| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Ron Zellar |
| April 1, 2005 | (406) 444-3144 TTY (406) 444-4687 |
BNSF Foundation Gives Grant for Sawfly Research
HELENA, Mont. — HELENA, Mont. -- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation has donated $50,000 for Montana research to manage and perhaps eradicate the wheat stem sawfly, a pest that causes $20 million to $30 million in annual losses to the state's grain producers.
The Montana Department of Agriculture and the Montana State University College of Agriculture received the check from the BNSF Foundation on behalf of BNSF Railway Company.
"Wheat stem sawfly is the most destructive pest facing Montana grain growers. This insect deprives producers of 10 million bushels of wheat each year, and we are grateful for this donation to the promising research at MSU," says Nancy K. Peterson, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture.
BNSF is the primary grain shipper in northern Montana and has a big stake in the health of Montana's grain industry. "We believe the research conducted with these funds holds great promise and BNSF is proud to support this effort in partnership with Montana grain growers," says Richard Russack, president of the BNSF Foundation.
Montana State University, through the MSU College of Agriculture and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, has worked closely with individual farmers, the Montana Grain Growers Association and the Montana Wheat & Barley Committee to combat wheat stem sawfly on several fronts, says Jeff Jacobsen, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station.
Numerous costly applications of insecticides are ineffective to control sawflies. Larvae feed inside plant stems, weakening the stems until they break or bend over in the wind and fall to the ground, becoming unharvestable.
MSU has developed solid stem wheat varieties and alternative management practices to help combat the pest. Other research that holds promise includes:
- Use of pheromones to disrupt the mating cycle of wheat stem sawfly;
- Use of parasitoids and fungal pathogens to suppress population levels and the destructiveness of the pest; and
- Molecular research on compounds produced in some wheat and oat species that inhibit sawfly feeding. Through additional research, these compounds might be transferred or enhanced through wheat breeding, according to Jacobsen.
Montana State University has conducted research in these areas through funding from state and federal sources, competitive grants and grower support.
This is the second grant this year from the BNSF
Foundation to programs at MSU. The Foundation announced
March 8 that it had donated $142,000 to help the
university complete a $1 million match required
by the 2003 Montana Legislature to receive state
funding for renovations and construction at five
of the station's agricultural research centers.
