By Mindy Bridges and Melanie Condon
St. Louis, the Gateway to the West, provided a top-notch setting for NCSL’s Agriculture Task Force’s meeting June 11-13.
Participants learned about research, innovation and commercial barging—all part of the nation’s agriculture industry.
Among the highlights was a visit to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, which encourages researchers to take discoveries to market with its “innovative ecosystem.” According to Sam Fiorello, chief operating officer of the Danforth Center, St. Louis is located in the No. 1 region for plant science research with more than 750 Ph.Ds in the region and several key players in the agriculture industry. It is the “right place for ag, we get ag,” said Fiorello.
The Danforth Center is the world’s largest independent nonprofit plant research institute and features research on renewable fuels and internal crop improvement.
The Danforth Center houses one of a very few custom phenotype imaging machines in the world, and legislators and legislative staff were able to see it in action as they toured the site. The machine is almost constantly running and takes both external and internal images of plants under various conditions so scientists can get a complete picture of how plants react to certain climate or water conditions.
The machine allows 1,140 small- to medium-sized plants to be imaged and analyzed at multiple times over the desired growth period. The phenotype facility is so popular among plant scientists it is already overbooked for 2015 and 2016.
Innovation in plant science research merges with the Bio Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park located practically across the street from the Danforth Center.
Attendees tour the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center’s greenhouses.
BRDG Park brings together international companies such as KWS—a German plant breeding company—to startups such as NewLeaf Symbiotics. Conveniently housed in the same building, the St. Louis Community College’s Biotech Training Program teaches classes and provides interns for these companies, while simultaneously allowing the companies to use their state-of-the-art equipment.
Together these organizations form a hub for research and economic growth for the region. Meeting participants also visited the world headquarters of Monsanto and learned about the company’s agricultural biotechnology work.
After all that innovative plant science, the Task Force needed some fresh air!
On Saturday, legislators and sponsors were hosted by ADM’s ARTCO Barge Facility on a trip down the Mississippi River.
Colonel Anthony Mitchell, commander of the St. Louis District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, joined the group and shared insight on the role of the Army Corps in supporting “reliable and sustainable navigation” for the nation’s inland waterways.
Commercial barging plays an important role for several industries, including agriculture, along the 300 miles of the Mississippi. Legislators were able to see firsthand how the grain products they use on some of their farms or in their districts are shipped to different regions of the country.
Senator Rita Hart, co-chair of the task force, speaks with crew members on the ARTCO barge.
The Agriculture Task Force will meet next on Aug. 2-3 in Seattle before NCSL’s Legislative Summit Aug. 3-6. For more information about the task force, contact Ben Husch or Mindy Bridges.
Melanie Condon is policy specialist for the Natural Resources and Infrastructure Committee in the Washington, D.C., office. Mindy Bridges is a policy associate in NCSL's Energy, Environment and Transportation program.
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