February 17, 2010

For many years, wheat variety development in the U.S. has been primarily driven by public land-grant universities. However, recent trends in agriculture have convinced many in the wheat industry that private companies need to be more involved in wheat variety development to keep wheat competitive with other crops.

The National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates have adopted a policy called "Principles of Collaboration in Wheat Breeding and Biotechnology" that advocates cooperation between land-grant universities and private companies. In the next five to ten years, this will likely lead to a greater array of improved wheat varieties as well as changes in how growers buy wheat seed.

To read more about this change, see Collaborated Public/Private Wheat Variety Development Sought in eWheat, an electronic news digest for wheat growers published by Corn & Soybean Digest.

Drew Lyon
Extension Dryland Cropping Systems Specialist