Washington State University (WSU) and the Washington Grain Commission funded a new $15 million Washington Grains Plant Growth Facility on the WSU Pullman campus.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m., WSU will host a dedication ceremony and will include graduate student-led tours of the facility.
Besides wheat, the greenhouses will be used for research on new varieties of barley. According to the Washington Grain Commission, small grains such as wheat and barley directly contribute over $1.1 billion annually and more than 3,700 jobs to Washington’s economy.
“This is a state-of-the-art facility that will provide major benefits to our wheat and barley breeders, and from them to the entire state,” says Kimberlee Kidwell, acting dean of the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences.
The new building, which is attached to the Plant Growth Facility on Wilson Road in Pullman, adds 7,200 square feet of greenhouse space in 12 bays. It adds a seed storage area, a specialized room for herbicide studies and new lab space for breeders and other faculty, students and staff, among other benefits.
