Partners in Wheat
93%. That is the percentage of people who regularly consume at least one pizza per month. While mulling over your preferred and often strategic array of toppings, chances are you aren’t worried about one of the most important ingredients: the wheat in your crust.
This family favorite is just one of the many wheat-based staples in, not only our American diets, but the diets of billions around the world. As the world’s population increases, so does the demand for wheat.
A Partnership for the Decades
Since the early 1960’s, Colorado State University has been developing what is known today as one of the best wheat breeding programs in the country. Research and extension programs incorporate breeding, variety trials, certified seed increases, and crop management systems to provide new cultivars, new cropping systems, and best management practices for the industry. This research has met many goals over the years such as increasing yields, improving milling and baking quality characteristics, and reducing production risks through improved disease and insect resistance.
Much of this research has been funded be a unique partnership with the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee. It’s a partnership that’s existed for 46 years. For every bushel of wheat that is sold in Colorado, the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee (CWAC) collects 2 pennies which funds their budget to the tune of approximately $1.4 million per year. Approximately 25% of their budget then comes to Colorado State to fund wheat breeding and genetics and other key research areas.
Another significant partner in the success of Colorado State’s wheat breeding program is the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation (CWRF). Every time Colorado State researchers develop a wheat variety, the CWRF takes ownership of it and they assess royalties on its sales. The royalties then come back to Colorado State to fund wheat breeding and wheat-related research programs as well.
“It takes us on average 10 years to develop a new variety of wheat,” explains Scott Haley, a professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences who runs CSU’s wheat breeding and genetics program. “We make a cross between two varieties with a goal to develop one improved variety that has the best of both parents.” New varieties are bred to promote characteristics like drought tolerance, disease and insect resistance, milling and baking quality, and high yields.
Eating Wheat Starts with Breeding Wheat
Haley’s research includes about 1000 crosses each year that are planted in August and harvested in July. This is done at 15 locations scattered throughout the state. “Most of them are in farmers fields,” said Haley, who adds that wheat field trials are also done at the Plainsman and Arkansas Valley Agricultural Experiment Stations and the USDA-ARS Central Great Plains Research Station in Akron, Colo. Other facilities involved in the research include wheat greenhouses, wheat quality labs, and plant molecular biology labs.
DNA marker technology adds a new dimension to Colorado State’s wheat research. The DNA marker assisted selection allows researchers to identify traits in the laboratory, find markers for them, and then identify plants that carry that trait based on the presence of a small segment of DNA. “If we want to combine disease resistance and baking quality, we can do this relatively easily with DNA markers in the laboratory,” comments Haley. Colorado wheat growers have funded this new effort.
There is a lot to celebrate when it comes to measuring the impacts of all CSU’s wheat research.
- CSU-bred wheat cultivars account for over 65% of Colorado's 2.4 million acres (2008 crop) with the remaining acreage planted mostly with cultivars from university breeding programs in adjacent states.
- Since 1963, average wheat grain yields in Colorado have more than doubled with at least 50% of this increase attributed to improved cultivars. With regard to quality, estimates from Colorado wheat industry leaders indicate that end-use quality enhancements from cultivars developed at CSU provide an average of $20 million per year increased income for Colorado wheat producers (83 million bushels x $0.25 per bushel price increase; 2003 dollars).
- Certified seed usage in Colorado reached a new high in Fall 2007, with 30.4% of wheat acres planted to certified seed.
- The estimated economic benefit of CSU's contributions to the wheat industry of Colorado is $27 million annually.
CSU’s Wheat Research Holds Promising Future
Thus far, there is no genetically engineered wheat growing anywhere in the world on a commercial scale, mostly because none has been approved for production. “In recent years, the world has seen wheat shortages,” says Haley. “It’s made people question how long we can go without bringing biotechnology to wheat growing.” Haley comments that many companies are beginning to show interest in this area.
Haley continues to say how important a strong partnership is between the growers and the Agricultural Experiment Stations at Colorado State University. “The future is yet to be seen. It will remain strong and promising as long as the partnerships remain strong.”