Mission:
The St. Paul, MN, Location comprises three Units: Cereal Disease Lab. (CDL), Plant Science Research (PSR), & Soil & Water Management Research (SWMR). The research mission of the CDL is to improve rust resistance in wheat & oat, monitor virulence in populations of cereal rusts throughout the U.S.A., & develop basic knowledge of the epidemiology, genetics, physiology, & molecular biology of cereal-rust interactions that will lead to control of these diseases. The mission of the PSR is to develop new knowledge that expands our understanding of the fundamental processes controlling increased production, improved quality, and enhanced use of alfalfa, oat, soybean, and wheat and to utilize this knowledge to develop germplasm and crop management schemes that lead to increased farm profitability and sustainability of the nation's resource base. The mission of the SWMR is to understand fundamental soil properties & processes affected by conservation tillage & develop process-oriented models of these properties & processes applicable to a broad spectrum of agricultural problems including groundwater quality. These understandings & models are applicable whenever soil is managed by tillage to prevent groundwater contamination.