Agricultural research has been extremely beneficial to the United States. The United States has always been a worldwide leader in agricultural production and technology. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its research laboratories like the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) are strong contributors to this standing. Since its debut in 1940, the NCAUR in Peoria has touched many lives with its ingenious innovations and has made countless gifts to science and business.

The NCAUR, more commonly known to Peorians as the "Ag. Lab," was first authorized by Congress as part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. It was one of four regional laboratories created to seek alternative usage of surplus crops. In the 1930s many farmers were left with crop surpluses because demand was low while newer mechanization increased agricultural production. Congress authorized the laboratories to end this lingering farm depression. USDA scientists surveyed promising projects and favorable locations for the four labs. Later, the USDA selected Philadelphia for the eastern lab, New Orleans for the southern lab, San Francisco for the western lab, and Peoria for the northern lab. The Northern Regional Research Center, renamed the NCAUR by Congress in 1990, conducted research on corn, wheat, and agricultural waste. Built in 1940 with the same U-shaped, four-story design as the other three laboratories, NCAUR was located at 1815 North University Street on land bought for Bradley University. Since 1940, NCAUR has become the largest of the four regional laboratories and has accomplished more than its original mission of offering assistance to American farmers. With more than three hundred employees on the job every day, NCAUR has developed everything from newsprint to shampoo. Every one of these products has revolutionized their respective industries. In short NCAUR has not only influenced American farmers but all of society and has satisfied America's demanding standards of scientific expertise.

One of NCAUR's most renowned discoveries is the commercial production process of penicillin. In 1928 British scientist Alexander Fleming discovered a mold, identified later as penicillium notatum, with great bacteria-killing abilities. Scientists

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soon realized that this wonder mold would be a promising antibiotic if it could be produced in quantity. In 1941 British scientists Howard Florey and Norman Heatley joined other researchers at the Peoria facility. Scientists of NCAUR quickly started investigating the mold penicillium. Andrew Moyer, an expert on molds, soon increased the yields of penicillin tenfold with non-alcoholic corn steep liquor. Still not satisfied, Moyer added milk sugar to penicillium and grew the mold in deep vats. Production doubled again. Although results were assuring, another breakthrough was needed. Not to be outdone, Mary Hunt discovered a superior strain of penicillium in a garbage can at a local fruit market. She found a beautiful moldy cantaloupe containing the superior strain of penicillium later named penicillium chrysogenum. By the end of its research, the NCAUR team had increased production of the mold by one hundred times. Called the cheapest antibiotic ever, penicillin was soon available to treat soldiers wounded in World War II battles. No longer did people die from common infections like bacterial pneumonia.

The process of growing penicillin developed by Moyer is now being used for growing many other antibiotics commercially. Moyer was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame joining other distinguished inventors, including the Wright Brothers and Thomas Edison. The NCAUR research team received a plaque from the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy for their hard work. NCAUR's miracle drug has saved numerous lives and has since been discovering other pharmaceutical uses for agricultural products.

The amazing Super Slurper is one of the most marketable products developed by NCAUR. Formally called "H-SPAN" for its chemical makeup, Super Slurper was inspired by the oil shortage in the 1970s. Scientists were searching for uses of farm commodities that would replace petroleum. Four NCAUR chemists headed by George F. Fanta combined synthetic compounds with corn starch to create Super Slurper. Able to absorb two to five thousand times its weight in water and approximately six hundred times its weight in urine or

Caterpillar, a Peoria-based heavy machinery manufacturer, cooperated with the USDA's Peoria laboratory to develop more efficient tractors and earth-moving equipment.

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blood, Super Slurper was quite a success. It procured the 1976 Inventor of the Year Award for the NCAUR's research team. Now Super Slurper is used as a seed coating that accelerates germination by a remarkable thirty percent; it is also used to coat roots of plants in dry areas to improve its water-holding ability. Furthermore, Super Slurper is used in oil filters to remove water from fuels. Companies have also used Super Slurper in baby powders and wound dressings. In addition, Super Slurper compounds are also found in sanitary napkins and disposable diapers. Recently Super Slurper has seen even more use. A USDA entomologist found that Super Slurper added to soil in citrus groves is able to help keep nematodes alive during dry periods. Nematodes—tiny worms—kill harmful weevils that feast on citrus tree roots. Other practical applications include use as an electrical conductor in batteries and in ice packs. This NCAUR discovery has now turned into an annual $1 billion industry that promises to surpass $3 billion a year. Super Slurper is also totally biodegradable and cheap to produce, which only enhances its benefits. Arguably the most industrially successful product in USDA history, Super Slurper is yet another revolutionary invention.

The NCAUR and other USDA laboratories have been a blessing to the United States. One of NCAUR's main goals was to increase demand for farm commodities. NCAUR's developments like the Super Slurper have produced job opportunities and new markets for American farmers, consequently increasing farm income. For example, another NCAUR development is soy oil inks. Industrial demand for soy oil is currently 300 million pounds. The patented soy oil inks used for the printing of newspapers, magazines, and books will alone increase demand by 500 million pounds. Further, the NCAUR participated in twenty-eight Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA). One of these partnerships is with Caterpillar Inc., another Peoria-based company. CRADA plans to develop environmentally sound lubricants from renewable vegetable oils that can be used for the heavy machinery Caterpillar develops. This agreement with Caterpillar demonstrates "the movement of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace." NCAUR plans to continue developing technologies that will benefit the American public.

NCAUR in Peoria has been constantly rewriting the history books of science and business with its developments. Whether Americans are filling their cars with gas at a gas station or enjoying fries at a restaurant, NCAUR products are used. Sixty years of agricultural research at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria has been very beneficial to the United States as well as the world.—[From Tom Edwards, Peoria Journal Star, Feb. 15, 1974; Hubert Kelley, Always Something New; Mark Lambert, Peoria Journal Star, Sept. 6, 1980; National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria Journal Star, Jun. 17, 1943; Peoria Journal Star Feb. 8, 1977; United States Department of Agriculture, Science in Your Shopping Cart.]

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