FOR SOUTH DAKOTA FARMERS
He said, “By looking at a field, I’m not able to accurately say how much it will produce, or how much protein the flour produces. But I can see this plant has a shorter plant height. I’ve had luck since I’ve started with shortening the stature of South Dakota spring wheat choices, but it’s still a work in progress. There are always changes to consider.”
When Glover started at SDSU, South Dakota had developed some of the earliest maturing spring wheat in the nation.
He said, “My predecessor, Fred Cholick, was known for selecting early materials because they usually would beat the heat. (The varieties) Brick and Focus, that I released, are earlier than any others of which I am aware. Depending on the weather forecast, every year people look for different features. We have also developed a few that are quite late. Boost is a cultivar that matures eight days later than average.”
A winter nursery/breeding program in New Zealand and Arizona speed up the lengthy selection process. It takes roughly 10 years to create, evaluate and prepare sufficient seed to release a new wheat variety.
From the crosses done in 2017, it will be close to 2027 before selected varieties could be in fields,
Glover said. “We start with 400 to 500 new crosses and evaluate the new populations. We look for something from that group of 500 planted in 2017 to flourish.” The earliest portion of the process takes place in Yuma. Glover checks the stands, makes the selections and tells the crew which ones to harvest. They thrash the rows and send seed to SDSU. They choose around 30 seeds from each unique cross. Seeds planted in the
greenhouse are in rows six feet long. The crosses made in
November 2017 finished the cycle in April 2018.
In April 2019, those seeds will be planted in fields located east of Brookings at the SDSU Aurora Research Farm and also at the SDSU Northeast Research Farm at South Shore, S.D. Each row will turn into a plot at those locations with F2 (second-generation cross) plants. The variation needs
stabilization.
Glover explained, “We will evaluate the tall, short and in-between plants at harvest time
in August of 2019. Of the 500 plots, there may only be 300 that are really interesting. We collect 20 heads from each of those plots, choosing those in the mid-range.” After harvest, the information pertaining to yield and quality is reviewed. They throw away seeds from about one-third of trials. The winter nursery speeds up the process by growing two cycles per year. Regional replicated tests continue for more than three years. After making the crosses, around three years of inbreeding are required in the nurseries to achieve a certain level of uniformity, then at least three additional years of advanced yield trial evaluation is required.
Glover said, “After three years of decent performance in advanced yield trials, then we can give the material to the SDSU Foundation Seed group. They begin the process of increasing it, through usually planting at least half an acre in California. The desert produces much higher wheat yields than what would be expected in South Dakota. South Dakota Foundation Seeds then plant those resulting seeds around Brookings for at least
bushels required for Crop Improvement Association
members. They grow it, and once it receives certification, they can sell the result as certified seed.”
Nurseries in New Zealand and Arizona allow Glover to
accomplishes the same thing on different time cycles.
Lincoln, New Zealand, is nearly as far south of the equator as
Brookings is north, which makes it perfectly suited for growing South Dakota wheat, Glover explains. “In September, we send the seed to New Zealand for planting. Wheat harvested in February arrives at SDSU in late March. The day and night periods are the same during New Zealand summers as in South Dakota summers. Location doesn't matter to the plants.”
Arizona fields planted in late October are harvested in late April. Water is controlled through
irrigation in Arizona fields. New Zealand is more like South Dakota. If not enough rain falls, then Glover can have problems getting enough seed for his trials. Arizona production is nearly always
hot but are still much shorter than South Dakota’s summer. The plants produce many more tillers and stay green longer. When it’s time for harvest, most material is not completely ripe. Glover explains the Arizona crew harvests the material in a shock and lays it on the desert floor to dry in the sun for about a week before harvest.
The 30 seeds can often produce a harvest of around two pounds of grain because the wheat produces more and larger heads.
While making progress in wheat variety production, there are some things that baffle Glover.
“I only go to Arizona once a year to view the plants. The process takes years to understand why some things happen. In my 15 years, I still don’t fully understand everything. With certain parental lines, we don’t see consistency when we bring materials back to South Dakota. I may think it is an early maturing variety in Arizona, but then it ends up being late in South Dakota. Plant height is another issue, something that is too tall in Arizona, may be just fine in South Dakota, but that is not always the
case. Sometimes, my thesis gets blown out of the water, but it does seem that some parents behave better than others.”
Glover works closely with SDSU Extension staff members such as Jonathan Kleinjan to help explain the SDSU Spring Wheat Program to interested stakeholders at events such as summer research farm field days. Connie Groop • Boost - 2015 • Surpass - 2015 • Focus - 2014 • Prevail - 2013 • Advance - 2011 • Forefront - 2011 • Select - 2010 • Brick - 2008