State Board
of
Agricultural Research Fund

SBAR Barley Granting Committee Minutes

October 7, 1998

The SBAR Barley Granting Committee called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. on October 7, 1998. Committee members present were Charles Ottem, Doyle Lentz, Dan Wiltse, Craig Law, Wayne Narum, Louis Arnold, Dr. Al Schneiter (designee for Dr. Cole Gustafson), and Dr. Terry Gregoire. Others present were John Mittleider, Executive Director of the North Dakota Barley Council, Allan Skogen, ND Grain Growers and Lori Capouch.

It was moved and seconded to cast a unanimous ballet to elect Charles Ottem as chairperson of the committee. The motion carried.

Chairman Ottem stated the ND Barley Council has agreed to provide up to 30% matching funds for proposals funded by the SBAR Barley Granting Committee. The unofficial amount available from SBAR is $31,686.94.

Proposal Presentations

1. Development of six-rowed feed barley cultivars with multiple disease resistance

Presenter - Dr. Rich Horsley Amount Requested: $14,500 per year for 5 years

The FHB epidemic and subsequent high levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) in the grain have resulted in large portions of the ND six-rowed barley crop being rejected for malting and brewing every year since 1993. Less than 40% of the 1997 crop was purchased by these industries. One way to increase yield is to develop cultivars with resistance to multiple diseases. Barley cultivars with multiple disease resistances will require fewer inputs such as fungicides and development of these cultivars can be done much quicker in a feed barley vs. malting since there are no limitations on quality.

The objective is to develop high yielding six-rowed feed barley cultivars with multiple disease resistances for ND producers. High yielding is defined as a 20% yield advantage over the highest yielding six-rowed malting barley.

2. Production of doubled-haploid barley lines using isolated microspore culture

Presenter - Dr. Rich Horsley Amount Requested: $13,000 per year for 2 years

Development of new barley cultivars takes 10-12 years. At least 3 years of this time is dedicated to selfing plants so genes are fixed in a near homozygous state. A method of breeding called doubled haploid (DH) breeding allows for homozygous plants to be developed in less than one year. Thus, the time needed to develop new cultivars is

reduced using the DH breeding method. Two methods are available for producing DH lines in barley, the Hordeum bulbosum (Hb) method and the isolated microspore culture method (IMC.)

The NDSU six-rowed barley breeding project currently is using the Hb method for DH production. This method of breeding takes about three times the labor and twice the greenhouse space as conventional breeding methods. Because of these limitations, they are limited to producing 5-10 DH populations per year vs. nearly 100 using traditional methods.

Researchers at University of Guelph claim that production of DH barley lines using the IMC method has reached the stage where it can be used extensively for breeding new cultivars and in research. If true, DH populations and lines can be produced more efficiently and much cheaper using the IMC method vs. the Hb method. The objective is to determine if they can successfully produce DH lines using the IMC method for DH production

3. Continued operation of 16 western North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network Stations

Presenter - Dr. John Enz Amount Requested: $7,000 for one year

NDAWN was established in 1989 with 6 remote automatic weather stations and has now expanded to 50 stations. NDAWN was formed to provide timely, reliable hourly and daily air/soil temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind, solar radiation, and pressure data specifically for agriculture. They are available through the Internet and the Extension Network. The request is for one year's operations of 16 NDAWN stations located near Beach, Bowman, Columbus, Mohall, Watford City, Hazen, Turtle Lake, Bottineau, Towner, Linton, Robinson, Harvey, Baker, Rolla, Edgeley, and Dazey.

4. DON in barley: titration of the threshold concentration for acceptance by growing swine

Presenter - Dr. Robert Harrold Amount Requested: $9,600 for one year

Mycotoxin contamination of barley grown in many of the major barley producing districts of ND has had a profound effect on the swine production industry in those regions of the state. About 50% of the barley grown in ND has traditionally been available for feeding to livestock as "feed barley." Recent infestations with DON have made ND swine producers apprehensive about using barley in their diets.

Growing pigs housed in individual pens will be offered barley-based diets containing graded levels of DON from a barley source containing DON as the only mycotoxin or barley containing DON and related fungal metabolites. Voluntary feed consumption, feed wasted, and emesis will be used as the criteria to determine acceptance thresholds.

5. Identification of fungicide application techniques that maximize control of FHB

Presenter - Dr. Marcia McMullen Amount Requested: $7,500 for one year

Use of fungicides to help control FHB has resulted in reductions in FHB severity from 40-60%. Economic return can be realized from these levels of control, but mor consistent economic return and response to fungicides could be realized if 70-90% reduction in FHB severity would be achieved. The heads or spikes of wheat and barley are the site of infection by the FHB disease organism, and these grain spikes have proven difficult targets for fungicide application. Improving deposition and retention of the fungicide on the grain spikes will give a higher probability of increased control and greater economic return.

A temporary greenhouse has been purchased and is being assembled at a site at NDSU. This greenhouse will house a sprayer prototype, built to accommodate various nozzles, sprayer pressures and sprayer speeds. The greenhouse also was needed to grow plants to the heading stage, the growth stage at which the fungicide techniques must be evaluated. The funds will be used for greenhouse supplies, such as potting medium planting boxes and Grow-lux lights.

6. Correlation between residue management and the survivability of fusarium

Presenter - Dr. Robert Todd Amount Requested: $50,000 per year for 2 years

In cereal grains, Fusarium has been associated with previous crop residue left on the soil surface. This microorganism appears to have the potential to colonize residue, survive the winter months and wait for the proper soil moisture and temperature conditions to develop during the following growing season. When this development coincides with small grain flowering, infection is greatly increased resulting in severe grain yield and quality reductions. Many approaches have been taken to control the disease such as development of resistant varieties, chemical control, crop rotation, and recently, attention to residue management. It is the consensus of many investigators that Fusarium survives in residues of cereal grains.

The research approach will be to 1) determine the decomposition rate of residue left on the soil surface and that which is "plowed" down, and 2) to quantify the presence of Fusarium in the respective residue.

7. Evaluating the effects of tempering and a yeast/enzyme cocktail on the performance and digestion of calves fed barley during growing and finishing

Presenter - Dr. Vern Anderson Amount Requested: $25,200

There is strong evidence that barley is equivalent to corn on a pound per pound basis as a feed grain. Improving the performance of barley fed steers would increase the returns to feeders or the value of the grain to barley growers.

The objectives of this proposal are to 1) compare performance on calves fed tempered rolled vs. dry rolled barley; 2) evaluate effects of a yeast/enzyme cocktail on performance and digestion; 3) compare experimental barley feeding methods with dry rolled corn; 4) evaluate carcasses from steers fed barley and corn diets; and 5) determine economic returns for different barley feeding methods vs. corn.

Following the presentations, the committee members individually scored the proposals one through seven with one representing the highest score. The composite of the scores were used to determine the ranking of the proposals. The following is how the projects ranked:

It was moved by Dr. Gregoire and seconded by Mr. Narum to fund the following:

$13,000 for the first year of project #2 - Production of doubled-haploid barley lines using isolated microspore culture

$ 7,500 for project #5 - Identification of fungicide application techniques that maximize control of FHB

$14,500 for the first year of project #1 - Development of six-rowed feed barley cultivars with multiple disease resistance

$ 1,000 for project #3 - Continued operation of 16 Western North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN) Stations

$ 7,200 for project #7 - Evaluating the effects of tempering and a yeast/enzyme cocktail on the digestion and performance of calves fed barley during growing and finishing

The motion carried unanimously.

The committee meeting was adjourned.

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