Bergman speaking at the EARC groundbreaking ceremony.
After serving 38 years as agronomist, plant breeder, and director of the Montana State University’s Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC), Sidney, Dr. Jerry Bergman has retired from the MSU university system effective Dec. 31. Bergman has accepted a permanent position with the Williston Research Extension Center (WREC) as director of the facility, a position he has held on a part time basis for the past 18 years. Bergman began his duties with WREC on Jan. 1 and will oversee dryland and irrigated crop research and the pure seed production.
Bergman made the switch to the Williston center for a variety of reasons, with the principal reasons pertaining to budget issues and size of the respective centers. “I decided to take this step and the big factor is budgets,” Bergman remarks. “The budget for WREC is $1.6 million, while the budget for the EARC is $423,000. Unlike the EARC, which has had no funding for capital equipment and no funding for seasonal workers, Williston has money for equipment and has funding to hire seasonal help.”
He continues, “The WREC also has 160 acres of irrigated land at Nesson Valley and 800 acres of dryland at the research center. We also will lease an additional 500 acres of dryland with a high water table. The EARC in Sidney has 110 irrigated acres and 40 acres of dryland. With the larger budget and more land at the Williston center, possibilities for expanded research at the WREC are much higher.”
The WREC currently tests 22 different dryland and irrigated crops. Bergman plans to increase cropping system research, along with value added and high value crop research.
Bergman praises the North Dakota legislature with its vision for agriculture. “Statewide, North Dakota appreciates agriculture and supports Ag research,” he remarks. “North Dakota is a strong supporter of agriculture and makes a larger investment in agriculture and agricultural growth than does Montana.”
Bergman will leave his safflower research behind, but he hopes MSU continues to grow and develop what he has established in safflower breeding and development. Bergman also plans to continue the cooperative effort between the EARC and the WREC. “The three independent research programs we had at the EARC were safflower, sugarbeets and durum,” Bergman states. “We cooperated with the WREC as Williston tested durum, winter wheat, and early generation safflower for the EARC, and at the EARC we tested early generation malt barley and corn under irrigation to help develop improved irrigated malt barley and corn for the MonDak. My hope is that all the research will continue, and I will do everything I can to strengthen and continue this cooperation, not only with the EARC but also with the USDA/ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab, Sidney. I also hope we can continue to share resources to avoid duplication and to get the best use we can from staff, the facilities, and the equipment. My view is that whatever advances can be made at any of our agricultural research centers benefits and enhances the MonDak region.”
He adds, “I would have preferred to continue the formal cooperative relationship between MSU and NDSU that we had going for the past 18 years, but that is not an option.”
Bergman appreciates the support he has received from the Sidney area and from area ag businesses and interests. “I greatly appreciate my thirty eight years at the EARC and all the support I’ve received from ag producers, Richland Economic Development, and the community,” Bergman concludes. “I also appreciate the strong support from Sidney Sugars and the MonDak sugarbeet growers. They have been outstanding. It is amazing the support the EARC received from them for research. The Montana Wheat and Barley Commission also has strongly supported Ag research by providing grants, and safflower companies have also been very good to us.”
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