TETONIA CENTER GETS MORE HELP FROM UNIVERSITY

TETONIA, Idaho-Having been saved from closure a few years ago by donations from Idaho commodity groups, the Tetonia Research and Extension Center is again fully funded by the University of Idaho. Effective at the beginning of July, the start of the new fiscal year, UI resumed responsibility for a $90,000 annual shortfall the commodity groups had been covering, said Phil Nolte, superintendent of the station. UI leaders updated the public on the status of the crucial experiment station-which provides data on short-season performance of barley and potato varieties under development-during the first-ever field day hosted at the facility on July 25. Nolte is convinced of UI's commitment to the facility based on recent substantial investments in its infrastructure. "It was probably about five years ago we went through some very tight times at the university, and there was concern about whether there was going to be enough money to continue to run the experiment stations," Nolte said. "We did close the Sand Point location. They toyed with the idea of closing both Parma and Tetonia."