Wednesday, february 1 1, 197Q
page 6
daily nebraskan
third
cCinsftdofl
progress
through
research
Wheal breeders look for high protein and taste
John Schmidt, UNL agronomy professof , is looking for
a strain of winter wheat that can stand cold winter temp
eratures, resist disease and insects, have a high yield-per-acre
and will still taste good when baked into a loaf of
bread.
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Photo fay Slav Boarnar
John Schmidt, agronomy professor at UNL, Is one
of several state and federal wheat breeders working
to develop improved strains of wheat for Nebraska.
Schmidt is one of several wheat breeders to
the state and the nation who annually shift some 50,000
strains of winter wheat to obtain 25 varieties which have a
chance of acquiring the characteristics listed above.
"Every year we throw away 90 to 95 per cent of a gen
eration (of wheat)," Schmidt said. "The trick is finding
the few strains that might have value."
These few selected strains are planted on test plots
from Canada to Texas, he said.
Both state and federal breeders at UNL cooperate in
' the annual search for improved strains of wheat.
This year UNL will receive a $530,000 grant from the
Agency for International Development (AID), a division
of the U.S. State Dept. .
This grant will be used to improve the nutritional value
of Nebraska wheat, which is distributed all over the world
in foreign aid programs, according to Paul Mattern, UNL
cereal chemist.
Mattern said AID test nurseries in approximately 40
countries grow winter wheat samples sent from Nebraska.
Then, UNL wheat breeders check the grain for its nutri
tional quality, he said, including tests for absorption, ris
ing time, loaf volume and protein content.
Before a test strain of wheat is pronounced successful,
Mattern said, it is grown at four or five locations across
the state to obtain a composite sampling of its various
properties.
The wheat then is milled at Kansas State University
(KSU) Manhattan, Kan., and returned to Lincoln. KSU
has the largest experimental mill in the region, Schmidt
said.
If the milled wheat passes baking tests, it is sent to the
Small Grain Crop Variety Committee, comprised of mem
bers of UNL's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Re
sources, Schmidt said. It decides whether to plant the
wheat strain on Nebraska farms, he said.
When selecting strains of wheat, he emphasized, breed
ers consider farming . techniques as well as nutritional
needs in the next ten years.
"If the farmer won't be able to use it, it's no good,"
Schmidt said.
UNL has experimented with new wheat strains since
about 1390, Schmidt said, and made their first "break
through" about 10 years later when they proved that win
ter wheat, rather than spring wheat, was better suited to
Nehraska weather.
Today, about 7 state and federal wheat breeders con
duct UNL's breeding experiments, Schmidt said. They are
aided by several technicians, graduate students and under
graduate students.
7
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Photo courtviy of Inttifuta of Agrfeulttira and Natural R
aoureas
John Schmidt (left), agronomy professor and Paul
Mattern, cereal chemist, study several varieties of
Nebraska wheat annually.
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