Dr. Senay Simsek, Bert L. D’Appolonia Cereal Science and Technology of Wheat Endowed Professor, will be leaving North Dakota State University (NDSU) at the end of June to take a position at Purdue University as the head of the Food Science Department. Even though she may be leaving NDSU, the work that she has done will leave a lasting impact.
Dr. Simsek began her career at NDSU in 2007 after obtaining her Ph.D. from Purdue. While she was fairly new to world of wheat, her background in cereal and food chemistry prepared her well for the role.
A significant portion of Dr. Simsek’s position has been to manage the wheat quality lab at NDSU. The lab analyzes thousands of spring wheat lines each year, including breeder material and samples for the regional crop quality report that is used by thousands of customers each year. Simsek also took on numerous graduate students in her 14 years at NDSU, training the next generation of cereal science professionals. She completed extensive amounts of research, mostly related to wheat quality and performance, many of the ideas which came about after discussions with domestic and international customers and her desire to help solve issues or answer questions customers had about various topics.
During one of her many consulting activities promoting U.S. spring wheat, Dr. Senay Simsek paused with Ellison Dean Lee, Managing Director, Universal Robina Co. Flour, Philippines, to point out the American Quality Wheat seal on packages of URC’s Baker John brand pan bread.
Clear Competence
Joe Sowers, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Regional Vice President based in the Philippines recalls the first time he met Dr. Simsek in Fargo with a high-level delegation of Filipino millers.
“Through Senay’s affable charisma and clear competence in discussing wheat quality, she and the millers became fast friends. At the end of the meeting the Director of the Philippine Flour Millers Association told me that training from Dr. Simsek was what his industry needed,” Sowers said.
The next year Dr. Simsek provided her first training to the Philippine millers and returned ten times after that, fostering strong relationships with millers in the Philippines and helping to maintain the country as the top HRS market. Dr. Simsek provided training in many other countries and presented on USW sponsored crop quality tours in all the major regions – reaching thousands of customers during her career at NDSU.
“Every visit Senay made to various customers around the world paid off for U.S. wheat farmers,” Sowers added. “Her ability to illustrate the superior quality profiles offered by U.S. HRS was integral in proving its value to the milling and baking industries, reinforcing their preference for U.S. HRS.”
Passion for Wheat Quality
Presenting quality data, conducting training, and completing research on behalf of customers became a top priority for Simsek and one that benefited producers tremendously. Greg Svenningsen, NDWC Chairman says, “when you saw her interacting with a trade team, you could easily see her passion for wheat quality and that her expertise was well received by customers. As a producer, I didn’t always understand the topic or the in-depth technicalities of some of the discussion, but what was evident was that she was providing much needed information to the industry and to our customers. In return, they could better understand our wheat and be maintained as customers.”
Dr. Senay Simsek enjoys a light moment with USW Regional Vice President Matt Weimar (L) and USW Baking Consultant Roy Chung (R) during one of the many events in which she participated with USW.
Sowers and others in the industry that traveled with Dr. Simsek over the years noted that her energy, friendliness, and willingness to build relationships with customers melded with her extensive scientific background to make her a sought-after resource for customers. While Dr. Simsek will be missed by colleagues at NDSU and North Dakota producers, we hope to see her involved with U.S. wheat promotion in some format.
Dr. Senay Simsek and USW Regional Vice President Joe Sowers (L) with a flour milling team in the Philippines.
https://www.uswheat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Senay-Simsek-Farewell-Header.jpg5701104actualizehttps://www.uswheat.org/wp-content/uploads/USW-Logo-Full-Color.pngactualize2021-06-22 13:12:122022-03-29 16:13:01Thank You Dr. Senay Simsek – Hard Red Spring Wheat Advocate
Originally published by University Communication, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Reprinted with permission.
Throughout 2021, the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Wheat Letter is featuring the many stories of the people, processes and passions that go into producing and delivering high-quality U.S. wheat to the world. Our focus will be on quality that starts with dedicated private and public wheat breeding programs, is fostered by hard-working farm families, is maintained by grain handlers and observed in hundreds of wholesome, nutritious wheat foods.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s P. Stephen Baenziger has advised that if you cannot be good, at least be lucky. He considers himself one of the luckiest people who has ever lived. The university knows him as a world leader in wheat breeding — a modest one.
Baenziger, the small grains breeder in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, will retire May 3 after 35 years of service to the university.
Long, Productive Career
The Wheat Growers Presidential Chair and a Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Faculty Fellow started at the university in 1986. He began his career at the USDA-ARS in 1976 after he received his doctorate in 1975 at the age of 24. After working there for almost eight years, he joined Monsanto where he worked for almost three years and was first introduced to hybrid wheat before coming to Nebraska.
Baenziger’s program at Nebraska had three goals — to keep the Nebraska small grains producer profitable through enhanced productivity (hence the cultivar releases), create new breeding methods to enhance the science of plant breeding and educate the next generation of scientist plant breeders.
Dozens of Cultivars
During his tenure, he has released, co-released or is in the process of releasing 44 winter wheat, seven winter barley and 13 winter triticale cultivars. The wheat and barley cultivars are grown mainly in Nebraska and adjacent states, while the triticale cultivars are grown nationally (from New York to New Mexico). One wheat and one triticale cultivar have been licensed for sale in Turkey, the original homeland for the hard winter wheats of the Great Plains.
Giving back and looking for opportunities have always been part of the Nebraska small grains program. His cultivars have been grown on as much as 80% of Nebraska’s wheat acreage and are probably grown on about 50% of the wheat acreage today.
When it comes to science, Baenziger was an early proponent of doubled haploids to speed up breeding and now heavily uses genomic selection and molecular markers to link breeding generations and environments. He and his team also lead the largest public collaboration on hybrid wheat in the United States. In the future, high-throughput phenotyping and the needed information technology will be added to drive the small grains improvement program. In addition to his 64 cultivars, he has published 294 peer-reviewed publications, 32 proceedings and symposia papers, and 16 book chapters.
“While it is critical to release cultivars, a scientist should never lose sight of also leaving the plans (publications) of how the work was done for the next generation,” he said.
A Legacy of Pride
Baenziger is proud of the cultivars and the impact on Nebraska agriculture, but he said his legacy will be the students he helped educate and the collaborations he fostered during his career. “Programs are never bricks and mortar, but rather are always people,” he said.
He taught graduate students introductory plant breeding every year, has been the major adviser to over 60 master’s and doctoral students, and served on the supervisory committees of many others. He has also been able to work with technologists who are the “boots-on-the-ground” ambassadors for the program as well as numerous postdocs and visiting scientists.
UNL Small Grains Wheat Breeder Dr. P. Stephen Baenziger will retire May 3 after 35 years of service to the university. Photo by Lana Koepke Johnson, UNL Department Agronomy and Horticulture.
As for his collaborations, there have been many. Every cultivar he released was improved by the Foundation Seed Division and by seed growers/dealers of the Nebraska Crop Improvement Association. His friends in the milling and baking industry helped identify lines that the market wanted to buy.
“A land grant university is the people’s university and that means being very inclusive,” Baenziger said.
The program has germplasm exchange agreements with every major plant breeding company and universities globally, was involved in a major sharing of germplasm with Bayer Crop Science when they entered the wheat market and has collaborations with the great international centers of CIMMYT and ICARDA.
As his career winds down, Baenziger said he is extraordinarily grateful to the University of Nebraska for allowing him the freedom to be the kind of scientist he wanted to become and to the Nebraska Wheat Board for its continuous support of the small grains project. He also is grateful that the university, in the midst of a pandemic with all the economic consequences, hired Katherine Frels to be his successor.
“She is a former graduate student of the project, knows Nebraska well, and will take the program to new heights,” Baenziger said. “The future is bright.”
https://www.uswheat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/DSC07831-scaled-1.jpg14412560actualizehttps://www.uswheat.org/wp-content/uploads/USW-Logo-Full-Color.pngactualize2021-04-12 18:58:262022-03-29 16:15:41Baenziger to Retire, Capping 35-year Wheat Breeding Career at Nebraska
Throughout 2021, the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Wheat Letter is featuring the many stories of the people, processes and passions that go into producing and delivering high-quality U.S. wheat to the world. Our focus will be on quality that starts with dedicated private and public wheat breeding programs, is fostered by hard-working farm families, is maintained by grain handlers and observed in hundreds of wholesome, nutritious wheat foods.
Scientists in U.S. wheat breeding programs work tirelessly to develop wheat varieties that meet the highest of standards, to meet our customers’ end-use needs and to help farm families thrive.
The journey of wheat to food tables around the world begins in public and commercial breeding programs. The process of continually improving varieties for farmers to grow, feed into the supply chain and, ultimately, end up in food products around the world.
Many such wheat breeding programs across the United States are necessary because of the widely varied production constraints and wheat classes adapted for different regions. Public university breeding programs have developed an estimated 65% of all U.S. wheat varieties across six distinct classes, funded in part by state wheat commissions, royalties from the sale of public varieties, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
In this post, Wheat Letter offers broad information about public university wheat breeding programs in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California.
Federal Quality Lab
One major advantage to western U.S. public wheat breeding programs is its collaboration with scientists at the USDA-ARS Western Wheat Quality Laboratory (WWQL) near the Washington State University campus in Pullman, Wash.
Dr. Kimberly Garland-Campbell, Research Geneticist, ARS. Photo from LinkedIn.
The ARS laboratory works closely with public breeders, geneticists and pathologists in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California and Arizona to evaluate the milling and baking quality characteristics of wheat selections produced each crop year. Researchers there are trying to better understand the fundamental nature of end-use functionality. In addition, Dr. Kimberly Garland-Campbell, Research Geneticist with ARS, focuses on club wheat research for the Pacific Northwest states.
Many overseas buyers of U.S. wheat have learned firsthand about the work of both institutions during trade team visits sponsored by U.S. Wheat Associates (USW).
University of Idaho
Farmers grow soft white (SW), hard red winter (HRW), hard red spring (HRS), durum and hard white (HW) wheat in Idaho’s diverse agricultural environment with and without irrigation. And wheat breeding research at the University of Idaho (UI) has contributed many of the most desirable wheat varieties adapted to Idaho and the Pacific Northwest (PNW), with excellent end-use quality.
IU Wheat Breeder Dr. Jianli Chen recently told the Idaho Wheat Commission (IWC) that IU wheat varieties help make wheat from Idaho and other PNW states more competitive in the world market. The IWC invests farmer checkoff funds in the ISU wheat breeding program.
Quality is part of Dr. Jianli Chen’s wheat breeding program at the University of Idaho. Photo courtesy of Jianli Chen.
Excellent Quality
Dr. Chen said a spring SW variety called UI Cookie and a HW variety called UI Jade Bronze from her program are showing promise for high yields and excellent functional milling and baking qualities. IWC research investment helped fund Dr. Chen’s UI Cookie development.
In addition, Dr. Chen and her UI colleagues are using genetic tools that speed up the wheat breeding process and identify traits in lines that can be crossed to make varieties more productive while using less fertilizer and water.
UI Cookie is a spring SW variety with excellent baking qualities developed by Dr. Chen with help from Idaho Wheat Commission checkoff funds. Photo courtesy of Jianli Chen.
Foundation Seed
The UI Foundation Seed Program maintains approximately 120 UI-produced varieties of wheat and other crops and UI research and extension center staff produce seed on university-owned owned farms. Finally, the Idaho Crop Improvement Association inspects seed fields for purity before seed can be sold to farmers. UI seed sales revenue is also invested back into the UI Foundation Seed program.
Washington State University
Washington State University (WSU) and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant breeding programs focus on developing cultivars with high yield potential, excellent end-use quality, and resistance to stress. These programs have a successful record releasing new SW, Club, HRS and HRW wheat varieties that Pacific Northwest farmers want to plant.
Dr. Arron Carter holds the Orville A. Vogel Endowed Chair in Winter Wheat Breeding and Genetics at WSU. In collaboration with colleagues and Washington farmers, Dr. Carter says the program identifies genetic solutions to winter wheat varietal development and production problems. That, in turn, enhances the sustainability of the Washington wheat industry
Dr. Arron Carter, left, and Dr. Mike Pumphrey, right, jointly hold the Orville A. Vogel Endowed Chair in Wheat Breeding at Washington State University. Dr. Carter breeds winter wheat and Dr. Pumphrey breeds spring wheat varieties. Washington State University photo.
The WSU Extension Cereal Variety Testing Program gives growers and the agribusiness industry comprehensive information on winter and spring wheat adaptation and performance across the different climatic regions of eastern Washington. The program also offers WSU and USDA-ARS wheat breeding programs a uniform testing and evaluation program for preliminary wheat lines to help develop variety release recommendations to the Washington Agricultural Research Center.
A Note on Preferred Varieties
As trusted suppliers to domestic and overseas customers, organizations that represent PNW wheat farmers have long emphasized milling and baking quality improvement. The Washington Grain Commission was the first organization to collect wheat quality information and use the data to rate individual varieties on how they meet end-user quality standards. WGC provided the ratings to farmers in an annual Preferred Wheat Variety publication. Today, WGC, the Idaho Wheat Commission and the Oregon Wheat Commission publish one preferred variety booklet.
Milling and baking science is Dr. Andrew Ross’s domain at Oregon State University. Dr. Ross and colleagues also evaluate OSU wheat variety quality characteristics. Oregon State University photo.
The program reports that it tests more than 40,000 genetically distinct lines specifically for the Pacific Northwest. With wheat breeding, quality testing, and extension, the program works to meet the needs of the farmer, the miller, and the baker. OSU wheat varieties are widely planted in Oregon and neighboring Washington state as they are well adapted to those growing environments.
Making an Impact
Dr. Robert Zemetra, Oregon State University.
In this video produced by OSU, Dr. Zemetra and Dr. Ross talk about how their work on bread wheat affects the baking and farming communities in Oregon. Overseas buyers sourcing wheat from the Pacific Northwest know there is a positive impact in their markets, too.
OWC Funding
Oregon Wheat Commission (OWC) funding supports this team, including other colleagues, specifically to “develop new SW, HW, HRW and winter club wheat cultivars with superior end-use quality” adapted to Oregon’s growing regions that also increase economic returns to growers.
Additional funding for the program comes from the OSU Agricultural Research Foundation, commercial companies and royalties from the many wheat and cereal crop varieties it has developed.
Dr. Jorge Dubcovsky’s wheat breeding program at UC Davis has developed varieties with strong yield potential and excellent milling, baking and semolina qualities.
Dr. Jorge Dubcovsky leads the UC Davis Wheat Breeding Program and Molecular Genetics laboratory. An internationally recognized wheat breeder, Dr. Dubcovsky has, for the last 20 years, led a large consortium of U.S. public breeding programs aimed at improving breeding technologies and train new breeders. In addition, he has been a lead researcher in projects to improve wheat and barley water and fertilizer use and completed a project in 2014 aimed at “Improving California Wheat Quality and Nutritional Value.” In 2020, his UC Davis program received a grant to improve wheat’s dietary fiber content.
Fall-Seeded Spring Wheats
Producing wheat in a mild winter climate, farmers seed California wheat varieties in the fall and harvest the next summer. However, the varieties are genetically classified as spring wheat. The UC Davis program has developed wheat varieties with high water absorption, high viscosity and, based on the classification above, high stability and gluten strength. Dr. Dubcovsky’s program also focuses on developing wheat varieties with improved nutritional values.
Improved Quality and Demand
Together with UC Davis, the California Wheat Commission (CWC) also publishes an annual Preferred Variety List based on bread baking qualities. CWC recommends farmers to select varieties from the preferred class will help to increase the overall quality and desirability of California wheat.
A Note on Desert Durum®
The term Desert Durum® is a certification mark issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that describes “…at least 90% wheat grain produced under irrigation in the desert valleys and lowlands of Arizona or California.” The mark is jointly owned by the Arizona Grain Research and Promotion Council and the California Wheat Commission. Only parties granted permission by the owner(s) can describe grain as Desert Durum®.
Most of the Desert Durum® varieties now grown in the desert southwest are products of breeding programs conducted by both private firms and the public breeding program at UC Davis.
Arizona’s annual wheat crop consists mostly of durum varieties developed by private breeding programs that originated the modern Desert Durum® varieties over three decades ago. They continue their efforts today.
Most of California’s Desert Durum® production consists of varieties from the UC Davis breeding program that has been led by Dr. Jorge Dubcovsky for many years. These varieties include genes for increased grain protein and improved pasta color and gluten strength.
Identity Preserved
Desert Durum® is generally available to domestic and export markets as “identity preserved” grain by specific variety, which allows customers to acquire grain possessing quality traits that meet their specific needs. The identity preserved system allows customers to contract varieties and volumes with grain merchandisers who sell certified seed to experienced growers who maintain varietal identity throughout the planting, growing, harvesting, and delivery processes. Grain merchandisers then store the grain by variety and may ship on the customers’ preferred schedules.
Read about other U.S. wheat public breeding programs:
Recently, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) has shared a lot of information about U.S. wheat researchers and breeders’ tireless efforts to meet the highest standards for our customers’ end-use quality needs and to help farm families thrive. So far, we have described the important work of public wheat breeding programs at U.S. land grant universities and the support they get from farmers through state wheat checkoffs. Yet, many for-profit companies, such as BASF and Corteva Agriscience, are doing excellent wheat variety development work and often collaborate with public breeding programs.
No Endorsement. USW does not endorse any public or private seed brands. To present a complete picture of the breeding industry, we invited several commercial seed companies to send us stories for our “Wheat Letter” blog about their efforts to increase wheat yield potential while also improving functional milling and baking quality. This post shares information from two of those companies, BASF Corp. and Corteva Agriscience. Future posts will cover other commercial breeding programs.
BASF Agricultural Solutions
Hybrid technology allows plant breeders to choose the best traits from two parent plants to produce a “hybrid” offspring containing both parents’ best attributes without genetic modification.
BASF anticipates commercially launching hybrid wheat in the mid-2020s.
At BASF, wheat breeders are producing hybrids selected from diverse germplasm for the U.S. hard red spring (HRS) growing areas of the Northern Plains and for the U.S. hard red winter (HRW) areas of the Central Plains. These hybrids will have many qualities farmers and end-users are looking for: disease resistance, higher and more stable yields, and desired end-use functionality and protein.
Seed from BASF hybrid wheat test plots is tested to ensure the new varieties meet required quality characteristics. Source Image: BASF
Quality Labs. Quality is a key component of the BASF Hybrid Wheat Project. Breeding stations feature quality laboratories, and collaboration between breeders and quality managers occurs in both the field and the lab. Quality labs focus on ensuring hybrids meet the required milling and baking characteristics for desired end-use functionality to support a consistent supply of quality wheat. BASF uses third-party labs and strategic industry partnerships to gather feedback on end-use performance to ensure its breeders are selecting for desired characteristics.
BASF anticipates commercially launching hybrid wheat in the mid-2020s. Source Image: BASF
BASF breeders leverage diverse germplasm, technologies, and expertise from key wheat-growing regions to develop hybrids with value-added traits that address local needs and growing conditions. With a robust pipeline, each future generation of BASF hybrids will deliver further improved performance year after year.
Corteva Agriscience
With 51 years of consistent breeding and a long-term focus on the wheat market, Corteva Agriscience is developing industry-leading soft red winter (SRW) and soft white (SW) winter wheat products for farmers in the United States and other countries. Corteva – a global agriculture company that provides farmers with the most complete seed, crop protection and digital portfolio in the industry – sells wheat varieties directly to U.S. farmers through respected Pioneer® brand seed.
Corteva researchers breed for resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB), a common wheat disease that may impact yield potential and product quality. A new variety with outstanding resistance to FHB (left) is shown next to an older, susceptible variety (right). Photo courtesy of Corteva Agriscience.
Advanced Technologies. Corteva’s plant breeding strategy leverages a “multi-crop mindset” at its local research centers, using advanced technologies for its wheat, corn and soybean breeding programs. This approach results in several benefits in the United States:
Breeding methodologies like doubled haploids allow Corteva to bring new, high-performing varieties to farmers quicker;
Breeding efficiencies are gained via genomic predictions and non-destructive, small-sample NIR testing;
Drones allow Corteva to characterize products during late-stage, multi-year testing more accurately. The photo above, courtesy of Corteva, is an aerial image that helps the company’s researchers evaluate plot quality, plant health and other phenotypic traits in SRW wheat trials.
With an eye on the ultimate end-user – consumers – the wheat R&D team at Corteva balances genetics with exceptional yield potential for farmers with the end-use characteristics demanded by the milling industry and international markets.
The company’s large yield-testing footprint in the Eastern United States and Canada means Corteva has year-over-year samples for quality testing. This supply of samples helps ensure that functional quality characteristics are well-characterized and stable across a wide range of growing environments. From Georgia to Ontario and Missouri to North Carolina, Corteva completes multi-year testing for characteristics such as grain hardness, protein content, flour yield, break flour and cookie diameter before new products are commercialized.
SRW wheat varieties from Corteva Agriscience are evaluated in yield trial plots before they are commercialized. Photo courtesy of Corteva Agriscience.
Breeding for disease resistance leads to stable, functional quality. A great example of this is increasing tolerance to Fusarium head blight to better manage mycotoxin – such as deoxynivalenol (DON) – levels in wheat flour and processed food products.
Listen to Corteva scientists talk about the company’s wheat breeding program here.
Read about other U.S. wheat public breeding programs:
They say human civilization had its origin in ancient Mesopotamia when people discovered they could plant seeds and domesticate animals. Wheat breeding developed as the early farmers crossed different species to improve crops. Among the first were wheat’s ancient relatives.
Today, wheat breeding has become far more efficient and precise. Scientists now have a deep understanding of DNA and how individual genes control specific traits that are good for farmers and consumers.
Yet, as Kansas State University wheat breeder Dr. Allan K. Fritz (above) says, “In wheat, I think there is a purity. We are reaching back into genetics that are historic. We are taking the opportunity with the natural genes that we already have, to put those together in a package that is the healthiest and the best for the environment that we possibly can.”
U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is sharing a new video production called “Researchers & Breeders: Breeding New Varieties” that features Dr. Fritz and his Kansas State University colleagues. In the video below, Dr. Fritz talks about how the journey of wheat to food tables around the world begins in a scientific facility.
Wheat breeding innovation is more important today than ever before. A growing and hungry world faces the challenge of climate change. However, by making small genetic changes, scientists can help protect wheat and other crops from rising temperatures and extreme weather while improving their attributes.
For more information on the science of wheat breeding, as well as other plant and animal breeding, please visit https://innovature.com/.
Throughout 2021, the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Wheat Letter is featuring the many stories of the people, processes and passions that go into producing and delivering high-quality U.S. wheat to the world. Our focus will be on quality that starts with dedicated private and public wheat breeding programs, is fostered by hard-working farm families, is maintained by grain handlers and observed in hundreds of wholesome, nutritious wheat foods.
U.S. wheat researchers and breeders work tirelessly to develop wheat varieties that meet the highest of standards, to meet our customers’ end-user needs and to help farm families thrive.
The journey of wheat to food tables around the world begins in public and commercial breeding programs. The process of continually improving varieties for farmers to grow, feed into the supply chain and, ultimately, end up in food products around the world.
Many such breeding programs across the United States are necessary because of the widely varied production constraints and wheat classes adapted for different regions. An estimated 65% of all U.S. wheat varieties across six distinct classes were developed by public university breeding programs, funded in part by state wheat commissions, royalties from the sale of public varieties, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
In this post, Wheat Letter offers broad information about public university wheat breeding programs in Ohio and Maryland, with references to programs in other U.S. states growing soft red winter (SRW) wheat. Future posts will cover breeding programs in other states.
Ohio State University
Dr. Clay Sneller, Professor, Horticulture and Crop Science at Ohio State University (OSU), has developed many new SRW cultivars in his academic career. With a focus on traditional breeding and genomic assisted breeding, Dr. Sneller works to improve yield potential, end-use quality and disease resistance. Teaming with cereals plant pathologist Dr. Pierce Paul, this OSU team is developing new SRW varieties that are resistant to the foliar wheat disease fusarium head blight (scab). The OSU program is also researching new breeding methods and ways to leverage resources across the University programs serving the Midwest.
Dr. Clay Sneller (left) and colleagues recording fusarium head blight scores in Ohio State University SRW test plots.
Research stations managed by OSU’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center conduct trials of new and existing SRW cultivars to get the best genetics to growers. In addition, the USDA ARS Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory in Wooster, Ohio, led by Dr. Byung Kee Baik, conducts end-quality testing of SRW varieties from OSU and other sources. The Ohio Seed Improvement Association certifies promising OSU SRW varieties and Ohio Foundation Seed grows out seed supplies. OSU also licenses new genetics to private seed companies for use by farmers in Ohio and surrounding states. OSU receives sales royalties that help fund future research and breeding.
It takes a large crew to manage a public breeding program. In the photo above, graduate students and staff from the OSU team under Dr. Sneller have just finished harvesting, cleaning and collecting seed from dozens of wheat trial plots.
The Ohio Small Grains Checkoff (OSGC) supports Dr. Sneller’s work and other OSU wheat production research. Dr. Sneller has also taken part in USW export market development activities. In 2019, for example, Dr. Sneller, Dr. Baik and OSGC shared information about SRW breeding and quality improvement with a visiting team of Brazilian flour milling managers sponsored by USW.
Dr. Clay Sneller (left) describing SRW variety development to a USW-sponsored team of Brazilian millers in 2019. Doug Goyings (next to Dr. Sneller), USW Past Chairman and Paulding, Ohio, wheat farmer joined the team.
University of Maryland
Wheat researchers around the world are paying attention to the work of Dr. Vijay Tiwari, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland (UMD), College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Dr. Tiwari recently received the Leadership Award from the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC), representing scientists across 70 countries dedicated to advancing wheat genomics and the production of high-quality wheat. UMD noted that Tiwari has elevated UMD’s reputation in wheat genomics and “revitalized the Maryland Small Grains Breeding and Genetics (MSGBG) program. By bringing together other experts across plant science to create a unique collaboration, the program is on the verge of rolling out new varieties of wheat to serve the state of Maryland and Mid-Atlantic region while helping combat global hunger.”
Wheat breeder and University of Maryland professor Vijay Tawari, PhD, leads a diverse team of scientists advancing the university’s public wheat breeding program.
In his breeding work, Dr. Tiwari draws from a UMD ”gene bank” of more than 30,000 different small grain germplasms and collaborates with MSGBG teammates including plant pathologist Dr. Nidhi Rawat, Assistant Professor of Plant Science Dr. Yiping Qi and Extension Agronomist Nicole Fiorellino. The program is actively working with the Maryland Crop Improvement Association (MCIA), the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board (MGPUB) and the Maryland Department of Agriculture to develop and commercialize new SRW varieties. MCIA manages seed production and distribution to farmers through licensed private seed companies in Maryland as well as Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware. As in other public breeding programs, royalties from the sale of UMD varieties help fund more research, such as Dr. Tiwari’s work developing hard red winter (HRW) wheat varieties adapted to the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region. MGPUB, a USW member state wheat commission, also funds other UMD projects focused on wheat quality and production.
Dr. Vijay Tawari (right) and colleagues spend many hours planning, managing and evaluating seed variety plot trials.
Other Public SRW Breeding Programs
Farmers across the eastern one-third of the United States grow SRW wheat developed by other public breeding programs, including at these universities:
Throughout 2021, the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Wheat Letter is featuring the many stories of the people, processes and passions that go into producing and delivering high-quality U.S. wheat to the world. Our focus will be on quality that starts with dedicated private and public wheat breeding programs, is fostered by hard-working farm families, is maintained by grain handlers and observed in hundreds of wholesome, nutritious wheat foods.
The journey of wheat begins in public and commercial breeding programs that maintain the process of improving varieties for farmers to grow, move into the supply chain and, ultimately, end up in food products around the world.
Public university breeding programs develop an estimated 65% of all U.S. wheat varieties, funded in part by farmers through state wheat commissions, royalties from the sale of public varieties, and USDA programs such as the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
In this post, Wheat Letter offers broad information about public wheat breeding programs in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, and Wyoming. Future posts will cover breeding programs in other states.
South Dakota State University
With a primary goal to develop and release wheat varieties with high and stable yield potential and superior end-use quality for milling and baking, South Dakota State University’s (SDSU) wheat breeding program offers a strong return to farmers and downstream customers. The focus is on hard red spring (HRS), hard red winter (HRW) and hard white (HW) wheat development.
“Breeding is a long-term process,” said SDSU Associate Professor and Winter Wheat Breeder Sunish Kumar Sehgal. “We need to keep investing in breeding for the long-term good of the program.”
Farmers support the SDSU breeding program through wheat checkoff funding administered by the South Dakota Wheat Commission. More support comes from federal programs, seed sales and other stakeholders.
Historically, Minnesota HRS wheat has highly functional protein with a high-quality baking experience. Yet importers demand more consistent functional quality and domestic millers increasingly source grain from specific cultivars best suited for producing their products. That is why the University of Minnesota (UMN) HRS wheat breeding program is developing new disease-resistant, high-yielding cultivars with an increasing emphasis on improved end-use quality.
“Minnesota growers are by far the most progressive people I have ever worked with in terms of weighing economic, environmental and consumer demands,” said Charlie Vogel, CEO of the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, which supports the UMN spring wheat breeding and genetics program led by Professor James Anderson. “They look beyond the farm gates, to a bigger picture of the customers we serve around the world.”
Dr. James Anderson. University of Minnesota photo.
Dr. Anderson said a comprehensive genetic and breeding approach is necessary to respond to farmer and end-use customer needs. UMN genetic studies identify wheat chromosomes and DNA markers that influence disease resistance and grain quality. Markers in turn help the breeder identify the best lines to work with, and the UMN team tests cultivars for commercial viability in field trials across the state.
North Dakota State University
North Dakota State University is home to three HRS, durum and HRW breeding programs that reflect the legacy of North Dakota wheat farmers to produce wheat that “provides special, inherent quality attributes that cannot be sourced elsewhere,” according to the North Dakota Wheat Commission (NDWC). The commission contributes about 40 percent of its budget to research, prioritizing investment in customer needs for end-use quality.
NDSU test plot, Carrington, N.D. NDSU photo.
The NDSU durum breeding program is the largest in the country, led by Dr. Elias Elias and a team of technicians and graduate students. The goal: maximize return to the farmer while yielding excellent quality durum to domestic and international markets. The majority – 90% or more – of durum planted in North Dakota are NDSU varieties.
Dr. Elias Elias, NDSU durum breeder.
North Dakota produces more HRS wheat than any other state. The NDSU HRS breeding program makes high end-use milling and baking quality a priority while advancing agronomic traits. Dr. Andrew Green, who leads the HRS breeding program with his team of technicians, said: “Protein quality is essential to maintain high HRS demand so our program emphasizes developing balanced varieties that are profitable for producers and valued by end-users.”
The photo at the top of this page is a demonstration trial Dr. Green created that includes every HRS variety developed by NDSU over more than 100 years.
Dr. G. Francois Marais breeds HRW wheat varieties at NDSU. This program focuses on developing new varieties that are adapted to the northern Plains with improved winter-hardiness, disease resistance, yield and processing quality.
Montana has a wide range of farming ecosystems so the Montana State University (MSU) wheat breeding program tries to producing HRS, HRW, HW and durum varieties adapted to meet the challenges of these conditions. MSU bread wheat varieties provide exceptional milling, dough and baking characteristics, while durum varieties meet the demanding standards of the world’s best pasta producers.
Professor Phil Bruckner heads up MSU’s HRW breeding program and is very familiar with export market quality standards. In 2017, he joined a USW Wheat Quality Improvement Team to Taiwan and Thailand to discuss which quality characteristics end users value the most. Assistant Research Professor Jason Cook currently manages MSU’s spring wheat breeding and serves as one of the directors along with Dr. Bruckner of the MSU Cereal Quality Laboratory. Dr. Cook worked closely with former MSU spring wheat breeder Dr. Luther Talbert who left a legacy of producing high-quality HRS varieties when he retired late in 2019. In addition, the growing interest in the use of HW wheat for the Asian noodle market has instituted noodle quality evaluation.
MSU HRW wheat breeder Dr. Phil Bruckner.
Over the years, MSU breeders developed hundreds of durum varietal lines and continue to do so. Dr. Mike Giroux, who heads MSU’s plant genetics program, is also breeding new durum lines. The first variety from that program, a high-yielding durum with desirable pasta quality traits including semolina extraction, pasta firmness and color, is now in the field with the MSU Foundation Seed program to increase seed stock for commercialization in 2022.
Through the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, Montana farmers invest over $2 million every year in wheat and barley research at MSU and other institutions.
Under this program, UW screens and develops elite HRW and HW lines from Colorado State University, Montana State University and the University of Nebraska. One example, cited by WWMC Executive Director Keith Kennedy, is “Spur,” a solid stem HRW variety developed at Montana State University that helps reduce damage from the wheat stem sawfly pest. Spur was licensed by the foundation in 2017 and sub-licensed to a private seed company for sale outside Wyoming. Kennedy said farmers seeded Spur on about 5% of Wyoming’s wheat area for the 2020/21 crop.
Read about other U.S. wheat public breeding programs:
Throughout 2021, the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Wheat Letter is featuring the many stories of the people, processes and passions that go into producing and delivering high-quality U.S. wheat to the world. Our focus will be on quality that starts with dedicated private and public wheat breeding programs, is fostered by hard-working farm families, is maintained by grain handlers and observed in hundreds of wholesome, nutritious wheat foods.
There is a wide range of U.S. public and commercial breeding programs working to develop wheat classes and varieties adapted to the production constraints in different regions while meeting customer end-use needs. An estimated 65% of all U.S. wheat varieties across six distinct classes were developed by public university breeding programs, funded in part by state wheat commissions, royalties from the sale of public varieties, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
In this post, Wheat Letter offers broad information about public university wheat breeding programs in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska. Future posts will cover breeding programs in other states.
Texas A&M
With support from research grants from the Texas Wheat Producers Board (TWPB), Texas A&M University puts a major focus on projects aimed at enhancing end-use wheat quality to produce a product with more functionality for domestic and overseas customers. For example, TWPB points to the recent development of two new Texas A&M winter wheat varieties that performed well with fewer inputs, decreasing farm financial burdens while showing exceptional milling and baking characteristics.
Dr. Amir Ibrahim is a professor and the project leader of the Texas A&M Small Grains Breeding program. He manages wheat cultivar development for South and Central Texas among other responsibilities. Dr. Jackie Rudd, Texas A&M AgriLife Research wheat breeder in the Texas Panhandle is also working to develop better wheat varieties for breadmaking and farmers alike. An associate research scientist in the AgriLife Cereal Quality Lab and other specialized researchers are part of the Texas A&M wheat team.
Wheat Improvement research in Oklahoma is driven by an interdisciplinary team of Oklahoma State University (OSU) scientists charged with developing highly adapted winter wheat cultivars with marketable grain quality, in partnership with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission (OWC) and the Oklahoma Wheat Research Foundation. Dr. Brett Carver directs the program as OSU Wheat Genetics Chair.
OWC Executive Director Mike Schulte says the wheat genetics program is committed to excellence in creating varieties to meet the specific needs of Oklahoma wheat producers and the milling and baking industries. OSU varieties are sold to farmers through Oklahoma Genetics, Inc., a non-profit organization directed by Oklahoma farmers.
“OSU wheat varieties, thanks in large part to significant investment by producers through the check-off OWC manages, have led the state in planted area every year since 2010,” said Dr. Carver. “In addition, the top planted varieties from OSU almost always appear on preferred variety lists publicized by the U.S. domestic milling industry over the past five years. The emphasis by the OSU Wheat Improvement Team is, and will continue to be, on a quality yield, not just yield alone.”
OSU wheat genetics lead Dr. Brett Carver (right) in 2019 discussed cross breeding techniques to select for functional quality in hard red winter wheat with British officials at the OSU research facilities.
The world-renowned Wheat Genetics Resource Center (WGRC) has established a national and international network to conduct and coordinate genetic studies in wheat. Located in the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center, the state’s single-largest, farmer investment in wheat research, the WGRC has also been recently designated as a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. This is the first I/UCRC focusing on plant sciences. The main K-State breeding team works with the WGRC on genomic mapping and marker-assisted breeding. Other cooperators include the USDA-ARS Hard Wheat Quality Laboratory and wheat programs in the Plant Pathology and Grain Science Departments. Some germplasm lines are also released in conjunction with USDA’s hard winter wheat genetics program.
There is tremendous producer support in the state and region for K-State’s wheat varieties and breeding program. Generous funding for its efforts comes from the Kansas Wheat Commission. Wheat quality is also a priority. Varieties tested for two years and earmarked for release are entered in the Wheat Quality Council (WQC) Milling and Baking Test Program to ensure the varieties meet WQC milling and baking standards. Grain Craft has recently moved its Wheat Quality Lab to the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center, which completes the missing piece in the puzzle in the facility, from variety development through end-use quality testing.
In addition, in 2020, the USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture awarded K-State a $1 million grant to establish the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) Winter Wheat Breeding Innovation Hub. K-State will lead the effort to evaluate research findings from several IWYP projects that contribute to “significantly improve” wheat yields.
The research team led by Dr. Allan Fritz (above) in Manhattan, Kan., and Dr. Guorong Zhang at K-State’s Agricultural Research Center in Hays, Kan., has produced the most widely planted wheat varieties in Kansas in nine of the past 10 years.
Colorado State University
Thanks to help from Colorado farmers through the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee, the Colorado State University (CSU) wheat breeding program has built a reputation for success. The goal is to develop varieties that are adapted to Colorado’s unique growing conditions but also have excellent end-use quality to meet milling and baking needs. In 2019, Wheat Quality Lab Manager John Stromberger, now retired Wheat Breeder Dr. Scott Haley, and Extension Agronomist Jerry Johnson, reported on the quality of CSU trial varieties and encouraged producers to carefully consider planting agronomically acceptable varieties with better quality. CSU wheat breeding will continue under the direction of Dr. Esten Mason.
The Colorado Wheat Research Foundation (CWRF) works hand in hand with CSU to help develop and distribute new wheat varieties. As the university develops new varieties, CWRF takes ownership and works with eligible certified seed growers. CWRF collects royalties for certified seed that supply funding for more CSU wheat research. These varieties are sold under the brand name PlainsGoldTM.
A portion of funding for wheat breeding and research at Colorado State University comes from the sales of public wheat varieties.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The Nebraska Wheat Board supports research and breeding programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and USDA-ARS efforts to improve agronomic performance for producers, and end-use quality characteristics for millers, bakers and consumers. Dr. Stephen Baenziger heads the UNL small grains breeding program and says the work is highly dependent on a wide range of researchers and public and private support.
For example, Dr. Baenziger has spent several years studying hybridization of wheat in partnership with Dr. Ibrahim of Texas A&M. Ibrahim and Baenziger have tested more than 600 lines of hybrid wheat varieties in Nebraska and Texas. They are now developing the necessary knowledge base, germplasm and enhanced trait pools or patterns from these lines to support the development of hybridized wheat.
The team’s newest project, “Plant breeding partnerships: Continuing to develop and validate the tools for hybrid wheat,” is supported by a $650,000 USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant.
Dr. Stephen Baenziger heads the University of Nebraska – Lincoln small grains breeding program.
Read about other U.S. wheat public breeding programs:
Throughout 2021, the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Wheat Letter is featuring the many stories of the people, processes and passions that go into producing and delivering high quality U.S. wheat to the world. Our focus will be on quality that starts with dedicated public and private wheat breeders and researchers, is fostered by hard-working farm families, is maintained by grain handlers and observed in hundreds of wholesome, nutritious wheat foods.
“Virtual reality is transforming research and outreach activities in the Plant Sciences Department at North Dakota State University, and the wave is just beginning,” says Dr. Senay Simsek, professor and director of the Wheat Quality and Carbohydrate Research Program.
Virtual reality is a three-dimensional, computer-generated experience that allows a person to interact with spaces and objects within an entirely virtual environment. Simsek worked with Be More Colorful, a virtual reality solutions firm in Fargo, N.D., that created 360-degree images of the wheat quality and carbohydrate labs. Then they embedded informational videos provided by Simsek about the lab tests and equipment into the 360-degree images to create a complete virtual tour of the wheat quality and carbohydrate chemistry laboratories.
Designated users of this technology access the virtual tours using a VR headset or as a desktop experience in any web browser. During the tour, they experience wheat quality facilities in 3D, which creates the feeling that they are visiting in person, even though they may be thousands of miles away. Now, anyone can explore from the comfort of their home or office how wheat kernels are tested for quality, how wheat is milled, how flour and dough samples are analyzed, how bread is baked for end-product quality, and many other tests.
Student Ana Magallanes explores the Virtual Reality tour of Dr. Senay Simsek’s Wheat Quality and Carbohydrate Research Program at North Dakota State University.
The VR tours containing Simsek’s training videos are not publicly available but the 360-degree images of the labs can be viewed at https://tours.bemorecolorful.com/v/rNj79kPE1Jd. Move the computer mouse around to view different parts of the room. Click the drop-down menu in the top left corner of the image to access other rooms. To learn more about wheat quality in the world of VR, contact Dr. Senay Simsek at [email protected].
Dr. Senay Simsek is using virtual reality tools to enhance the research and outreach of her wheat quality and carbohydrate chemistry program.
Simsek often meets with various trade teams and farmer groups, and visits K-12 schools. Now, she can utilize VR technology to show what type of research she is conducting at NDSU. “Leveraging virtual reality helps enhance the research and outreach experiences for the people we work with,” she says.
Simsek implemented the browser-based 3D experience during this year’s Hard Red Spring Wheat Crop Quality meeting. Incorporating the 3D tour experience at the virtual crop quality meetings was met with great appreciation by the attendees.
“Virtual reality is offering some promising benefits to our research and outreach capabilities,” says Simsek. She believes the trend will not slow down any time soon, so researchers and other should expect to see more virtual reality technology enter their lives and laboratories in the future.
Dr. Simsek contributed this article to Wheat Letter, with editing support from Kamie Beeson, North Dakota State University. In addition, Dr. Simsek recently recorded two video presentations on how U.S. hard red spring (HRS) wheat can reduce the need for additives in a “Clean Label” end-product, and on 2020 U.S. HRS Crop Quality.
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Throughout 2021, the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Wheat Letter is featuring the many stories of the people, processes and passions that go into producing and delivering high quality U.S. wheat to the world. Our focus will be on quality that starts with dedicated public and private wheat breeders and researchers, is fostered by hard-working farm families, is maintained by grain handlers and observed in hundreds of wholesome, nutritious wheat foods.
By Linc Thomas, Staff Writer, Colorado State University. Reprinted with Permission
Plant breeders are Promethean individuals, oftentimes sacrificing their blood, sweat, tears, money, and time for their craft. This bridge between the chasm of art and science is a task humans have participated in since the dawn of agrarian societies.
Since 1999, Scott Haley has served as the Project Leader of the Wheat Breeding and Genetics Program in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University (CSU). In December, Haley will embark from CSU into the next chapter of his life, retirement. But not before one last accolade: Haley was recently awarded the Crop Science Research Award from the Crop Science Society of America. Only one other person from CSU has ever received it.
Haley’s work to improve Colorado wheat
Improving the performance and reputation of Colorado wheat has been a through-line for Haley since he began his work at CSU in 1999. At the time, the major insect pest in wheat production was the Russian Wheat Aphid, which he set out to combat while also addressing the general quality of the state’s wheat.
Although the significance of the Russian Wheat Aphid has declined, Scott Haley’s work to create better-quality, disease-resistant wheat varieties continued.
“The wheat industry told me that they wanted better quality varieties,” said Haley. “They needed better milling and baking properties, so we spent a lot of time working on those improvements.”
When Scott Haley arrived at CSU, 40-percent of Colorado’s wheat crop was planted with a variety called TAM 107, which had notoriously low-quality.
“When we’d have foreign buyers come in from around the world, they would ask how much TAM 107 was growing in Colorado,” said Darrell Hanavan, former executive director of the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee (a member of U.S. Wheat Associates) and Colorado Wheat Research Foundation. “I had to tell them, and they wanted to exclude purchasing wheat from Colorado entirely. The same was true in the domestic market. The flour millers didn’t want to buy Colorado wheat because TAM 107 quality was so bad.”
TAM 107 was such a low-quality wheat variety because it was bred to be high-yielding, largely disregarding quality. Haley and his team worked diligently in his early years at CSU to identify wheat varieties that were both high-yielding and higher-quality, dispelling the commonly held perception that quality and yield cannot be put into the same variety. The release of Hatcher in 2004 was a landmark variety in this regard, as it showed significantly improved quality and roughly 10% higher yield than TAM 107.
Haley was also one of four co-inventors who developed a patented non-GMO herbicide-tolerant wheat trait that is the basis of the CoAXium Wheat Production System, which is an alternative to Clearfield wheat. Currently patented in 53 countries, CoAXium wheat varieties are projected to return up to $5-million annually in royalties to further support the CSU wheat research program.
Most recently, Haley turned his attention to the Wheat Stem Sawfly, which has now become increasingly prominent in wheat production, as the presence of Wheat Stem Sawfly larvae can decrease yields up to 50%. Most wheat varieties have hollow stems, so to resist damages by the Wheat Stem Sawfly, Haley and his team developed a solid-stem wheat variety that hinders the ability of the larvae to damage wheat in the same way as if they were hollow-stemmed. The first variety of its kind released in Colorado was released in 2019 under the name “Fortify SF.”
“I think about what I do in terms of helping the farmer,” said Haley. “The farmers in these rural communities have to stay profitable, for one because our population needs the food, but if they aren’t profitable then they’ll stop farming. If we develop wheat that’s resistant to rust, then the farmer doesn’t have to apply a fungicide – because farmers don’t want to use fungicides. Let’s say fungicide costs $10 an acre, and a farm is 10,000 acres – you think the farmer wants to spend $100,000? That’s what we do as breeders: we lower the cost of production by enhancing yield and improving insect and disease resistance so the farmer can stay on the land and keep producing food.”
“That’s what we do as breeders: we lower the cost of production by enhancing yield and improving insect and disease resistance so the farmer can stay on the land and keep producing food.” Dr. Scott Haley. Photo Copyright Colorado State University.
Relationship with the Colorado Wheat Industry
The Colorado wheat industry, comprised of the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee and Colorado Wheat Research Foundation, has a strategic priority of ensuring a best-in-class wheat research program at CSU to provide Colorado producers with the best varieties designed specifically for local conditions. This unique public-private partnership between CSU and the Colorado wheat industry provides collaboration and funding for this world-class program from a combination of state and federal funds provided by the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station (CSU AES), the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee (CWAC), the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation (CWRF) and Ardent Mills. CWAC funding comes from a producer-approved assessment on each bushel of wheat sold, and CWRF funding comes from royalties collected on the CSU-developed wheat varieties and novel traits (i.e. non-GMO herbicide tolerance trait) which are owned and commercialized by CWRF; royalties are returned to CSU to further enhance wheat breeding and wheat-related research.
“Scott Haley has turned the Colorado wheat market from a poor-quality market into a high-quality market,” said Hanavan. “All of the varieties that are released are phenomenal quality and recognized by the domestic milling industry and the export market buyers.”
When Scott Haley took his position at CSU, the College of Agricultural Sciences was releasing one wheat variety to CWRF every two or three years. Today, 22 years later, they often release multiple new varieties each year, as the scope of the wheat breeding program has evolved. CSU-developed wheat varieties make up 80 to 90% of all wheat varieties grown in Colorado. This high level of adoption of publicly-developed wheat varieties is not seen anywhere else in the U.S.
“I feel that over the last 22 years, one of the things that I’m most proud of is the way that we’ve strengthened the relationship between CSU and the wheat industry in Colorado – and this relationship is second to none,” Haley said. “It hasn’t been only about the numbers of varieties or their adoption in Colorado, but the fact that together we built a national brand called “PlainsGold.” I was involved with the CWRF in the development of the PlainsGold brand going back over 10 years, and it was built to market the CWRF varieties which are now available from Texas to Washington and everywhere in between.”
Looking back at a legacy, and moving forward
Looking back on his time at CSU, Haley is proud of what he and his team have accomplished over the years.
“I grew up in the suburbs, far away from agriculture, and initially wanted to work in international agriculture helping subsistence farmers in developing countries. Various things changed in my personal life, and I responded by channeling my energies into trying to help wheat farmers in Colorado. I took my responsibilities very seriously, sometimes too seriously, and feel good that I gave 110% effort throughout my tenure at CSU. Together we have accomplished great things, and in that regard, I feel very proud of what we have accomplished. The other thing I’m most proud of is what I’ve done to try to help develop people, be them students or full-time researchers, that are working in the department or in the breeding program. Being a fair, supportive, and understanding project leader and mentor was very important to me, and in fact, it was just as important to me as doing right by the growers.”
The wheat breeding program at CSU will continue under the direction of Dr. Esten Mason, Associate Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics, but the legacy of Scott Haley will live on through the relationships built with Colorado wheat growers, students, and the North American agricultural community at large.
