MSU Accelerates Process to Release Clearfield Winter Wheat

MT Spring Wheat       MT Durum      MT Barley

Montana State University and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station are working to speed up the release of a winter wheat line that contains the Clearfield™ herbicide-tolerant genetic material. The seeds are obtained using traditional plant breeding methods, not through genetic engineering.

In the first step, MSU is working with WestBred, LLC of Bozeman and members of the Montana Seed Growers Association to increase seed production during this growing season.

The process of releasing a new small grain variety can take seven years or more, says Jeff Jacobsen, Interim Dean of the College of Agriculture and MAES Director. “By working with WestBred, we can shave one to two years off that process,” he says. “This is the first time that we have worked with a private company to accelerate release of a variety, so that will also be evaluated to determine if we want to continue this type of process.”

Jacobsen added that, like all varieties, this one will undergo rigorous testing for yield and quality. Once the variety has been approved for release by MSU, BASF (owner of the Clearfield technology) and MAES’s variety release committee, the university will solicit bids from Montana companies.  If all aspects go well, the open licensure competition could take place in early to mid-fall of 2004.