(Photo: Dean Hare/WSU Photo Services)
It is board meeting season.
Last week, the Washington State Beef Commission met on the Pullman campus for its board meeting. It was great to see the commission members and hear about their needs. This week, members of the WSU leadership team will spend time at a regional berry meeting, at the Tri-State Grain Growers Convention, and with the Tree Fruit Endowment Advisory Committee. The WSU government relations team will meet with a cross-section of our agriculture partners in Snoqualmie next week. Of course, the big meeting of the season is the NW Hort Expo in Yakima in early December. This year it does not conflict with the Department of Natural Resources meeting, so I am able to participate in both.
Thanks to all who provided feedback on the road show. This year we maintained the eight locations, recognizing that attendance would be quite small at a few stops. We adjusted the time of the meetings, based on feedback from last year. And at each of the eight locations, we varied the approach to the meetings based on who had registered, making it difficult to have a set agenda. This year’s feedback will be useful to the team as it determines what adjustments to make, if any, for next year.
CAHNRS has established an advisory committee in the search for a new dean, with Dori Borjesson serving as chair. WittKieffer is leading the search and will hold engagement sessions with faculty, staff, and students next month. I encourage you to visit the search page for more information as it becomes available.
The new USDA-Agricultural Research Service Plant Sciences (ARS) Building is looking good! Its size definitely makes a statement, and progress is evident each week. The best news is that it remains on schedule and on budget for occupancy in the first half of 2026. I am relieved that the functional essentials are within the budgeted effort. Over 20 years of planning with ARS and industry partners is becoming a reality before our eyes.
If you haven’t been out to the Knott Dairy Center, those improvements are also coming along. The new heifer facility is quite visible from the road and will make a huge difference in animal comfort and operational efficiency once it is occupied in early 2025. If the weather will cooperate a bit longer, the concrete work can be completed. I can’t wait to see the facility improvements underway at other locations (Lind, Prosser, and Puyallup).
It was a tough weekend for the football team, with no break for the next couple of weeks. Fortunately, the team maintains an impressive rank and, overall, things look quite different from a year ago.
I will be looking at the ocean next weekend and getting ready for some family time. Wishing everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving.