ATHENS, Ga. -- One voice has been conspicuously quiet as local officials and farm advocates have called on Congress to restore funding for a Watkinsville agricultural research station slated to close next year under President Bush's budget proposal.

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, took a firm stand this year against district-specific budget requests, so he can't angle for money just for the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center, even though it's in his district and he supports its work, according to his office.

"It's no secret Broun has made a public statement that he's opposing earmark spending this year, so he stands by that conviction," spokeswoman Jessica Morris said Thursday. "There are other methods of making certain that agriculture stations continue to do that much-needed research, other than through this earmarking process."

But by renouncing earmarks -- a move he said is aimed at reforming a corrupt legislative practice -- and leaving the center's fate up to the federal budget process, Mr. Broun has frustrated the center's supporters and left an opening for his opponent in this year's Republican primary.

State Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, a Broun challenger for the 10th District seat, toured the center as part of a series of visits to all the district's counties before qualifying next week.

It's Mr. Fleming's second move to support the 71-year-old Campbell center, where 30 scientists and technicians research the effects of farming on the region's soil, water and air.

State representatives early this month passed a Fleming-sponsored resolution urging Georgia's senators and congressmen to restore its funding.

A member of his campaign this week said federal agriculture research stations now face the same budget decisions that led the government to close some military bases in recent years.

"We basically look at this as BRAC for agricultural research centers," Fleming spokesman J.D. Easley said, referring to a federal program to phase out bases.

"The role of our congressman should not be to idly sit by and let it happen," Mr. Easley said. "The congressman needs to be out there lobbying for the Campbell center, doing everything possible to save it and saying ... 'Yes, you need to cut the budget -- yes, we need to save money, but this is not one that needs to be shut down.' "

The 1,180-acre Campbell station is one of 11 U.S. Department of Agriculture research facilities around the country facing closure next year. Bush has asked the USDA's Agricultural Research Service to slash its budget by $84 million.

Mr. Broun, a freshman in Congress, isn't doing nothing, Ms. Morris said.

Though he can't push for funding just for the center, because of his anti-earmark pledge, he's working with leaders in the House and Senate committees on agriculture and appropriations to revive funding for all 11 centers, she said.

Mr. Broun is a former farmer and isn't removed from the Campbell center's problems, Ms. Morris said.

In fact, its closure would affect his family -- Mr. Broun's son-in-law works there as a biological science technician, she said.

"As one who has farmed, I understand that agriculture is the backbone of our nation," Mr. Broun said in a statement Thursday. "We must make certain that agriculture remains strong in America."

Budget makers in both houses of Congress will be working for months to settle on federal spending for next year. Though fiscal year 2009 begins Oct. 1, legislators rarely agree on an appropriations bill by that time.