PENDLETON – Some wheat growers in Northeast Oregon have shown interest in growing club wheat, so the Oregon Wheat Commission Tuesday agreed to jump-start a research program.

Commissioners approved spending $6,000 immediately toward a $12,280 research project proposed by scientist Steve Petrie. Petrie, Oregon State University soil scientist and superintendent of the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, was among 13 who pitched research programs to commissioners Tuesday morning.

Club wheat is a softer subset of soft white wheat. It generally is blended with other soft white wheats for export to Asia, Petrie said. It is used in cakes, pastries, crackers and flatbreads.

Petrie’s project, to study enhanced club wheat breeding for Northeast Oregon, was the only one receiving funding Tuesday out of requests for $634,000. This fiscal year the commission funded $527,488 in research projects, up 40 percent from 2008-2009.

Commissioner Tom Winn of Helix recommended funding Petrie’s project early. He said a number of Umatilla County growers had asked him to push for more club wheat research.

“It will result in more lines of club wheat being available,” Winn said.

Funding nearly half of Petrie’s proposal will allow the research to begin before July 1.

Commissioners will consider the rest of the funding requests at their April meeting in Portland. Those approved will be able to start their research at the beginning of the next fiscal year.

The commission also agreed to help provide interim funding for the federal Agricultural Research Service’s Western Regional Small Grains Genotyping Laboratory in Pullman, Wash. The staff asked for $49,000 for the salary and benefits for a full-time technician. The cost will be shared among Oregon, Idaho and Washington, with Oregon’s share to be determined.

In other business Tuesday, commissioners:

n Approved draft administrative rule changes, but eliminated a proposed rule that would have expanded the commission from six to eight by adding two wheat handler members.

Winn said the Washington state commission has had difficulty attracting handler members and he didn’t like the idea anyway.

“This is a grower organization,” he said. “They don’t pay the assessment. I think it’s ridiculous.”

n Learned about the certificate of deposit account registry service from Gary Propheter, executive vice president and chief operations officer of the Bank of Eastern Oregon. It then authorized Administrator Tana Simpson to use the CDARS program for investing some of its funds, but not necessarily with BEO.

n Renewed its lease with Bill Naito Co. for office space in Portland. The five-year agreement begins at $1,989 per month, or $1.60 per square foot, and escalates to $2,111 per month, or $1.70 per square foot in the fifth year, an annual increase of 1 1/2 percent. The commission’s office is in the same building as the Oregon Wheat Marketing Center and the West Coast U.S. Wheat Associates office at 1200 N.W. Naito Parkway.

n Agreed to contribute $2,500, one fourth of the $10,000 cost for visiting scholar Veronica Jimenez of Mexico to train at the Wheat Marketing Center for six months beginning in February.