Madison, Wisconsin
April 5, 2007
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Artist's
rendering of the new Cereal Crops Research Laboratory.
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The
Cereal Crops Research Unit is the country’s only
research facility that evaluates the malting quality of
barley cultivars. Barley malt is used to make breakfast
cereals, baked goods and beer. Here, plant physiologist
Allen Budde examines malt partway through the kilning
process. |
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture today dedicated a
state-of-the-art research laboratory where scientists will work
to improve barley, oats and other cereal crops. The new facility
will be operated by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the
USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency.
"This laboratory has been the country's only public research
facility for evaluating malting barley cultivars based on their
quality and usefulness," said ARS Associate Administrator
Antoinette Betschart. "For nearly 75 years, it has provided an
important link between barley growers, plant breeders and the
malting and brewing industries. This new facility will further
strengthen this function."
In fact, most of the malting barley cultivars that Americans
encounter in foodstuffs or beverages have, at one time or
another, been scrutinized by ARS cereal researchers in Madison.
Barley malt, which contains natural sugars, can be found in a
variety of foods, including breakfast cereals and bakery goods.
It is the basic fermentable ingredient in beer.
The new Cereal Crops Research Unit (CCRU) building is located on
more than three acres of federal land on the University of
Wisconsin-Madison campus. Built at a cost of $11 million, it
will house 35 employees, including seven scientists and their
staff.
In addition to Betschart, speakers at today's event included
U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin; Steven Shafer, ARS Midwest
Area director; Cynthia Henson, research leader, CCRU; Irwin
Goldman, vice dean of the University of Wisconsin's College of
Agricultural and Life Sciences; and Michael Davis of the
American Malting Barley Association.
In addition to the critical service that CCRU scientists provide
barley breeders, ARS researchers in Madison are working to
better understand the biochemical processes that control the
conversion of starch into sugars, which is a crucial value-added
trait for malting barleys. They're also focused on identifying
health-promoting compounds found in oats and barley, and on
better ways to bolster cereal crops against attack from
persistent and costly fungal diseases, like Fusarium head blight
on barley and blast on rice.
The new CCRU facility has double the square footage of the
original laboratory, which was built in 1948. It will provide
the ARS scientists with needed research and office space,
including an up-to-date laboratory for fulfilling the unit's
important function of evaluating malting barley.
By Erin Peabody |
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