Direct Seed Workshop slated for March 8 in Idaho Falls

The South Idaho Direct Seed Workshop will be hosted by the Idaho Wheat Commission (IWC) on Thursday, March 8 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 700 Lindsay Blvd, Idaho Falls.

Registration will begin at 9:00 am. The workshop will run from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm.

One of the featured speakers this year will be Richard Smiley, professor of plant pathology at Oregon State University. Dr. Smiley focuses his research on methods to control root diseases of wheat and barley caused by soilborne plant-pathogenic fungi and plant-parasitic nematodes.

“Dick Smiley is one of the leading voices on methods to control root diseases,” says IWC chairman Gordon Gallup, who has been direct seeding for many years. “We can all benefit from hearing about soil health,” says Gallup. “You never know where you’ll find the next idea that will increase profits.”

Presentations will address a variety of timely topics. Earl Creech, PhD, Extension Agronomist, Utah State University will cover chemical fallow. Kate Painter, PhD, Ag Economics and Rural Sociology, University of Idaho will discuss her research on the economics of direct seeding. Additional topics covered will include available government programs. A yearly favorite is local growers sharing their experiences in direct seeding.

The Workshop provides a great opportunity to network and hear what others are doing. Advanced registration is recommended. Registration fee is $10, payable at the door (cash or check only). Lunch is provided.

To register or for more information contact Tereasa Waterman at ts@idahowheat.org, or call the Wheat Commission office at (208) 334.2353.

Idaho’s Agricultural Research Enhanced through Multi-Million Dollar Endowments from Idaho Wheat Commission and Limagrain Cereal Seeds

The Idaho Wheat Commission today announced a plan to create two faculty research endowments with $2 million to the University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences to support Idaho’s 4,500 wheat growers and their $766 million-per-year harvest.

In addition, Limagrain Cereal Seeds has agreed to collaborate with the college on breeding new wheat varieties for Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Both Limagrain and the college will contribute germplasm, technology, and expertise to more rapidly develop varieties with improved productivity and tolerance to diseases and stress. To support this effort, Limagrain is also funding a significant endowment for cropping systems research and graduate training at the university.

“These partnerships clearly demonstrate the power of collaboration and the value that a land-grant institution like the University of Idaho can bring to our state’s economy,” said M. Duane Nellis, president of the University of Idaho. “We deeply appreciate the confidence that both the Idaho Wheat Commission and Limagrain Cereal Seeds have placed in our university.”
Limagrain Cereal Seeds and the university will share grain germplasm, which will “greatly increase varietal options for Idaho and Pacific Northwest wheat growers,” said Dean John Hammel of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

“This public-private partnership is a win for all of us and especially for Idaho and the Pacific Northwest wheat industry,” said Hammel. “Today’s economic realities make it increasingly important for industries benefiting from our research to increase their support. The endowments our partners are establishing today are ensuring the future as they will provide ongoing and perpetual research funding. We applaud both the Idaho Wheat Commission and Limagrain Cereal Seeds for stepping up as willing partners.”

Developing new wheat varieties is not easy. It takes a dozen years to develop and test best new grain varieties.

“Future yield increases in wheat will be driven by research, said Gordon Gallup of Ririe, chairman of the Idaho Wheat Commission, which represents Idaho’s wheat growers. “Private breeders like Limagrain Cereal Seeds bringing new technology and new germplasm into the mix is going to give our public programs a significant boost. New technology will lead to greater yields and better profitability for wheat growers in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest.

“Wheat growers of Idaho are very aware of how important research is to our bottom line,” Gallup said. “If wheat is to remain competitive in our state and region, growers of Idaho must look to public/private partnerships, as well as requiring increased efficiencies in our public research programs.”

“These past few years we have seen severe cuts to our state universities’ budgets. Although cuts were necessary to balance budgets, those reductions have caused an erosion of our ability to fund research that is necessary to keep agriculture healthy,” Gallup added.

“Idaho’s wheat growers are hopeful that the State of Idaho will continue to invest in agriculture,” Gallup said. “We encourage other agricultural related industries to join in this effort to keep our land grant universities’ research programs healthy and productive.”

Donn Thill, director of the university’s Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station that oversees the institution’s statewide agricultural research, believes that, “by strategically combining our wheat germplasm with Limagrain Cereal Seeds’, new wheat varieties will be created for our growers that yield more wheat per acre, that are easier on the environment, more disease resistant, and more nutritious than what we could do working alone.”

Jim Peterson, vice president for research at Limagrain Cereal Seeds, sees this as “an exciting opportunity to build on the complementary strengths of the University of Idaho and LCS wheat programs.

“The university’s cropping systems research will help growers to better manage and capture value from new varieties that come out of the collaborative breeding effort,” Peterson said. The collaboration also brings a new international dimension to wheat research in Idaho and the Northwest. Limagrain Cereal Seeds is a new joint venture between the France-based Limagrain Group, the largest cereal seed company in Europe, and Arcadia Biosciences, a biotechnology company based in Davis, Calif.

This year, the Idaho Wheat Commission endowments will fund a wheat breeding and a wheat agronomist professorship, each located at the university’s Aberdeen Research and Extension Center. “Some of this endowment will enhance salaries of faculty already conducting research, an effort to stay competitive, to keep these professionals in Idaho,” Thill said.

Limagrain Cereal Seeds’ support for graduate training also is timely.
“Nationally, we’re facing shortages of experienced people in agriculture with these skills,” Thill said. “An important part of our job is training the next generation of crop scientists. These endowments will help us.”

As part of its commitment to the Idaho grain industry, the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is reallocating resources and faculty positions to strengthen statewide cereal research and extension, areas hard hit during the severe economic downturn of the past several years.
These strategic and collaborative partnerships will enable the college to fill two cropping positions in the coming year, one each in Moscow and Aberdeen, along with a plant nutrition position. “These positions will provide important agronomic support to newly developed cereals and other crops,” Hammel said.

The small-grain cereal cropping system agronomist in Moscow will focus on northern Idaho’s dryland production systems including small grain cereals, peas, lentils, and oilseed with a value of $150 million annually to northern Idaho.

The plant nutritionist will focus on optimizing fertilizer use and placement in winter wheat to ensure environmental protection and sustainable crop production in both conventional and direct seed farming systems.

To further improve adaptation of new wheat varieties in northern Idaho, an area-wide extension educator position, located in Nez Perce County, will be filled to support cereal agronomic and yield test sites in northern Idaho.

In Aberdeen, “the cropping systems agronomist will provide much needed research and extension information in best management practices for wheat, barley, and crops grown with them in rotation,” added Hammel. Additionally at Aberdeen, a research entomology position will be refilled to develop extension and research programs in insect management for crops including small-grain cereals and potatoes.

The university’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences operates research and extension facilities throughout Idaho to serve the state’s people and agriculture as part of its mission as a land-grant institution.

Projected Wheat Exports Are Lowered This Month

U.S. wheat ending stocks for 2011/12 are projected 50 million bushels higher withreduced prospects for exports this month. Exports are lowered 50 million bushels with reductions projected for hard red winter, soft red winter, and white wheat.

Larger supplies in several major exporting countries and relatively strong domestic prices, supported by the tight domestic corn supply-and-use situation, are expected to limit opportunities for U.S. wheat in world trade.

Ending stocks for 2011/12, at 878 million bushels, are projected to be up 16 million from last year, but down 98 million from the recent high in 2009/10. The 2011/12 season-average farm price is lowered slightly to$7.05 to $7.55 per bushel compared with $7.05 to $7.75 last month.

A sharp increase in wheat supplies in Australia, Argentina, and Canada is expected to intensify competition for U.S. exports during the latter half of 2011/12. Global consumption is projected higher; however, global ending stocks also rise, putting additional pressure on wheat prices. U.S. wheat export prospects are reduced on increased competitor supplies and the slow pace of sales.

Educational Seminar on Snow Mold Offered to Idaho Wheat Growers

Snow mold diseases of wheat are some of the most dramatic and devastating diseases of plants. In the Pacific Northwest, the snow molds are important in areas where snow falls on unfrozen or lightly frozen soil and persists for 100 days or more.

Snow mold diseases destroy the leaves and crowns of host grasses under snow. Following snowmelt, the leaves of plants with speckled snow mold are matted to the soils, and covered with a whitish gray fungal growth. Growing resistant varieties is the most effective and affordable control measure for snow mold.

The Idaho Wheat Commission will be presenting a web-based grower education seminar (webinar) to help educate Idaho wheat growers about Snow Mold diseases. The webinar will be approximately one hour. Participation is simple and free! Log onto the website at http://connect.cals.uidaho.edu/wheat (requires Adobe Flash Player which is installed on most computers) and enter your name as a participant.

Tuesday, November 22, 9:00 a.m. MST – Guest Presenter Tim Murray, Professor Dept. of Plant Pathology, Washington State University will discuss the disease development of snow mold, symptoms of the disease and the best methods to control the disease. Dr. Murray will also answer questions during the webinar and provide information on disease resistant varieties.

The webinar will be recorded and made available at www.idahowheat.org.

USDA Identifies Step Rust Resistant Wheat Varieties

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it has identified a number of stem rust-resistant wheat varieties and was retesting them to verify their resistance.

USDA scientists at the ARS Small Grains Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho screened more than 3,000 wheat landraces from the National Small Grains Collection against new races of the stem rust pathogen found in Kenyan wheat fields. Landraces with confirmed resistance were crossed with susceptible wheat to determine the genetic basis of the resistance.
The researchers’ goal was to find new genes for resistance to UG99, a rust strain that has the capacity to overcome many of the resistant genes used in the past 50 years. The work will help African growers now and will help suppress disease and reduce damage in developing countries, as well as prepare for the potential arrival of Ug99 in the United States.

Stem Rust-Resistant Wheat Landraces Identified

U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists have identified a number of stem rust-resistant wheat varieties and are retesting them to verify their resistance. Stem rust occurs worldwide wherever wheat is grown. Over a large area, losses from stem rust can be severe, ranging from 50 to 70 percent, and individual fields can be destroyed.

Agricultural Research Service plant pathologist Mike Bonman at the agency's Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho, and his colleagues screened more than 3,000 wheat landraces from the National Small Grains Collection against new races of the stem rust pathogen found in wheat fields in Kenya. Landraces with confirmed resistance are being crossed with susceptible wheat to determine the genetic basis of the resistance.

ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency, and the research supports the USDA priority of promoting international food security.

Field trials in Kenya to screen for resistance are vital to this work, according to Bonman, who worked at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for 9 years before coming to ARS. He is now working collaboratively with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) near Mexico City, and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

Excellent procedures have been developed by CIMMYT and KARI personnel to promote rust disease in the nursery, enabling Bonman to evaluate which ARS accessions are resistant to rust. According to Bonman, CIMMYT facilitates the nursery and site logistics, and ARS helps with evaluating the level of rust development in wheat varieties.

The research team's goal is to find new genes for resistance to a rust strain called Ug99, because that strain has the capacity to overcome many of the resistance genes that have been used for the past 50 years. This work will help Africa's growers now and will help suppress disease and reduce damage in developing countries. It also will prepare the United States for Ug99 if the disease arrives here, according to Bonman.

Crowd favors dock expansion

Idaho Wheat Commissioner Bill Flory made the Lewiston Tribune with his comments made at the hearing this past Wednesday (10/19) hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the proposed dock expansion project at the Port of Lewiston.

IGPA V.P. “Genesee” Joe Anderson also made public statements in support of the Port.

Crowd favors dock expansion By ELAINE WILLIAMS of the Lewiston Tribune

Businesses and groups supporting a dock expansion at the Port of Lewiston dominated a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public hearing on the project.Representatives of Clearwater Paper, Avista and six farming organizations were among those who said they favored the project Wednesday during the meeting at Sacajawea Junior High in Lewiston.

About 20 of those speaking wanted the Port of Lewiston to proceed with plans to lengthen its 125-foot container dock by 150 feet. Roughly 10 were against it. The upgrade can't be done without a permit from the corps because the arm of the federal government has jurisdiction for any work in navigable waters of the U.S.One of the decisions the corps will make, likely by December, is whether it will require an environmental impact statement, a detailed analysis that would look at alternatives to the project.

People on both sides of the issue made arguments their stance was the best for the environment. Backers noted barging creates less air pollution than trains or trucks and reduces traffic congestion by reducing the number of semis on the road.

They also talked about the economic benefits of the port. Northern Idaho growers save anywhere from $1.6 million to $8 million a year barging wheat to Portland compared with the costs of rail, said Bill Flory, a Winchester farmer who serves on the Idaho Wheat Commission. That money gets spent in local communities, Flory said. "We need a port with a complete product mix of services."

Opponents asked for an EIS, noting the dock would be constructed in a spot that has less than 15 feet of water.Concerns about sediment collection are so intense the corps is spending $13 million to study how to protect Lewiston from flooding as the levels rise, said Brett Haverstick of Friends of the Clearwater.

A corps official couldn't immediately confirm anything about the study.Opponents also argued the longer dock would turn the port into more of a destination for megaloads that take up two lanes of traffic on roadways.

"This proposed expansion is a boondoggle that should be regulated to the dust bin," Haverstick said.Jerry Myers of Lewiston said stopping the extension wouldn't prevent megaloads from arriving in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.

Some megaloads are going through the Port of Wilma, just west of Clarkston, Myers said.Myers also noted the Port of Lewiston has been in the megaload business almost from its beginning. Some of the first oversized loads arrived in Lewiston shortly after slackwater in the 1970s, Myers said. They were steam dryers for tissue machines at Clearwater Paper.