Wheat Commission Gives WSU $1 Million

The Washington Wheat Commission is donating $1 million to help build a wheat research facility at Washington State University.

The contribution reflects the importance of modern research facilities to the industry’s future, Wheat Commission Chairman James R. Walesby said Monday.

“The facility will enhance and speed wheat variety development dramatically,” Walesby said. “This is essential if we are to provide wheat producers with the tools to compete in rapidly changing world markets.”

About 90 percent of the state’s $550 million wheat crop is exported.

State and federal funds will help build the $8.2 million facility. It will have controlled growth chambers that will double the speed at which new varieties may be developed.

WSU and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists at the university have developed and released 66 varieties of wheat in the last century.