-Sam Anderson
This last year has resulted in many successes for the Wheat and Barley Committee (MWBC). The mission of the MWBC is relatively simple and in my short three and a half years as a staff member I’ve been able to help in carry this mission out. Which brings up the question, what all does the MWBC staff handle throughout the year? The MWBC board concluded their forward-looking budget meeting, and the staff is ultimately tasked with fulfilling the approved appropriations. To put it simply, we have three main goals as we enter 2023:
Trade Development
When selling our product, we have two goals. Develop genuine relationships and provide an experience that gives our buyers an opportunity to join in on the Montana way of life. Secondly, we offer transparent expertise on local quality, supply chains, and economics of wheat and barley.
Education
Farmers are far from immune to the ever-changing world of public perception. It is more important than ever to tell the story of Montana famers! Corn and beans often lead the headlines, and the Montana farmers can quickly be forgotten on the international atmosphere. We are here to lead the charge by participating in National organizations, answering every media call, and by providing content to get our message out across the world.
Research
The staff’s goal is to monitor granted research studies and solicit new studies for our 7 board members to review the following year. For 2023 we have a list of studies that are most defiantly putting your checkoff dollars to work!
2023 Projects
Spring wheat, winter wheat, winter barley, spring barley and spring durum varietal development.
Wheat heat stress resiliency discovery through genomics
Advance breeding line testing across Montana for environmental specific cultivar recommendations
Developing uniform solid stem wheat varieties for wheat stem sawfly resistance
Improving the quality of Montana hard red and white wheats
Montana barley crop quality survey and report
Benefits of rotation on wheat and other crops following wheat
Soil carbon accrual in progressive Montana crop rotations
Assessing pathogen inoculum density and foliar and head disease development in dryland in irrigated spring wheat fields
Understanding fusarium head blight pathogen populations in Montana.
Advance disease resistance in Montana’s wheat
Integrated pest management of wheat stem sawfly
Varietal education to advance best practices
Testing five elite hard spring wheat reduced nitrogen application and planting density
Quantifying the impact of irrigation and precipitation timings in winter wheat yield and quality