Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Public outreach efforts for naked organic barley included speaking at virtual and in-person organic agriculture and grain-related conferences, workshops, and events. Such events have allowed us to engage a diverse audience about the potential use of naked organic barley. Additionally, digital material produced after in-person gatherings became unsafe has allowed us to reach an even broader audience. Producers/growers End-users Processors Grain retailers and wholesalers Millers Brewers Distillers Maltsters Organic poultry egg and meat producers Animal feed suppliers and feed mills Chefs Bakers Students K-12 students Undergrad and graduate students Urban agriculture students Academic and industry researchers Organic organizations General Public Instagram/Facebook viewers (733 followers, 114 posts on @nakedbarley) Consumers and farmers market shoppers Business owners Changes/Problems:Covid-19 related Problem: Visits and experiments with K-12 schools could not be conducted as planned. Solution: Planned activities were canceled and were moved online for the 2020-2021 school year. Problem: We could not hold our 2021 annual meeting with stakeholders in NY. Solution: Researchers began meeting virtually every month with each other and stakeholders and are working on developing other virtual content to disseminate to stakeholders. Researchers held a 2-hour virtual meeting in May 2021 to gather the entire group for annual updates. Problem: Because of University restrictions placed on hiring summer labor, several of the programs were not able to employ hourly workers to help with research. Solution: Trials were maintained and analyzed to the best ability of the current employees. Problem: Social distancing and other restriction prevented a large gathering of people for field days at UW-Madison. Solution: A smaller, more informal event was held instead with specifically invited guests. Not Covid-19 related Problem: Weather and pests resulted in quality issues and missed planting opportunities. Solution: For harvested grain with quality issues (primarily pre-harvest sprouting as a result of rain prior to harvest), we have an opportunity to look at the different responses of the lines in the trial, which gives us useful breeding and selection information. Problem: As a result of equipment break-downs, poorly germinating grain, and crop failure, the grain for the malting and brewing trials was rendered unusable. Solution: The malting and brewing study is underway, but will be completed in the fall of 2021. Problem: Lines in the diversity panel were found to be genetically identical despite having separate names and coming from different sources. This presents challenges in performing GWAS and GS analysis. Solution: Genetically identical lines that displayed the same phenotype were relabeled to have the same name. Lines that were similar, but not completely identical were removed from the following analyses. Problem: Covered lines used as replicated checks in the diversity panel do not have variability for threshability. This is detrimental when calculating means of replicated lines, because there is not a good estimation of experimental error for threshability based on the replicated hulled lines. Solution: The hulled lines were removed from the analysis for threshability and the genetically identical lines previously mentioned were used as replicated checks instead. Problem: Shortage of grain for GrowNYC Grains to work with and market at the Grainstand. Solution: Activities pivoted to outreach to farmers. Progress was made with Small Valley Milling producing several varieties on a commercial scale in 2020. Outreach may yield future results in building general capacity for handling. Problem: Preharvest sprouting and smut damage at more than one location in more than one year made statistical analyses of the quality data challenging. Solution: As a result of withdrawal of the damaged samples from the data set either post-hoc (PHS) or prior to testing (smut) the design became unbalanced and did not allow a full factorial analysis for many traits. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Indirectly, attendance at conferences conveying the benefits of organic naked barley has allowed for development of professional networks and provided input regarding breeding goals for naked organic barley. Discussion of ideas and challenges at these conferences and events has provided training in how the goals and execution of the project should go forward. The graduate students have had many opportunities for professional development and training. They have learned many technical skills regarding experimental design, field work, data analysis, food science, weed management practices, public speaking, as well as a good sense of what working in academia is like. Attendance at meetings, field days and other activities have provided many opportunities to learn new ideas and points of view. Field related activities also provide the chance to learn many hands-on skills including field and plot management. Also, graduate students funded by this grant were able to learn technical and academic skills that they would not have otherwise been exposed to. Chris Massman, Karl Kunze, and Cristiana Vallejos, the breeding graduate students working on this project have also had the opportunity to develop data analysis and academic paper writing skills. They have had the opportunity to learn and work with different genomic methods in plant breeding including GWAS and genomic selection. They have also gained experience in writing and submission of completed research. Additionally, from interactions at field days or conferences, they have begun to develop valuable networks with researchers and farmers. Through presenting research proposals and results at various functions, they have improved their speaking ability. The food quality analyses being run at OSU have provided opportunities to train a graduate student, Jordyn Bunting, and undergraduate in wet chemistry and other methods of analyzing flour and cooked grains. This has involved learning cereal quality analytical and end-product testing and assessment, experimental design, statistical analyses, oral and written communication skills. Brigid Meints (former Postdoc, now Assistant Professor) has had the opportunity to mentor all of the graduate students on the grant and serves on the thesis committee for the OSU graduate student. This project has provided her training in project management, organizing events, malting, disease inoculation, and new data analysis techniques. GrowNYC Grains staff have been trained on the breeding process and culinary attributes of barley through this project. The GrowNYC Teaching Garden staff planted the Oregon Naked Barley Blend in their teaching garden and at the NYU Urban Farm Lab and learned about growing small-scale grain grow-outs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Details of the project have been disseminated through email, personal correspondence and communication, conferences, social media, and websites. UW-Madison, Cornell, and UMN hosted in-person field days and OSU hosted virtual field days on Instagram Live. The UW-Madison person field day was attended by approximately twenty growers and other people in industry. Because of the small size, researchers were able to engage participants more directly in the question-and-answer sections of the event. Social media postings in Instagram and Facebook allow researchers to share project updates and photos with thousands of followers between @nakedbarley, @culinarybreedingnetwork, @eorganicofficial, and @grownycgrains. Brigid Meints from OSU presented at the Craft Malt Conference on malting and brewing naked barley. June Russell, Brigid Meints, and Karl Kunze participated in a panel discussion with project partners at the Philadelphia Grain and Malt Symposium on Naked Barley and Other Value-Added Grains. Brigid Meints, Pat Hayes, Jordyn Bunting, and Cristiana Vallejos of Oregon State University gave a presentation on the Multi-use Naked Barley project at the Culinary Variety Showcase. Available at https://youtu.be/60V62G8yREo?t=5531. Karl Kunze of Cornell University presented an eOrganic webinar entitled Progress on Organic Naked Barley Breeding: Exploration of Organic Breeding Traits. Available at https://youtu.be/oW0FjspbsMo. Brigid Meints and Andrew Ross participated in a barley workshop with Sarah Owens titled 'Bodacious Barley Workshop'. Researchers collaborated with a graphic designer to produce a barley zine, which includes information about the project and recipes developed by collaborators and stakeholders. A printed version has been distributed to 200 people and the digital version has reached hundreds more. Each of the breeding programs have uploaded phenotypic data from the regional trials and diversity panels to the T3 (Triticeae Toolbox: https://triticeaetoolbox.org/barley/) database. These data can be accessed by other breeding programs and researchers. Participants from this project teamed up with organizers of the Cascadia Grains Conference, and members of the Value-added Grains OREI project to host a week-long conference called 'Grains Week'. Five of the presentations (given by Brigid Meints, Cristiana Vallejos, Andrew Ross, Jordyn Bunting, Mark Sorrells, Julie Dawson, June Russell, Kevin Smith, and Pat Hayes) focused specifically on this project; the total view for the week were 5,403. This content is on YouTube and may garner further views in the future. Chris Massman presented regional trial results from the first cycle of the grant to CIAS faculty in October of 2021. The presentation was online and attended by approximately twelve people. A question-and-answer session followed the presentation. Chris Massman presented regional trial and diversity panel results from the first cycle of the grant to plant breeding and plant genetics students and faculty at UW Madison. The presentation was online and attended by approximately thirty people. A question-and-answer session followed the presentation. Incollaboration with Portland-based Wellspent Market (retail, wholesale and online store), Barleyworld and Culinary Breeding Network promoted barley and barley products (whole grain and flakes) and a giveaway during Grains Week. Wellspent started offering locally grown, organic 'Streaker' barley flakes as a result of collaboration. Wellspent owner Jim Dixon and CBN director Lane Selman executed an Instagram live (1272 views) to discuss using barley in the kitchen. Wellspent created and promoted barley recipes thru social media and their website -recipeandcookie recipe. Incollaboration with Portland-based pastamaker Emily Park, offeredbarley pasta kitsfor sale during Grains Week. Incollaboration with PNW chain Burgerville (40 locations in WA and OR) organic hull-less barley has been included in their new "Seedlings" program. 'Purple Karma' barley is being distributed in kids meals at each location. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In the final year of the grant, participants worked on conducting end-use quality tests and analyzing data from over 400 naked barley lines grown in certified organic trials during the first three years of the project, characterizing them for agronomic traits, food and malt quality traits, weed competitive ability, and resistance to abiotic and biotic stressors. These analyses include characterizing the genotype by environment interactions for agronomics and food quality of naked barley germplasm as well as investigating the genetic basis of threshability, weed competitive ability, and resistance to a range of diseases. Understanding these characteristics allows breeders to make optimal decisions for selecting the best barley variety in their region. With the results of these trials, we have begun new breeding work to select for traits necessary for organic production. Journal and extension publications are in preparation to disseminate the results of these experiments to researchers and growers. Survey and interview results looking at the economic feasibility of growing organic barley have been published and will continue to be made available to growers. Hundreds of growers, processors, and consumers have been provided with trial results and information about naked organic barley at conferences, virtual field days, through personal communication, website postings, and social media. Goal 1: The value of naked barley as a new potential crop was described to stakeholders through a variety of mechanisms. In MN, a six-acre grain increase of MS10S4111-01, an advanced breeding line, were conducted for large-scale end-use testing and distribution to interested end-users. At UW-Madison, sensory analysis on food grade naked barley was performed with professional bakers. Bakers worked with flour from different naked lines to replicate a sugar cookie recipe and a pita recipe. Baked goods were then sampled by customers and other researchers in a blind taste test. Researchers at UW-Madison convened a discussion of key stakeholders, including farmers, bakers, millers and seed company representatives to share these results. Goal 2: Data analyses, including ANOVAs, correlations, and mean separations have been performed on agronomic data from the regional trials. A combined analysis of regional trial data from all three seasons was performed to assess lines in the panel as well as determine the observed variance attributable to genetic, environmental and genotype by environmental effects. A variety of methods was used including ANOVA, Spearman correlations between genotypic rankings in each environment, GGE models, and random effects models. This agronomic yield trial data is being analyzed to identify regions where genotypes perform similarly, also known as mega-environments. This information will allow breeders to tailor selections to the regional level and allow the best possible genotypes to be released to growers. A Finlay-Wilkinson analysis has also been used to identify genotypes that show high or low sensitivity to their environment. Results from these analyses are being prepared in a manuscript for publication. Key food quality traits have been characterized on the regional trials. Samples of spring, winter, and facultative barley from Corvallis OR, Freeville NY, Madison WI, and Arlington WI over three harvest years (2018, 2019, and 2020) were tested for moisture, kernel hardness, beta-glucan levels, and multiple components of flour/starch pasting properties. In addition, 450 of the above samples were subjected to extended testing that encompassed protein, flour water absorption, flour/water batter flow properties, cooked grain texture (hot and cold), and cooked grain yields. Color was quantified on grain, whole-grain flour, and cooked wholegrains from these samples using a tristimulus color meter. Investigations targeted the efficiency of breeding selection via integration of phenotypic and genotypic data and statistical analyses. Statistical analysis may lead to the identification of a small number of key food traits that can categorize naked barley, aid in breeding selections, and aid buyers and processors in identifying the correct type of organic naked barley for their specific end-use[s]. Goal 3: Analysis of data from all three years of diversity panel grow-outs was conducted. Preliminary analyses of genotyped lines in the diversity panel have been performed in preparation for GWAS and GS studies. This includes calculation of LD decay, PCA for genetic relationship between lines, and dendrograms for genetic relationship. Preliminary GWAS analysis has revealed significant hits for winter survival, maturity date, heading date, plant height, early plant vigor, stripe rust, and leaf rust. Threshability, or ease of hull loss, was identified as a key trait for naked grains in the first cycle of the grant. Grain failing to shed its hull loses the advantages of naked grains over covered grain. Despite its importance, there is not a large amount of published information on threshability. Using information from the diversity panel, research was done in the genetic basis and plausibility of genomic selection for threshability. The data set includes five environments where threshability was scored for 350 distinct barley genotypes. GWAS was performed to identify QTL with a significant association to threshability. Results from these analyses are being prepared in a manuscript for publishing. Goal 4: In-person classroom visits had to be cancelled as a result of Covid-19. However, researchers are continuing to work with teachers to find ways to provide distance learning and educational resources safely. K-12 teachers and project researchers are working together to transition lesson plans from in-person to virtual activities. Additionally, new lesson plans (https://oregonaitc.org/lessonplan/the-f2-generation-of-buck-and-lightning/ and https://oregonaitc.org/lessonplan/the-barley-family-observable-traits-of-barley/) that meet curriculum standards for multiple grade levels were created that will have options for in-person or virtual learning. The Oregon Naked Barley Blend has been distributed to teachers and continues to be distributed to interested home gardeners for planting and selection. Goal 5: Our agriculture economist distributed a grower survey in 2019 regarding organic barley production. The results were written up in a journal article that was published in Organic Agriculture and an extension article that is available at eOrganic. Both publications are open access, so they are available to the target audience. Survey respondents were informed of the publications. Additionally, he prepared a short presentation for the 2021 Organic World Congress conference. Goal 6: Details of the project have been disseminated through email, personal correspondence and communication, virtual and in-person field days, virtual conferences, and websites. The eOrganic website is updated to reflect progress of the project and contains bulletins, publications, webinars, and social media accounts. Due to Covid-19, the 2021 Variety Showcase was moved online to YouTube. Four members of the group presented during a session that received 839 unique views. Additionally, participants from this project teamed up with organizers of the Cascadia Grains Conference, and members of the Value-added Grains OREI project to host a week-long conference called 'Grains Week'. Five of the presentations focused specifically on this project; the total view for the week were 5,403. This content is on YouTube and may garner further views in the future. Participants presented at the Virtual Craft Malt Conference, Virtual Philly Malt and Grain Symposium, Virtual 2020 National Scab Forum, and at various workshops and other events. Participants at OSU hosted two Instagram live field tours for a total of 294 views. Participants at UMN and UW-Madison were able to hold in-person field days.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Meints, B., Vallejos, C. and Hayes, P.M. 2021. Multi-use Naked Barley: A New Frontier. Journal of Cereal Science.
|
Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Public outreach efforts for naked organic barley included speaking at organic agriculture and grain-related conferences, workshops, and events. Such events have allowed us to engage a diverse audience about the potential use of naked organic barley. Additionally, digital material produced after in-person gatherings became dangerous has allowed us to reach an even broader audience. Producers End-users Processors Millers Brewers Distillers Maltsters Organic poultry egg and meat producers Chefs Bakers Students K-12 students Undergrad and graduate students Academic and industry researchers Organic organizations General Public Instagram/Facebook viewers (510 followers, 90 posts) Consumers and farmers market shoppers Business owners Changes/Problems:Covid related Problem: Field, office, greenhouse, and any outreach activities were limited in the spring and summer of 2020 due to the UW-Madison's health concerns related to Covid-19 and spring trials could not be planted. Solution: Fall trials already in the ground were maintained and data was recorded for the planted genotypes. The spring trial will be grown in 2021. Problem: Visits and experiments with K-12 schools could not be conducted as planned during the spring of 2020. Solution: Planned activities were canceled and will be moved online for the 2020-2021 school year. Problem: We could not hold our 2020 annual meeting with stakeholders in NY. Solution: Researchers began meeting virtually with each other and stakeholders and are working on developing other virtual content to disseminate to stakeholders Problem: In-person field days had to be cancelled. Solution: Virtual field days were held by the UW-Madison and Cornell teams. Problem: Because of University restrictions placed on hiring summer labor, several of the programs were not able to employ hourly workers to help with research. Solution: Trials were maintained and analyzed to the best ability of the current employees. Not Covid related Problem: At UW-Madison, a planter malfunction during planting of the fall panel led to uneven seed distribution in the first three columns. Solution: These lines were replanted at a later date adjacent to the original experiment. Problem: Weather and pests resulted in quality issues and missed planting opportunities. Solution: For harvested grain with quality issues (primarily pre-harvest sprouting as a result of rain prior to harvest), we have an opportunity to look at the different responses of the lines in the trial, which gives us useful breeding and selection information. Problem: As a result of equipment break-downs, the grain for the malting and brewing trials was rendered unusable. Solution: The malting and brewing study was postponed until the fall of 2020. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Indirectly, attendance at malting and organic conferences conveying the benefits of organic naked barley has allowed for development of professional networks and provided input regarding breeding goals for naked organic barley. Discussion of ideas and challenges at these conferences has provided training in how the goals and execution of the project should go forward. The graduate students have had many opportunities for professional development and training. They have learned many technical skills regarding experimental design, field work, data analysis, food science, weed management practices, public speaking, as well as a good sense of what working in academia is like. Attendance at meetings, field days and other activities have provided many opportunities to learn new ideas and points of view. Field related activities also provide the chance to learn many hands-on skills including field and plot management. Also, graduate students funded by this grant were able to learn technical and academic skills that they would not have otherwise been exposed to. Chris Massman and Karl Kunze, the breeding graduate students working on this project have also had the opportunity to develop data analysis and academic paper writing skills. Additionally, from interactions at field days or conferences, they have begun to develop valuable networks with researchers and farmers. Through presenting research proposals and results at various functions, they have improved their speaking ability. The food quality analyses being run at OSU have provided opportunities to train a graduate student, Jordyn Bunting, and undergraduate in wet chemistry and other methods of analyzing flour and cooked grains. There has also been opportunities for Jordyn to practice public speaking, data analysis, and product development. The Postdoc on the grant, Brigid Meints has had the opportunity to mentor all of the graduate students on the grant and serves on the thesis committee for the OSU graduate student. This project has provided her training in project management, organizing events, malting, disease inoculation, and new data analysis techniques. GrowNYC Grains staff have been trained on the breeding process and culinary attributes of barley through this project. The GrowNYC Teaching Garden staff planted the Oregon Naked Barley Blend in their teaching garden and at the NYU Urban Farm Lab and learned about growing small-scale grain grow-outs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Details of the project have been disseminated through email, personal correspondence and communication, conferences, social media, and websites. UW-Madison and Cornell hosted virtual field days in place of in-person events. UW-Madison produced a video of the fall regional trial to show to local producers and growers. This video was also used as the basis of a forum for local organic producers and people in industry to talk about naked barley and the work occurring with the naked barley project. Social media postings in Instagram and Facebook allow researchers to share project updates and photos with hundreds of followers. Brigid Meints from OSU gave presentations about the project with preliminary results and hosted tastings in OSU seminar classes, the Culinary Breeding Network Variety Showcase, the Organic Seed Growers Conference, Tuality Plains Great Grains Event, and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Grain School. These presentations reached nearly 1000 people, including college students, growers, bakers, chefs, millers, processors, and the general public. A seminar on naked barley research was presented by Chris Massman to faculty and students in the UW-Madison PBPG program. A poster presentation was also given by Chris at the MOSES organic conference to present findings from the regional trials. Jordyn Bunting from OSU presented on his research at the Winter Vegetable Sagra, the Cascadia Grains Conference, and in an OSU seminar class. Researchers collaborated with a graphic designer to produce a barley zine, which includes information about the project and recipes developed by collaborators and stakeholders. A printed version has been distributed to 200 people and the digital version has reached hundreds more. Each of the breeding programs have uploaded phenotypic data from the regional trials and diversity panels to the T3 (Triticeae Toolbox: https://triticeaetoolbox.org/barley/) database. These data can be accessed by other breeding programs and researchers. June Russell of GrowNYC Grains presented on the marketing efforts of GrowNYC Grains at the Hudson Valley Grain School where she announced the Naked Barley Project to inform stakeholders of research and potential opportunities. The audience of approximately 100 attendees consisted of farmers, food and beverage professionals and other farm advocacy organizations. Additionally, she shared findings and reports on malting and naked barley performance at the Cascadia Grains Conference. Additionally, through sales at the GrowNYC Grainstand, GrowNYC staff have been able to disseminate information about the project to thousands of consumers. Through their newsletter and social media accounts, which have featured this project on numerous occasions, they have reached thousands more. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Scholarship Develop and implement two webinars with eOrganic. Submit publications to eOrganic and scientific journals about projects (GxE from regional trials, weed management, GWAS results, brewing trial, food quality analysis) from the grant. Release a paper characterizing lines in the regional trials for use in both the project's breeding efforts and in outreach to growers. Complete the layer and broiler trial publications.Report results to appropriate audiences as available. Education Host (virtually) sixth graders from a local middle school in Madison and use selection information from this year's experiments to demonstrate crosses and expose students to genetic/statistical concepts. Work with teachers at the local schools to reach out to students safely as they move to a distance learning model in the fall. Provide seed and teaching resources for students to perform their own experiments at home. Develop virtual lesson plans for a variety of curriculum standards and grades Outreach Develop spec sheets on functionality for bakers, maltsters, and feed operations for different varieties. Continue to educate our target audience through workshops and conferences- either in-person or virtual (Variety Showcase, Winter Vegetable Sagra, Cascadia Grains Conference, MOSES, Organic Seed Growers Conference, Organicology, Barley Day, Student Organic Seed Symposium, Organic World Congress). Gather and provide information on research and opportunities for growers, processors, bakers, and brewers to gain access to naked barley. Further outreach to feed suppliers and end users will be conducted to inform stakeholders about the project, assist in the development of the market, capture information on market potential and educate end users on the attributes of naked barley in feed rations. Conduct expanded outreach to professionals in the craft beverage and culinary sectors. Increase education and outreach through social media channels, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and the GrowNYC Grains newsletter. Host in-person or virtual field days and other outreach events to increase community involvement and awareness. If possible, the annual project/stakeholder review meeting will be held in the Northeast in 2021. Find effective and safe ways to host field days, seminars and presentations to reach organic farming communities Research Use data to select lines in regional trials that exhibit target levels of food and malting traits. Use local data regarding environment specific factors affecting yield such as disease resistance, lodging, heading date, weed competitive ability to identify drives of local and broad adaptation. Initiate new crosses and continue to select and advance cross progeny for variety development. Conduct food and malt quality analysis on the grain harvested in 2020. Use the data from the diversity panel lines to investigate genes of interest in organic production. Grow the SRT that was not planted in the spring of 2020 in Madison. Use the data from two seasons of diversity panel lines to investigate genes of interest in organic production through a GWAS analysis. This will allow us to better understand the genetic basis of agronomic traits of naked barley. Use increased seed from the 2020 regional experiments to do more in depth testing and analysis including baking and quality trials.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In the third year of the grant, participants grew out the final year of trials for this project. This involved growing over 400 naked barley lines in certified organic trials, characterizing them for agronomic traits, food and malt quality traits, weed competitive ability, and resistance to abiotic and biotic stressors. With the results of these trials, we have begun new breeding work to select for traits necessary for organic production. Journal and extension publications are in preparation to disseminate the results of these experiments to researchers and growers. Survey and interview results looking at the economic feasibility of growing organic barley have been published and will continue to be made available to growers. Hundreds of growers, processors, and consumers have been provided with trial results and information about naked organic barley at conferences, virtual field days, through personal communication, website postings, and social media. Goal 1: The value of naked barley as a new potential crop was described to stakeholders through a variety of mechanisms. Using existing and potential new varieties, we conducted informal sensory exploration with porridge breads, steamed grain, cookies, and roasted barley tea at conferences and outreach events. Grain from one of the research increases in OR was used to conduct the poultry broiler project. In OR and MN, grain increases of MS10S4111-01, an advanced breeding line, were conducted for large-scale end-use testing and distribution to interested end-users. At UW-Madison, sensory analysis on food grade naked barley was performed with professional bakers. Bakers worked with flour from different naked lines to replicate a sugar cookie recipe and a pita recipe. Baked goods were then sampled by customers and other researchers in a blind taste test. Researchers at UW-Madison convened a discussion of key stakeholders, including farmers, bakers, millers and seed company representatives to share these results. In a separate meeting, baking and field trial results were shared with the Artisan Grain Collaborative leadership and members. Goal 2: Data analysis, including ANOVAs, correlations, and mean separations have been performed on agronomic data from the 2018-19 regional trials. A combined analysis of regional trial data from the 2018 and 2019 seasons was performed to assess lines in the panel as well as determine the observed variance attributable to genetic, environmental and genotype by environmental effects. A variety of methods was used including ANOVA, Spearman correlations between genotypic rankings in each environment, GGE models, and random effects models. Extensive food quality and functionality analyses are in progress on the 2019 regional trials. For the 2019-20 regional variety testing program we grew advanced experimental breeding lines and released varieties in the fall and spring. For our fall trial, 18 advanced naked barley lines were tested at five sites in four states. For our spring trial, 18 naked barley entries were tested at 4 sites in three states. Notes on agronomic traits were taken in the field; analyses of agronomic data are in progress; and food and malt quality traits from these trials will be analyzed this coming fall. The fall-planted trials had high winter survival for the first time during this project in WI and MN, which allowed researchers there to analyze trials for the full panel of agronomic traits. The fall regional trial was included in an inoculated Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) nursery in NY to test for disease reaction and deoxynivalenol (DON, a mycotoxin) levels. The spring trials survived at all locations and data are still being collected and analyzed. To collect more quantifiable data at the Cornell site, we have utilized weekly aerial imaging on our spring naked barley regional trials for both 2019 and 2020 field seasons. Imaging has been conducted weekly from the end of May until the beginning of July for both years. Goal 3: Analysis of 2018-19 diversity panels was conducted. Preliminary analysis of genotyped lines in the diversity panel has been performed in preparation for GWAS and GS studies. This includes calculation of LD decay, PCA for genetic relationship between lines, and dendrograms for genetic relationship. Preliminary GWAS analysis has revealed significant hits for winter survival, maturity date, heading date, plant height, early plant vigor, stripe rust, and leaf rust. For the 2019-20 season, we fall-planted the full diversity panel (384 diverse naked barley lines) in two states. The OR location survived the winter. The NY trial had differential winter survival and winterhardiness notes were taken. A subset of 14 lines that showed good winterhardiness in the WI 2018-19 trial was fall-planted in WI and MN in 2019. We spring-planted the 254 spring and facultative naked barley lines from the diversity panel at 3 spring sites. Agronomic and disease resistance were measured on this trial. The spring panel was additionally planted in an inoculated FHB nursery in MN. On the mini-plots (grown in OR), more extensive weed competitive ability notes were taken. Post-harvest and food quality trait will be conducted as seed supply permits. Goal 4: In-person classroom visits had to be cancelled as a result of Covid-19. However, researchers are continuing to work with teachers to find ways to provide distance learning and educational resources safely. K-12 teachers and project researchers are working together to transition lesson plans from in-person to virtual activities. Additionally, new lesson plans that meet curriculum standards for multiple grade levels are being created that will have options for in-person or virtual learning. The Oregon Naked Barley Blend has been distributed to teachers and continues to be distributed to interested home gardeners for planting and selection. The blend was distributed to all survey participants as well as conference attendees and interested parties who visit barleyworld.org/onbb. Goal 5: Our agriculture economist distributed a grower survey in 2019 regarding organic barley production. Of the 84 respondents, 19 were selected for follow-up interviews to represent different region, scale, and end-uses for the barley they produced. The interviews were recorded and summarized. Data collected from organic farmers identified the phenotypic traits desired by organic barley producers. Organic farmers also provided information on production challenges, such as diseases, that the breeders can use to select and improve varieties suitable for organic and sustainable farming conditions. Cost of production data was also obtained to prepare model budgets that can be used as planning tools by organic barley producers. The results were written up in a journal article that was published in Organic Agriculture and an extension article that is currently under review for eOrganic. Both publications are open access, so they are available to the target audience. Survey respondents were informed of the publications. Goal 6: Details of the project have been disseminated through email, personal correspondence and communication, virtual field days, conferences, and websites. Researchers participated in the 2020 Variety Showcase and 2019 Winter Vegetable Sagra hosted by the Culinary Breeding Network. These event includes a series of tables featuring plant breeders and farmers with examples of their breeding work. A combined 1700 people attended these events and met with researchers to learn about the project and try foods made with naked barley. The postdoc and graduate students on the project gave academic seminars and extension presentations at several conferences over the winter, reaching hundreds of academics, growers, bakers, millers, chefs, and processors. The eOrganic website is updated to reflect progress of the project and contains bulletins, publications, webinars, and social media accounts.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Baker, B.P., Meints, B.M. and Hayes, P.M., 2020. Organic barley producers' desired qualities for crop improvement. Organic Agriculture, 2020, pp.1-8.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Hernandez, J., Meints, B. and Hayes, P., 2020. Introgression Breeding in Barley: Perspectives and Case Studies. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, p.761.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Baker, B.P., Meints, B.M. and Hayes, P.M., 2020. Organic and Naked Barley: Practices, Production Costs, and Benefits. eOrganic.
|
Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Public outreach efforts for naked organic barley included speaking at regional field days and at organic agriculture and grain-related conferences, workshops, and events. Such events have allowed us to engage a diverse audience about the potential use of naked organic barley. Producers End-users Processors Millers Brewers Distillers Maltsters Organic poultry egg and meat producers Nutritionists and feed manufacturers that formulate diets for poultry producers Chefs Bakers Students K-12 students Undergrad and graduate students Students of urban agriculture Academic and industry researchers Organic organizations General Public Instagram/Facebook viewers (391 followers, 68 posts) Consumers and farmers market shoppers Business owners Changes/Problems:Problem: WSU stepped back from most aspects of the project as a result of the barley breeder taking a new position and lack of personnel. Solution: We re-assigned two years of graduate student funding to bring on a master's student at OSU to focus on cereal quality. We re-focused the work in Pullman, WA to look at mineral analysis by XRF and beta-glucan and protein calibration by NIR and combustion, respectively. Because of this change, we are actually able to fund parts of four graduate student's work instead of three. Problem: Weather and pests resulted in quality issues and missed planting opportunities. Solution: For harvested grain with quality issues (primarily pre-harvest sprouting as a result of rain prior to harvest), we have an opportunity to look at the different responses of the lines in the trial, which gives us useful breeding and selection information. Problem: Throughout all the regional trials and diversity panels for the 2018-2019 field season, we saw a significant increase in loose and covered smut. In conventional systems, a fungicide treatment is applied to seeds to control smut. In organic systems, there are few effective cultural practices that are effective in reducing or eliminating smut. Solution: Breeding for smut resistance should be a top priority for organic naked barley. Problem: Trials had severe weed pressure that reduced data quality and seed amounts. Solution: Mechanical weeding was done between plots in the regional and diversity trials when plants were still small. Additional hand weeding was performed on a regular basis on following occasions. Problem: Seed yield at some locations was not high enough in the regional trial to perform baking or protein testing Solution: Plot size was doubled. This in conjunction with weeding efforts has highly increased seed yield. Problem: Protein levels in the 2018 harvest were so low that they were not able to be malted and brewed with as representative samples. Solution: The malting and brewing study was postponed until year three. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Indirectly, attendance at malting and organic conferences conveying the benefits of organic naked barley has allowed for development of professional networks and provided input regarding breeding goals for naked organic barley. Discussion of ideas and challenges at these conferences has provided training in how the goals and execution of the project should go forward. The samples used for nutritional analysis have provided the opportunity to train WSU graduate students and a Whitman College undergraduate intern to use the NIR and XRF equipment. Most importantly, these samples have aided in the optimization of sample preparation and equipment calibration. Additionally, the food quality analyses being run at OSU have provided opportunities to train a graduate student in wet chemistry and other methods of analyzing flour. At UW-Madison and Cornell, the graduate students have had many opportunities for professional development and training. They have learned many technical skills regarding experimental design, field work, data analysis, food science, weed management practices, public speaking, as well as a good sense of what working in academia is like. Additionally, graduate student attendance at meetings, field days and other activities has provided many opportunities to learn new ideas and points of view. Meeting professors, students and members in industry at these events has allowed for many opportunities to learn and grow. The Postdoc on the grant, Brigid Meints had the opportunity to mentor all of the graduate students on the grant. She also spoke at several conferences and field days, as well as had the opportunity to plan the content of the project meeting and OSU Barley field day. She also attended a weeklong intensive course on quantitative genetics and statistical breeding to prepare for conducting GWAS analysis and implementing Genomic Selection. The poultry study allowed undergraduate students and a visiting international scholar to assist and provide input into with this research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Details of the project have been disseminated through email, personal correspondence and communication, field days at all universities, press releases, conferences, and websites. OSU hosted 'Barley Day 2019', which was a half-day field day focused on this project. Additionally, UW-Madison hosted an Organic Barley Field day that was held in conjunction with the annual project meeting and included collaborators from all states who gave presentations. 75 people attended, including growers, maltsters, processors, bakers, the general public, and college students. The other universities all held summer field days as well, where information about this project was shared with the general public. Brigid Meints from OSU gave presentations about the project with preliminary results in OSU college classes, regional field days, the Culinary Breeding Network Variety Showcase, the GrowNYC naked barley event, the Cascadia Grains Conference, the Organic Agricultural Research Forum, the Craft Maltsters Conference, Camp Camas, and the Student Organic Seed Symposium. Jim Hermes, the poultry extension specialist provided preliminary results at Barley Field Day, in June 2019. A publication on the results of the layer study is being prepared for submission. Results will be shared to various Extension and/or trade association audiences. Through meetings, field days and personal communication results have been disseminated to communities of interest. UW-Madison hosted the 2019 barley days and annual meeting. Over two days researchers, students, stakeholders and community members met and exchanged ideas and results. During year 2, Cornell collaborators have continued to speak about naked organic barley at regional field days (June 6, July 2, July 26), discuss progress of organic barley research at agricultural research conferences such as the tri-societies and the NY- NOFA (New York Northeast Organic Farming Alliance) seed symposium conference in January 2019. The team at UMN discussed research at a field day presentation at Crookston, MN on July 17; ~ 80 participants/farmers. June Russell of GrowNYC Grains presented on the marketing efforts of GrowNYC Grains at the Hudson Valley Grain School where she announced the Naked Barley Project to inform stakeholders of research and potential opportunities. The audience of approximately 100 attendees consisted of farmers, food and beverage professionals and other farm advocacy organizations. Additionally, she shared findings and reports on malting and naked barley performance from project team members at Brewers Choice in Brooklyn, NY and served on panel at Slow Grains, hosted by Slow Food NYC. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Scholarship Develop and implement two webinars with eOrganic. Submit publications to eOrganic and scientific journals about projects (GxE from regional trial, weed management, GWAS results, brewing trial, food quality analysis) from the grant. Release a paper characterizing lines in the regional trials for use in both the project's breeding efforts and in outreach to growers. Complete the egg production trial publication. Accomplish the broiler trial and publication. Report results to appropriate audiences as available. Education Continue to observe natural and artificial selection at schools and with cooperators growing the Oregon Naked Barley Blend. Host sixth graders from a local middle school in Madison, WI and use selection information from this year's experiments to demonstrate crosses and expose students to genetic/statistical concepts. Host middle schoolers in Oregon at our organic plots and discuss weed control, diseases, breeding and genetics, and end-uses of naked barley. Continue to engage elementary school students in New York and Minnesota in school gardens. Outreach Use preliminary data and experiences as basis for discussing uses of naked organic barley at conferences that will reach organic farmers. Engage in more outreach events associated with organic farming to develop connections with organic farmers and to learn more about the challenges associated with organic farming. Engage in more outreach efforts regarding the uses of naked organic barley to various communities of interest. Develop spec sheets on functionality for bakers, maltsters, and feed operations for different varieties. Continue to educate our target audience through workshops and conferences (Variety Showcase, Winter Squash and barley workshop, Cascadia Grains Conference, MOSES, Organic Seed Growers Conference, Barley Day, Student Organic Seed Symposium, Organic World Congress). Gather and provide information on research and opportunities for growers, processors, bakers, and brewers to gain access to naked barley. Further outreach to feed suppliers and end users will be conducted to inform stakeholders about the project, assist in the development of the market, capture information on market potential and educate end users on the attributes of naked barley in feed rations. Conduct expanded outreach to professionals in the craft beverage and culinary sectors. Continue outreach and education on the project through staff engagement with farmers and other stakeholders. Increase education and outreach through social media channels, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and the GrowNYC Grains newsletter. Host field days and other outreach events to increase community involvement and awareness. The annual project/stakeholder review meeting will be held in the Northeast in 2020. Research Use data to select lines in regional trials that exhibit target levels of food and malting traits. Use local data regarding environment specific factors affecting yield such as disease resistance, lodging, heading date, weed competitive ability to identify drives of local and broad adaptation. Initiate new crosses and continue to select and advance cross progeny for variety development. Conduct the broiler feed study with poultry extension specialist Jim Hermes at OSU. Continue regional and diversity panel trials with all collaborators. Conduct food and malt quality analysis on the grain harvested in 2019. Use the data from the diversity panel lines to investigate genes of interest in organic production. Grow Diversity lines in fully replicated plots in an unbalanced arrangement between locations to increase seed use efficiency and data quality. Use increased seed from the 2019 regional experiments to do more in depth testing and analysis including baking and quality trials. During the next reporting period, samples will be analyzed using a combustion method to determine protein to better calibrate the NIR.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In the second year of the grant, project participants and other collaborators grew out over 400 naked barley lines in 21 certified organic trials, characterizing them for agronomic traits, food and malt quality traits, weed competitive ability, and resistance to abiotic and biotic stressors. With the results of these trials, we have begun new breeding work to select for traits necessary for organic production. Several hundred undergrads and K-12 students were exposed to the project through classroom visits and field trips where they learned about plant breeding, agronomy, and genetics in the context of naked barley. Through a farmer survey designed to learn more about the current status of organic barley in the US, we received over 80 responses which have improved our understanding of the economic feasibility of naked barley and have allowed us to focus our breeding targets. Hundreds of growers, processors, and consumers have been provided with trial results and information about naked organic barley at conferences, field days, through personal communication, and website postings. Goal 1: We conducted informal sensory exploration on breads, steamed grain, and biscuits with attendees at conferences and field days. Farmer collaborators were provided with enough grain to grow out one acre of naked barley as well as a small stipend. Grain from one of the research increases in Oregon was used for the egg production feeding trial, which was recently concluded.The broiler project using more of that grain was recently started. Seed of four varieties was sent to Julie Dawson, who worked with a local baker to develop a sensory analysis protocol. Using a pita bread recipe, three professional bakers made pita breads from the four varieties and trained and public sensory analyses were conducted. Goal 2: Data analysis, including ANOVAs, correlations, and mean separations have been performed on agronomic data from the 2018 regional trials. Food quality analyses are in progress on the 2018 regional trials. Additionally, tamples from the 2018 regional trials were analyzed for protein and beta-glucan using a near-infrared spectrometer. Micronutrient concentrations of milled samples were determined using an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer using a standard-less application. For the 2019 regional variety testing program we grew advanced experimental breeding lines and released varieties in the fall and spring. For our fall trial, 18 advanced naked barley lines were tested at 6 sites in four states. The trial was also sent to collaborators in Dublin, Ireland. For our spring trial, 18 naked barley entries were tested at 6 sites in four states. Additionally, each state collaborated with local farmers to grow one acre increase blocks; we had 4 winter sitesand 5 spring sites with 2 varieties each. Notes on agronomic traits were taken in the field; analyses of agronomic data are in progress; and food and malt quality traits from these trials will be analyzed this coming fall.The fall-planted trials had differential winter survival in MN and WI, which allowed us to identify lines that have winterhardiness.The spring trials survived at all locations and data are still being collected and analyzed. The increase blocks were successful and will be used for marketing, along with other extensive food quality tests. Goal 3: For the diversity panel, we fall-planted 384 diverse naked barley lines in 3 statesin single or double rows. The OR and NY locations survived the winter. The WI trial had differential winter survival and winterhardiness notes were taken. We spring-planted the 254 spring and facultative naked barley lines from the diversity panel at 4 spring sites. Agronomic traits were measured on this trial. On the mini-plots (grown in Corvallis), more extensive weed competitive ability notes were taken. Post-harvest and food quality trait will be conducted as seed supply permits. Additionally, the mostly full set of spring and facultative lines from the diversity panel were sent to Ireland, UC Davis, and Thailand. The panel grown in Ireland was used as leverage to get an Irish grant to fund a PhD student. The trial sent to Thailand was used to phenotype for rice blast (a disease that none of our collaborators in the US can test for) in the greenhouse and in the field. The entire panel was genotyped by the USDA lab in Fargo, ND. Integration of genotype and phenotype data will guide future selection decisions. Additionally, GWAS has been conducted on the phenotypes collected in the 2018 trials, including leaf rust, stripe rust, heading date, threshability, early plant vigor, and canopy cover. Significant peaks were identified for all traits.Using the data collected on the diversity panel, parents have been selected and crossing projects have begun in all states. Goal 4: Our outreach to K-12 students is being achieved by assisting teachers in all states with lesson plan development, seed increases, and selection.This year in Oregon we expanded the K-12 education scope from looking at natural and artificial selection to exploring how nitrogen affects individuals' growth in a barleypopulation and how different plant populations are affected by nitrogen. Seventh grade students had the opportunity to taste and plant barley foods as well asanalyze data from greenhouse grown plants and then work with aresearchers. In New York, the students observed listed traits and determined which traits would be the most useful for selective breeding. They collected data on seed number per spike, awns per spike, and made data charts and a graph and then made selections based on awn presence and seed counts per spike that were over 25. At UW-Madison, multiple field trips from a local middle school were hosted this year. Over 150 students had the opportunity to plant seed of their choosing and help in characterizing the plants that grew. The resulting data provides characterization of the ONBB after selection by middle school students. Goal 5: Our agriculture economist distributed a grower survey regarding organic barley production and is in the process of developing an economic analysis of the feasibility of developing a small-farm scale integrated organic naked barley operation that includes grain production, malting, brewing, feeding, and culinary dimensions. The survey was closed in April with 84 organic barley producer respondents. The data has been analyzed a report was published on eOrganic. Half of the producers surveyed have agreed to follow-up interview. Once all data have been collected, the results of the survey and interviews will be written up for journal publication. Goal 6: Details of the project have been disseminated through email, personal correspondence and communication, field days at all universities, press releases, conferences, and websites. OSU hosteda half-day field day focused on this project. Additionally, UW-Madison hosted an Organic Barley field day that was held in conjunction with the annual project meeting and included collaborators from all states who gave presentations. Seventy-five people attended, including growers, maltsters, processors, bakers, the general public, and college students. The other universities all held summer field days as well, where information about this project was shared with the general public. GrowNYC co-hosted the 2019 Variety Showcase event in partnership with the Culinary Breeding Network. The event includes a series of tables featuring plant breeders with examples of their breeding work. That same day, the GrowNYC Grainstand attended GrowNYC's flagship Union Square Greenmarket and launched the retail sale of Buck, #STRKR and Purple Valley barley.In collaboration with the researchers from OSU and Cornell, GrowNYC hosted their first public and professional outreach event on naked barley with a target audience of brewers and distillersand NYC bakers who have shown an interest in regional grains. Approximately 25 people attended.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Meints, B., & Hayes, P. M. Breeding Naked Barley for Food, Feed, and Malt. Plant Breeding Reviews, 95-119.
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Public outreach efforts for naked organic barley were speaking at regional field days, and discussion at organic and agricultural conferences. Such events have allowed us to engage a diverse audience about the potential use of naked organic barley. Growers Processors Brewers Business owners Maltsters General public K-12 students College students Chefs Bakers Academic and industry researchers Politicians Organic organizations Instagram viewers (281 followers, 41 posts) Changes/Problems:Problem: A lack of suitable certified organic land for our regional test plots and seed increases. In some cases, the certified organic land had not been in a long-term rotation necessary to establish proper soil health. In other cases, seed increases had to be conducted on research farms due to a lack of local organic farmers. Solution: We are implementing rotations and developing a network with organic farmers who are interested in hosting trials. Problem: A complicating factor in outreach is working with business owners (producers, bakers, and brewers) who have limited time and resources to devote to experimentation and risk-taking. Events and outreach must be scheduled to meet their timetables to ensure strong participation. As a result, considerable time is spent coordinating, which creates a lag in achieving outcomes. Solution: Effective communication and scheduling Problem: Many collaborators are new to organic research and struggled to achieve adequate weed control in the plots. Solution: Adjustments of planting dates and seeding rates, as well as weed control strategies, are being developed and will be implemented. Problem: Hiring delays. The postdoc was unable to officially start until January, the graduate student at UW-Madison did not start until June, and WSU did not get a graduate student during the first year. Solution: We have successfully worked through the first of these two personnel issues and are working with WSU to get a student. Problem: The number of trials planned did not meet the number specified in the grant (14 instead of 18 regional trials and 5 instead of 10 diversity panels), due to one or more of the following: lack of seed, lack of certified organic land, loss due winter kill, pre-harvest sprouting damage, or excessive weediness. Solution: Seed for all proposed trials will be distributed in the second year of the grant. Cold temperatures and early rains are out of our control; however, we can use these climate events to learn about our breeding material. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Indirectly, attendance at malting and organic conferences conveying the benefits of organic naked barley has allowed for development of professional networks and provided input regarding breeding goals for naked organic barley. Discussion of ideas and challenges at these conferences has provided training in how the goals and execution of the project should go forward. Additionally, at the annual project meeting, getting to meet collaborators of the project in person allowed for a faster exchange of ideas and challenges associated with the project At UMN, they have one undergraduate student, who is beginning grad school this fall participating on the project. She is coordinating activities with area schools. At UW-Madison and Cornell, the graduate students have had many opportunities for professional development and training. They have learned many technical skills regarding field work as well as a good sense of what working in academia is like. Two WSU graduate students attended Barley Day at OSU in Corvallis, as well as the OREI project meeting, also in Corvallis. Though neither student is funded directly through this project, the meeting and field day were beneficial in broadening their barley horizons outside of the Palouse region, connecting with OSU barley scientists to learn about production and micro-malting equipment, procedures and opportunities. The Postdoc on the grant, Brigid Meints had the opportunity to mentor the graduate students on the grant as well as undergrads at OSU. She also spoke at several conferences and field days, as well as had the opportunity to plan the content of the project meeting and OSU Barley field day. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Details of the project have been disseminated through email, personal correspondence and communication, field days at all universities, press releases, conferences, and websites. OSU hosted 'Barley Day 2018', which was a day-long field day focused on this project. It was held in conjunction with the annual project meeting and included collaborators from all states who gave presentations. 100 people attended, including brewers, chefs, bakers, growers, maltsters, processors, the general public, and college students. Data from the first-year field trials are still being collected and will be posted via email, field days, barleyworld.org, and on program websites. Additionally, there will presentations at conferences of the data collected from the first year of growing naked organic barley. Kevin Smith from UMN made two presentations at a conference organized by the Practical Farmers of Iowa called Rotationally Raised - Making small grains rotations work. The audience was conventional and organic farmers. One presentation was on disease management and the other on breeding and varieties for the craft brewing industry. UW-Madison had several successful field days this summer. The organic, WCIA and Antigo field days have all drawn at least 20 people. Attendees were from various backgrounds and included seed dealers, growers, and end-users. Brigid Meints and Pat Hayes from OSU gave presentations about the project in OSU college classes, at the Culinary Breeding Network Variety Showcase, the Cascadia Grains Conference, the Organic Seed Growers Conference (breeding and culinary), the Student Organic Seed Symposium, the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, and an Olive Oil/Barley tasting event hosted by the Culinary Breeding Network. Lane Selman from OSU gave a presentation and helped put on a workshop at the Grain Gathering conference. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Use preliminary data and experiences as basis for discussing uses of naked organic barley at conferences that will reach organic farmers. Use data to select lines in regional trials that exhibit target levels of food and malting traits. Use local data regarding environment specific factors affecting yield such as disease resistance, lodging, heading date, weed competitive ability to identify drives of local and broad adaptation. Initiate new crosses and continue to select and advance cross progeny for variety development. Engage in more outreach events associated with organic farming to develop connections with organic farmers and to learn more about the challenges associated with organic farming. Engage in more outreach efforts regarding the uses of naked organic barley to various communities of interest. Release experimental black seed color breeding line 'BB99' from OSU; it performs well in organic systems. Develop spec sheets on functionality for bakers, maltsters, and feed operations for different varieties. Genotyping and analysis of the diversity panel will be conducted. Continue to observe natural and artificial selection at schools and with cooperators growing the Oregon Naked Barley Blend. Literature reviews on naked barley and on the economic and environmental impacts of naked barley will be written and submitted to peer-reviewed journals. Continue to educate our target audience through workshops and conferences (Variety Showcase NYC, Naked Barley workshop in NYC, Winter Squash and barley workshop, Cascadia Grains Conference, MOSES, Organicology, Slow Food Portland event, Noodle School, Bob's Red Mill classes, Barley Day, Grain Gathering, Student Organic Seed Symposium). Conduct the feed study with poultry extension specialist Jim Hermes at OSU. Continue regional and diversity panel trials with all collaborators. Conduct food and malt quality analysis on the grain harvested in 2018. The annual project/stakeholder review meeting will be held in the Midwest in 2019. Develop and implement two webinars with eOrganic. Gather and provide information on research and opportunities for growers, processors, bakers, and brewers to gain access to naked barley. Further outreach to feed suppliers and end users will be conducted to inform stakeholders about the project, assist in the development of the market, capture information on market potential and educate end users on the attributes of naked barley in feed rations. Conduct expanded outreach to professionals in the craft beverage and culinary sectors. Begin direct marketing Buck and #STRKR barley at the GrowNYC Greenmarket Grain's Grainstand in the fall of 2018.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Progress has been made on each of the project goals. Goal 1: Growers, processors, and consumers were provided with information about naked organic barley at conferences, field days, through personal communication, and website postings. However, in this first year of the project we have not had much seed to work with. Now that trials have been harvested more information can be provided. Using the limited seed from trials conducted before the start of this grant, we mini-malted 'Buck' and provided malt to two breweries to experiment with. We conducted informal sensory exploration on breads, steamed grain, and biscuits with attendees at conferences and field days. Additionally, this first year we worked to develop connections with new producers, brewers, and small businesses. Goal 2: For our regional variety testing program we grew advanced experimental breeding lines and released varieties in the fall and spring. For our fall trial, 18 advanced naked barley lines were tested at 6 sites in five states: Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New York. For our spring trial, 18 naked barley entries were tested at 9 sites in six states: Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and New York. Additionally, each state collaborated with local farmers to grown one acre increase blocks; we had 3 winter sites with 2 varieties (Buck and #STRKR) and 5 spring sites with 3 varieties (CDC Clear, Purple Valley and MS10S4111-01). Notes on agronomic traits were taken in the field; analyses of agronomic data are in progress; and food and malt quality traits will be analyzed this coming fall. The fall-planted trials winter-killed in MN and WI, however we had success in growing moderate yielding organic winter naked barley in NY, OR, and WA. Despite a cold winter, our winterkill was moderately low for most varieties and because of the advantage that winter grains early emergence, most winter regional naked barleys were able to outcompete weeds. Analysis of food quality and malting of winter naked barley is underway. The spring trials survived at all locations and data are still being collected and analyzed. The increase blocks were successful and will be used for marketing, along with other extensive food quality tests. Goal 3: For the diversity panel, we assembled 254 spring and facultative naked barley lines from breeding programs and germplasm repositories around the world. These were trialed at 5 spring sites in single or double rows. An additional 130 winter lines were selected and grown out in the greenhouse. These will be added to the trial this fall to complete the panel. Tissue was collected from the panel and sent in for DNA extraction and genotyping. Agronomic traits were measured on this trial. Post-harvest and food quality trait will be conducted as seed supply permits. Integration of genotype and phenotype data will guide future selection decisions. Goal 4: Our outreach to K-12 students is being achieved by assisting teachers in all states with lesson plan development, seed increases, and selection. Through funding awarded from this project, the students have been able to grow and learn from the Oregon Naked Barley Blend. By growing barley in the garden and greenhouse, students are able to learn some of the concepts of barley production, management, harvest and post-harvest qualities of the naked barley grown. It is important to note that due to school schedules and the agronomic traits of barley, most students are not available when the spring barley is growing and thus it can be difficult to discuss the agronomic factors and challenges associated with growing naked barley. Thus, the education associated with the naked barley will have to be adapted to teach concepts that are easily tangible with the students, such as observation of the grain and the basic concepts of genetics and selection. Goal 5: Our agriculture economist is generating a literature review on the economic and environmental benefits of naked barley. In addition, he has begun developing questions that will appear on a 2019 grower survey regarding naked barley production and is in the process of developing an economic analysis of the feasibility of developing a small-farm scale integrated organic naked barley operation that includes grain production, malting, brewing, feeding, and culinary dimensions. GrowNYC has worked to assess the potential for naked barley in feed rations. Interviews were conducted with several representatives in the feed world. Two representatives from organic feed mills were also interviewed. Goal 6: Details of the project have been disseminated through email, personal correspondence and communication, field days at all universities, press releases, conferences, and websites. OSU hosted 'Barley Day 2018', which was a day-long field day focused on this project. It was held in conjunction with the annual project meeting and included collaborators from all states who gave presentations. 100 people attended, including brewers, chefs, bakers, growers, maltsters, processors, the general public, and college students. The other universities all held summer field days as well, where information about this project was shared with the general public.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Meints, B., Corey, A., Evans, C., Filichkin, T., Fisk, S., Helgerson, L., Ross, A.S. and Hayes, P.M., 2017. Registration of BuckNaked Barley. Journal of Plant Registrations.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Meints, B., and Hayes, P.M. Naked barley for food, feed, and malt. Plant Breeding Reviews.
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