Spring 1995
Northwest MN has New Small Grains Specialist
By Tracy Sayler, Communications Specialist; Minnesota Wheat Council
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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.
Jochum (pronunciation: Yo-Come) Wiersma has been hired by the University of Minnesota to fill the new position of small grains specialist, based at the Northwest Experiment Station (NWES) in Crookston, MN. Wiersma assumed his responsibilities under a three-year, non-tenured commitment April 3, 1995.
The hiring of Wiersma, no relation to NWES research agronomist John Wiersma, completes an objective that has been on the agenda for the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, which felt that more visible small grains outreach and support was needed in Minnesota's prime wheat growing area.
Such a need was most evident in 1993, when a point person for small grains would have been valuable in helping growers manage wheat and barley crops infected with scab.
Now, Wiersma -- whose position is funded in part by checkoff dollars administered by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council -- will fill a role for small grains much the same as well-known extension potato specialist Duane Preston does for potatoes, and extension specialists Alan Dexter and Allan Cattanach for sugarbeets.
"I see myself being a gatekeeper of small grains research and production information, working with area county extension educators to develop educational programs as well as address timely small grains-related production issues," says Wiersma. He'll use research and on-farm trials as demonstration and evaluation tools, he says.
A native of the Netherlands with a farm background, Wiersma recently completed requirements for a Ph.D. in plant breeding at the U. of MN in St. Paul. He has experience in wheat breeding and screening crop lines for disease resistance.
Wiersma was part of a team in the Netherlands that developed strategies for streamlining pesticide storage and distribution operations at a private farmers cooperative.
In the past he has worked at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico, which has a program to develop superior germplasm that can be used around the globe to improve yield and quality of bread wheat.
Of course, scab is one of the biggest issues Wiersma will become involved with from the start, says Larry Smith, head of the NWES. "Jochum has worked in (USDA-ARS wheat breeder) Bob Busch's wheat breeding project so he's familiar with our goals in addressing the scab disease," says Smith.
Tom Anderson, a Barnsville, Minn., wheat grower, served on the small grains specialist search committee. He says he's gratified to see the state invest in Wiersma's position, which can be viewed as a new, regional resource available to small grains operations.
"I'm convinced there's a purpose and a need for an area small grains specialist. Now it's up to us as growers and as an industry to guide the needs and purposes of this position, to keep it viable for the future," says Anderson.