June 1998
Jim Anderson named Minnesota's new wheat breeder
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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
Wheat producers in Minnesota have a new wheat breeder. Jim Anderson will assume the reins of the University of Minnesota's wheat breeding program after July 1.
Anderson is a native of St. Peter, Minn. He received his bachelor's degree in agronomy from the U of M in 1987, his master's degree in crop science from the University of Kentucky in 1989, and a doctorate in plant breeding from Cornell University in 1992.
Currently, Anderson is at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service lab in Pullman, Wash., where he has been a wheat research geneticist for about two years. Before that, he was an assistant professor for four years in the plant sciences department at North Dakota State University.
"I'm excited to get back to Minnesota. I'm inheriting a strong wheat breeding program from Dr. Busch and plan to continue his work in breeding scab-tolerant varieties," says Anderson.
Bob Busch, who has been a USDA-ARS wheat geneticist and U of M wheat breeder since 1978, will retire in June 2000. Until then, Busch will continue to coordinate the regional scab nursery that screens wheat lines for scab tolerance, and a uniform regional hard red spring wheat nursery that evaluates advanced wheat lines before they're released. He also will finish publishing research data compiled from several studies in the last few years, including some studies on scab.
"I still want to get in the field and follow a cross or two, I like that too much," says Busch. "But this breeding program will be left in good hands. With the addition of Dr. Anderson, Minnesota will have one of the best wheat research teams in the U.S."
Tom Anderson, a Barnesville, Minn. producer who served on the search committee, says Anderson's experience in gene mapping will be beneficial in moving the U of M wheat breeding program into the 21st century. "Jim is recognized as a rising star in the research community. I think we as wheat producers can look forward to some exciting things."
Anderson's position and wheat breeding program are funded by the Minnesota Legislature, the U of M, and by producers through the Minnesota wheat checkoff. "The silver bullet in solving scab will ultimately be better varieties," says Cliff Keller, chairman of the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, and a Fergus Falls, Minn. producer. "We look forward to working with Jim in solving scab, and also in developing varieties with qualities in demand by wheat buyers in our domestic and export markets." n