Bill for Sugarcane Research Lab winds its way through Senate

The ARS Sugarcane Research Laboratory in Houma could receive additional federal funding next year to replace its facility.

U.S. Sen. David Vitter secured $2 million in the Agriculture Appropriations Bill toward continuing construction of a new laboratory and research farm on Bull Run Road in Schriever. The bill passed the U.S. Senate last Tuesday by a vote of 80-17.

The House of Representatives approved its version of the legislation last month. A House-Senate conference committee will have to reconcile differences in the two bills in September before it goes to the president to be signed.

“This federal funding will help ensure that Louisiana remains a leader in the sugarcane industry for years to come,” Vitter said in a statement. “Sugarcane is a key component of our state’s economy, and the research conducted at this lab will help encourage further expansion in this key industry.”

Since 2004, Congress has approved funds dedicated to a “phased construction” of the new facility.

Construction of Phase 1 began in December and the design of the remaining phases is complete.

The first two buildings at the new site – a crossing greenhouse, where new sugarcane varieties are developed, and a photoperiod house, where various light regimes are used to make the sugarcane flower – are scheduled to open in late November or early December.

According to Dr. Edward Richard, lead researcher and location coordinator at the lab, it will take three or four phases to complete the new facility if funding continues at its current pace.

“Our biggest problem is if we build in phases like this, then inflation goes up and it’s going to take longer and longer to build the facility,” he said. “Every year we’re hopeful Congress would appropriate the whole amount, but we have not been successful in doing that. The original price tag in 2004 was around $20 million. It’s gone up to $30 million now.”

Richard said the Agricultural Research Service has spent about $6 million so far on the new facility.

Another reason for the delays, Richard said, is that for years the president has not signed the congressional budget, which is supposed to take effect on Oct. 1, until the following calendar year. This prevents ARS from putting projects out for bids and awarding contracts.

The funding Vitter secured will be used next year to build what Richard called a headhouse, the labs where plant samples are prepared for DNA extractions and other experiments that need a more sterile environment.

When completed, the new facility will replace the current one that was built in the 1930s just off Louisiana Highway 311.

“The facility here was not big enough to meet the needs of the research that is being required,” Richard explained. “We have new technologies, our staff is expanding, and the emphasis on sugarcane research is expanding.”

Phase 1 of the new ARS Sugarcane Research Lab in Schriever (above) will be finished by the end of the year. A greenhouse and photoperiod house will be the first buildings on the site. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF