News and Updates

There is still time to register for an eOrganic webinar on breeding organic naked (hull-less) barley, by Karl Kunze of Cornell University. The webinar takes place on April 14, 2021 at 11AM Pacific, 12 Mountain, 1 Central, 2 Eastern Time and is free and open to the public. Register in advance at https://oregonstate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RJzsV_8LQWKpZbyp0vydlg

Barley, one of the first domesticated agricultural plants, is a versatile crop that has three main end uses: malt food and feed. Interest in consumption of organic barley for these end uses have increased in recent years, and organic prices can fetch a significant premium to justify integrating organic barley into an organic farmer’s profile. Naked barley, a type of barley where the hull falls off the grain at harvest, has significant advantages over “hulled” due to better test weight and processing as a whole grain, particularly for food consumption. However, there many traits of barley in organic environments that have not been considered because most barley has been selected for malting quality in conventional environments. Here, we will be presenting research progress made on the Multi-use Organic Naked Barley project with the aim to develop methods to evaluate and select multi-use naked barley lines in organic environments. We have evaluated both winter and spring variety trials across the United States at research universities located in New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and California. The goal of the webinar is to present some of our research and trial findings as well as some practical experience learned from growing organic naked barley for this project. Additionally,we will discuss utilizing aerial imaging technology to measure components of weed competitive ability in organic spring barley.

Karl Kunze is a graduate student in the School of Integrative Plant Science Plant Breeding and Genetics Section, and works in Mark Sorrell's lab.

Join eOrganic for a webinar about the development of biofortified field peas and sorghum for organic plant-based proteins by a team of researchers from Clemson University! The webinar takes place on February 5, 2021 at 11AM Pacific, 12PM Mountain, 1PM Central, 2PM Eastern Time. It's free and open to the public, and advance registration is required.  

Register now at https://oregonstate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x0sgC7_2Tnyzz0uoLe0ZRw

About the Webinar

Current organic grain production primarily utilizes plant cultivars (cultivated varieties) that have been selected for high-input (fertilizer, pesticides, etc.) production systems, but these are often not best suited for organic agriculture. Pulse crops such as field peas as well as ancient cereal grains like sorghum show great potential to meet the increasing consumer demand for organic plant-based protein, prebiotic carbohydrates, and essential micronutrients, especially within allergen- and gluten-free markets. Yet, very little cultivar development has been done to optimize the genetics of field pea and sorghum to maximize productivity and profitability for growers and also improve nutritional quality for end-users and consumers. This webinar will highlight the ongoing development of organic field pea and sorghum cultivars with improved nutrient composition using on-farm field selection.  The talk will also provide a brief insight into the advanced technologies being used for cultivar development.  Last but not least, we will discuss organic management practices used to produce these crops in both nutrient-rich (Clemson, SC) and marginal (Pelion, SC) soils.  This webinar is structured to be an informative, learning opportunity for current and prospective organic growers, as well as researchers, scientists, and students interested in organic cultivar development and management.

Presenters

Dil Thavarajah – organic field pea biofortification (10-15 min)
Tristan Lawrence – organic field pea trials and management (trials, management, disease/insects, weeds) (10-15 min)
Rick Boyles – organic sorghum breeding (10-15 min)
Panel (Questions) – Dil Thavarajah, Rick Boyles, Tristan Lawrence, Emerson Shipe (remaining time)

There is still time to register for the webinar series on barcode based digital data collection for vegetable breeding programs! The first webinar took place on August 24, and the recording is available at http://articles.extension.org/pages/74512.

About the Webinar Series

The webinars in this series are targeted to small to mid size vegetable seed companies and horticultural researchers. Considering the transition from clipboard to tablet? This series of 3 webinars by Michael Mazourek of Cornell University will provide user friendly strategies to getting started with digital data collection and setting up your breeding or trial program with a barcode based system.  The system is designed to utilize off-the-shelf solutions such as standard spreadsheets and instruments that can be purchased from familiar scientific suppliers.

This webinar series is free and open to the public, and advance registration is required. Register just once for all 3 webinars here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8974102140154614019

August 24, 2017, 2PM Eastern Time, 1PM Central, 12PM Mountain, 11AM Pacific Time
Part 1: Introduction to Barcode-Based Digital Data Collection for Vegetable Breeding Programs. Recording available at:

Part 1 will consist of an overview of a comprehensive seed to field to fruit to seed system we have evolved to manage an array of vegetable crop breeding projects with special consideration for managing crops that will have multiple fresh market harvests. An introduction to barcoded information, plot and plant identity systems we employ, considerations and the overall infrastructure will be presented.

September 7, 2017. 2PM Eastern Time, 1PM Central, 12PM Mountain, 11AM Pacific Time
Part 2: Collecting Data in the Field with Barcode-Based Digital Data Collection for Vegetable Breeding Programs

Part 2 will focus on field based aspects from transplant to field, materials and supplies required, and strategies to collect observations in the field, including photography.

September 28, 2017. 2PM Eastern Time, 1PM Central, 12PM Mountain, 11AM Pacific Time
Part 3: Harvest Data and Final Analysis with Barcode-Based Digital Data Collection for Vegetable Breeding Programs

Part 3 will focus on harvest based component of the system with an emphasis on the connected instrumentation for dimensions, weights, photographs and quality instruments and how data is compiled for final analysis. At the conclusion, participants will be able to evaluate whether they will choose to invest in this technology and will have examples of how to get started in assembling their own data collection pipeline.

About the Presenter

Michael Mazourek is the Calvin Knoyes Keeney associate professor in Plant Breeding and Genetics at Cornell University. His breeding program focuses on the improvement of vegetable crops for organic production systems and accompanying genomic analyses to identify genes under selection and develop tools to facilitate vegetable breeding progress. Michael teaches Plant Genetics and conducts on-farm and participatory plant breeding workshops including ones as part of NOVIC, the Northern Organic Vegetable Improvement Collaborative. He has released several cultivars including the Habanada pepper, Martini cucumber, Trifecta melon and an array of butternut squash. His program includes several vegetables, but has a focus on pest and disease resistance in addition to flavor and convenience traits that promote the consumption of naturally nutritious foods.

Funding for this webinar series is being provided by a USDA NIFA AFRI project entitled Genomic and Phenomic Tools to Support Vegetable Cultivar Development: Winter Squash as an Initial Target.

2015 NAPB Webinar Series

The National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) in partnership with the Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee and the Plant Breeding and Genomics Community of Practice presents a new webinar series in April and May, 2015: The Science of Selections. The webinars in this series take place at 2PM Eastern Time (1PM Central, 12PM Mountain, 11AM Pacific Time). Participants will be able to type in questions for the presenters. Advance registration is required. Register now at the links below.