It looks like the new research center for the dairy industry is one step closer to reality.

The Times News in Twin Falls is reporting that the Idaho Center for Livestock and Environmental Studies would likely be located near Twin Falls and the College of Southern Idaho.

If you remember the research center was one of the things Gov. Butch Otter used as an example of how he was committed to research after he took so much heat for not supporting the $50 million package of incentives and funding the now defunct tech council proposed to help grow Idaho’s tech industry in 2005.

Otter was able to get a commitment from the state to put in $10 million toward the $37 million center.

The dairy industry has pledged another $5 million toward the center and last month the chemical company Monsanto pitched in $1 million. The University of Idaho is expected to pick up the remainder of the money needed for construction.

I was skeptical of the center when it was first announced. Some state leaders tried to sell it as an example of how the state was committed to technology.

Because it looks like there’s not stopping this center, I thought it might be a good time to again open up that ag versus tech debate.

After I’ve had a chance to think more about this center and take a step back and try to set aside my biases about Idaho focusing too much on agriculture. I’ve come to the conclusion that this center could really help improve Idaho’s stature as a center for research, which may help boost our chances at attracting more research in differing areas.

The dairy industry says that once it’s completed it would be the nation’s largest dairy research operation.

Like it or not the dairy industry is one of Idaho’s fastest growing industries, but it’s not without problems. Environmental impacts on everything from water to air quality can be traced to dairies. But a goal of this center would be research solutions to some of the more pressing problems.

Gov. Otter also plans to move other research now being done in the state to the center such as work done at the Fish and Game Department and veterinary research. I think that’s a good idea to broaden the research focus of the center.

It will be interesting to see what type of research comes out of the center, but I do hope that they aren’t forgetting to come up with a plan about how to commercialize some of the research and take advantage of the economic development benefits that come from getting research out of a lab and into the marketplace.