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New Wheat Variety Released by Colorado State Named after Longtime
Plant Pathologist
8/9/2007
Mick Livingston
Extension Agent (4-H/Youth)
Colorado
State University Extension
Golden Plains Area |
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A new high-yielding and stress tolerant variety of hard red winter
wheat developed by the Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment
Station has been released to seed producers in Colorado. Named "Bill Brown" as
tribute to a longtime Colorado State professor and Extension plant pathologist
who passed away in 2003, the new variety has shown high yields in Colorado and
excellent defense from both leaf and stripe rust.
Dr. William "Bill" M.
Brown, who joined Colorado State in 1980, devoted his career to the improvement
and management of disease of wheat and other grain crops, including leaf and
stripe rusts. He was a charismatic and upbeat individual and an internationally
recognized and highly respected researcher, according to his colleagues. Among
several other leadership positions, Brown served as an international extension
coordinator and faculty advisor for the Peace Corps. He also had a witty sense
of humor and an affinity for jazz. The annually-awarded William E. Brown Jr.
Memorial Scholarship was established in 2003.
"Bill was the kind of
person that could fill up a room and make everyone happy," said Tom Holtzer,
head of Colorado State's Department of Bioagricultural and Sciences and Pest
Management. "He was a tremendous researcher and an excellent, engaging
teacher."
In several years of field testing throughout eastern Colorado,
the Bill Brown wheat variety has shown exceptional yield under both
non-irrigated and irrigated conditions, very high test weights, and good
milling and baking qualities, said Colorado State wheat breeder Scott Haley.
Haley leads a team of researchers, including Extension entomologist Frank
Peairs and Extension agronomist Jerry Johnson, which focus on improving wheat
varieties for Colorado's farmers.
"Bill Brown has been a top-yielder
over a three-year average in the dryland trials, essentially equivalent to the
high-yielding variety Hatcher," Haley said. "That included two very
drought-stressed years in 2005 and 2006. Bill Brown has also topped our
irrigated trials and has the potential to be the standard for irrigated wheat
growers."
It took 10 years to develop Bill Brown, Haley said, with the
first cross-breeding taking place in 1997. Colorado State's wheat breeding
program has established itself as a dependable developer of new, productive
wheat varieties for Colorado growers. In 2007, about half of all wheat acreage
in Colorado was planted to varieties developed by Colorado State.
In an
agreement between Colorado State, the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation, or
CWRF, and the Colorado Seed Growers Association, ownership and marketing rights
of Bill Brown will be offered to the CWRF. Bill Brown may be grown and sold
only as a class of certified seed by Colorado Seed Growers Association members
licensed by the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation. The foundation will obtain
a certificate of plant variety protection for these new varieties under the
federal Plant Variety Protection Act. Royalties paid to the foundation by
certified seed growers from the sale of these varieties is returned to Colorado
State to support continued wheat research and variety development. |
Page Created and Maintained by: Perry D. Brewer, Area
Extension Agent (Technology Education/Youth)
8/23/2007 |
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