Issue 22
June 1999 		News & Views

McVey, a producer-public research success story

By Bruce Hamnes, Stephen MN Chairman, MN Wheat Research & Promotion 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.

 The R&D behind our nation’s food and agricultural system is carried out by the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The ARS has a budget this year of about $792 million, which seems substantial but really is not, when considered in the context of USDA’s entire 1999 budget of about $86.5 billion, and the fact that ARS research covers a lot of ground, from a vast array of crops and livestock to food safety and nutrition. This research is spread across all 50 states and affects all U.S. citizens.

When it comes to wheat research, public research pro-jects are often augmented or matched by producers, through the wheat checkoff administered in Minnesota by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council. This leverages accelerated research, and results in projects that otherwise wouldn’t be conducted.

In a recent national news release, USDA-ARS announced the development of McVey, a research success story involving Minnesota wheat producers. McVey is a new spring wheat variety developed by USDA-ARS researchers that has good scab tolerance, and good yield performance.

The new variety, named for Donald V. McVey, a plant pathologist at the USDA’s Cereal Disease Laboratory in St. Paul, MN, slows the spread of the scab disease in the seed head so fewer kernels are destroyed. It is the first product to emerge from USDA’s accelerated research efforts in response to the scab epidemic.

It may not be the silver bullet against scab, but it’s the best effort yet. In making the announcement, USDA Secretary Dan Glickman said, "USDA’s intensified research efforts are helping American farmers fight wheat scab. This new wheat variety, our most scab-tolerant ever, will be available to farmers for the spring 2000 planting season, preventing more damage by this costly disease."

The USDA news release said that "[McVey’s] development was funded in part by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, Red Lake Falls, MN, through money collected from wheat farmers. The Minnesota Crop Improvement Association, based in St. Paul, is distributing seed to certified seed growers."

We should take pride in the fact that our research investments yield results. A comprehensive story on ARS scab research around the country, including development of McVey, will appear in the June issue of ARS’s Agricultural Research magazine. It may be found online at the ARS web page, http://www.ars.usda. gov_
Copyright Prairie
Grains Magazine
June 1999