a report in a good while.

Dr. BERTRAND. I want to call on Dr. Graham Purchase to answer that question. |

But if I may return for just a moment to wool, last year Congress restored this item that we are talking about and directed that we aim that money at high priority areas of research. We have done that during the current year.

These are high priority areas for the industry as stated by the industry in the current year's budget.

Dr. Graham Purchase is our lead scientist in the veterinary science area. He will answer the question regarding shipping fever. Dr. PURCHASE. We have much research on shipping fever in El Reno, Oklahoma, and in College Station and Bushland, Texas. We have cooperation with the National Animal Disease Center on the agents that cause shipping fever. We have used vaccines before and after they are shipped and have tested the vaccines.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. I think perhaps my question was misunderstood. I am talking about the transportation of cattle by rail car. Many years ago it was very common. It has not been used. There are some problems with regard to it because of feeding and other various things.

There has been research on trying to get the kind of car and arrangements that would make it possible to increase the rail traffic for cattle.

Are you familiar with any of that research?

Dr. PURCHASE. No.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Just with the shipping fever and diseases involved?

Dr. BERTRAND. Mr. Hightower, I am sorry, we do not have research in that area.

Mr. KINNEY. I would like to say our research in this area would be very highly correlated with the other.

DROUGHT ALERT PROJECT

Mr. HIGHTOWER. I have one final question.

Can you give the Committee an evaluation of the drought alert project that was conducted in cooperation with the ASCS, the Extension Service, and the Western Livestock Market Information Service?

Dr. BERTRAND. Mr. Hightower, I am not prepared to give that. I would ask if Dr. Greenwood of Extension is?

Mr. HIGHTOWER. If not, we can add it to the record. That would be fine.

Dr. BERTRAND. May we respond to the record?

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Certainly.

Mr. TRAXLER. Without objection, so ordered. [The information follows:]

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