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Community-based voter registration organizations -- whether they are partisan or non-partisan, secular or religious, paid or volunteer -- serve as critical intermediaries between states and citizens who are currently alienated from the political process. While there are other mechanisms for reaching the tens of millions of eligible Americans who are still not registered to vote -- including the National Voter Registration Act's "motor voter" and public assistance agency programs -- there is still no substitute for the simple, affirmative act of sending voter registration canvassers into America's neighborhoods to help community members complete voter regsitration applications.Such voter registration drives, of course, have long been a feature of American politics, and have helped countless Americans become registered voters. But the 2008 election cycle marked a recent high water mark, as a surge of interest in voting and an historically unprecedented presidential race saw many community-based drives achieving record numbers of applications. This tremendous success, however, elicited an organized backlash that came in two parts. The first part consisted of exaggerated or inaccurate allegations of voter registration fraud, many of which were uncritically reported by the media despite an astonishing absence of factual basis. The second, perhaps more damaging form of backlash came in the introduction of a series of state bills, many of which have passed into law, that were designed to significantly restrict voter registration drives in a number of states. These new laws are the focus of this report , which examines restrictions on voter registration drives, gives examples from several states, and concludes with some reasonable policy recommendations.

'SB255' (Reg. no. CV-373, PI 693987) is a six-rowed hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar with winter growth habit. The cultivar was released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in May 2019. SB255 is widely adapted, high yielding, high grain volume weight, and medium tall. It has good winterhardiness and good straw strength. The spikes of SB255 are strap and slightly waxy with no overlapping lateral kernels and with long awns. Prior to being named, SB255 was tested under the experimental designation VA11B-141 (LA). It was derived from the cross Spont03-44/VA01B-44 and developed using a modified-bulk breeding method. It was evaluated from 2013 to 2019 in the Virginia Official Variety Trials at five to six locations. SB255's average grain yield (5,214 kg ha(-1)) was similar to the check cultivars 'Secretariat' and 'Thoroughbred' but significantly (P <= .05) higher than 'Atlantic', 'Price', 'Callao', 'Nomini', and 'Wysor'. Average grain volume weight of SB255 (60.8 kg hL(-1)) was similar to Secretariat and Price but exceeded (P <= 0.05) those of Thoroughbred, Atlantic, Callao, Nomini, and Wysor. Head emergence of SB255 was similar to Thoroughbred and 2-5 d later than winter feed barley cultivars Secretariat, Atlantic, Price, Callao, and Nomini. SB255 was developed primarily as a feed barley cultivar. It provides barley producers and end users in the eastern United States with a high-grain-yielding cultivar having good to moderate resistance to all diseases prevalent in the eastern United States, including Fusarium head blight (FHB), and also lower deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation in the grain. ; Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station; Virginia Small Grains Board; Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board; Kentucky Small Grains Growers Association; U.S. Department of Agriculture through U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative [59-0206-9-084]; ARSUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA)USDA Agricultural Research Service [58-6645-0-0-108]; Hatch Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) [59-0790-4-102]; NIFA Triticeae Coordinated Agricultural Project [201168002-30029] ; Published version ; SB255 was developed with financial support from the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, the Virginia Small Grains Board, the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, and the Kentucky Small Grains Growers Association. This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative, Agreement No. 59-0206-9-084; ARS Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58-6645-0-0-108; Hatch Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Agreement No. 59-0790-4-102; and the NIFA Triticeae Coordinated Agricultural Project, Agreement No. 201168002-30029. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or rec-ommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ARS is an equal opportunity provider and employer. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

'Vision 50' (Reg. No. CV-1152, PI 679953), a hard red winter (HRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar, was derived from the cross 'Jagalene'/'Provinciale' using a modified bulk breeding method. Vision 50 was tested as VA09HRW-64 in replicated yield trials in Virginia (2011-2017) and in the USDAARS Uniform Bread Wheat Trials (2012-2017) and released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in 2016. Vision 50 is a widely adapted, high-yielding, awned, semidwarf (unknown Rht gene) HRW wheat having mid-to late-season spike emergence, strong straw strength, and resistance or moderate resistance to diseases prevalent in the mid-Atlantic region. In the Virginia Bread Wheat Elite Test from 2014 to 2017, Vision 50 produced a mean yield of 5067 kg ha(-1) that was similar to the highest-yielding (5757 kg ha(-1)) cultivar Shirley, a soft red winter wheat check. Vision 50 has acceptable end-use quality on the basis of comparisons with the HRW wheat check cultivar Jagger for wheat protein (11.3 vs. 12.2 g 100 g(-1)), flour yield (72.7 vs. 66.4 g 100 g(-1)), flour water absorption (59.5 vs. 62.3 g 100 g(-1)), dough mixing tolerance (2.7 vs. 3.0), pup-loaf volume (815 vs. 822 cm(3)), and crumb grain scores (4.2 vs. 3.8). ; Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station; Virginia Small Grains Board; Virginia Agricultural Council; Virginia Crop Improvement Association; Mennel Milling Company; Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (Blacksburg); USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC) ; Vision 50 was developed with financial support from the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, the Virginia Small Grains Board, the Virginia Agricultural Council, the Virginia Crop Improvement Association, and the Mennel Milling Company. This work is/was supported by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (Blacksburg) and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC). ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

Public and governmental concerns about the health, safety, and environmental impacts of pesticides have led to increased regulatory requirements to determine the hazards and risks associated with their manufacture, distribution, and use. Vertebrate pesticides are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended. Much of the data required for registration of these pesticides will be generated by commercial testing laboratories under contract to the product registrants or sponsors. In this paper, we address aspects of the contract research process including: 1) an overview of FIFRA requirements, 2) the nature of the contract research process, 3) guidelines for setting up and administering a contract for this type of work, and 4) several case studies to illustrate some of the "pitfalls" that may be encountered. The information presented is based on the collective experience of the authors' involvement with 49 contracted studies over a three-year period.

'LCS Compass' (Reg. No. CV-1149, PI 675458), a hard red winter (HRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), was developed and tested as VA10HRW-13 and co-released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and Limagrain Cereal Seeds, LLC, in 2015. LCS Compass was derived from the cross 'Vision 20' /'Stanof' using a modified bulk breeding method. LCS Compass is a widely adapted, high-yielding, awned, semidwarf (Rht1) HRW wheat with early to medium maturity and resistance or moderate resistance to diseases prevalent in the mid-Atlantic and Great Plains regions of the United States. In the 2013 Uniform Bread Wheat Trial conducted over 18 locations in eastern states, LCS Compass produced an average grain yield of 4609 kg ha(-1) that was similar to 'Vision 30' (4697 kg ha(-1)). In the northern Great Plains, the average grain yield of LCS Compass (4015 kg ha(-1)) over 44 locations in 2013 was similar to 'Jerry' (4013 kg ha(-1)). In the South Dakota crop zone 3 variety test, LCS Compass had a 3-yr (2015-2017) yield average of 5575 kg ha(-1) and was one of highest-yielding cultivars among the 19 cultivars tested over the 3-yr period. LCS Compass has good end-use quality in both the eastern and Great Plains regions of the United States. ; Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station; Virginia Small Grains Board; Virginia Agricultural Council; Virginia Crop Improvement Association; Mennel Milling Company; USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension ServiceUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA)National Institute of Food and Agriculture; Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (Blacks-burg); USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC) ; LCS Compass was developed with financial support from the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, the Virginia Small Grains Board, the Virginia Agricultural Council, the Virginia Crop Improvement Association, the Mennel Milling Company, and the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. This work was supported by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (Blacks-burg) and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC). ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee