Dear Rosaceae Community,

Bert Abbott recently met with Debbie Sheely and Ed Kaleikau regarding a RosCAP proposal and received some very positive feedback:

"When questioned about whether this was the right time for a CAP proposal from our community, I was given the distinct impression that we were in the right place at the right time. With the farm bill emphasis on specialty crops, Ed felt that this was indeed very timely."

The deadline for the RosCAP letter of intent is closing fast (November 26th) and we need volunteers to quickly move the RosCAP forward. The RosCAP Proposal Guidance Committee has put together a list of committees and their tasks which must be accomplished ASAP. Activities include refinement of the education and extension components, schemes for marker development and marker-trait associations, as well as plans for web portal development and bioinformatics. For most of the committees we still need co-chairs in addition to volunteers willing to serve as committee members. If you previously volunteered at the Rosaceae Planning Meeting and your name is already listed, please confirm your willingness to participate. Your participation will be essential for a successful RosCAP proposal and would be greatly appreciated by all. Please contact Cameron Peace (cpeace@wsu.edu) or Chris Dardick ( chris.dardick@ars.usda.gov) if you would like to volunteer and indicate which committee(s) and whether or not you are willing to serve as a co-chair.

Thank You,

RosCAP Proposal Guidance Committee

(Cameron Peace, Chris Dardick, Bert Abbott, Gennaro Fazio, Sue Gardiner, Amy Iezzoni, Schuyler Korban, Herman Silva, Eric van de Weg)

Chris Dardick USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station Kearneysville, WV 25430 (304) 725-3451 ext. 387 chris.dardick@ars.usda.gov