On May 15, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act establishing the Department of Agriculture. Five days later, he signed the Homestead Act, which opened up western lands to settlement, including much of today’s wheat production region. Later that summer, Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, establishing the system of “land grant” universities that are still vital to wheat and other agricultural research.
 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced recently the appointment of nine members to the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC), a council originally established statutorily by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.A. 5843).

The NGRAC has been re-established to formulate recommendations on actions and policies for the collection, maintenance, and utilization of genetic resources; to make recommendations for coordination of genetic resources plans of several domestic and international organizations; and to advise the Secretary of Agriculture and the National Genetic Resources Program (NGRP) Director of new and innovative approaches to genetic resources conservation.