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July 10, 2015 CapitalPress.com 9 Idaho Subscribe to our weekly Idaho email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Idaho leadership program seeks more farmers, ranchers By SEAN ELLIS ‘I’m a big believer in (LIA). A lot of good has come out of that program.’ Capital Press BOISE — Leadership Ida- ho Agriculture officials are trying to get more farmers and ranchers to attend the leader- ship development program. To do that, they are trying to engage more closely with the state’s commodity com- missions and agriculture asso- ciations, which can encourage members to attend the course, whose aim is to train commu- nity and business leaders to be advocates for agriculture. “It’s the best leadership training organization in the state for agriculture,” Pat Purdy, a member of LIA’s board of trustees, told fellow Idaho Barley Commission board members recently. “We as a commission need to get more engaged with growers in talking to them about this program.” In addition to training busi- ness and community leaders, LIA cultivates producers to be leaders in agriculture. Among its 850 alumni, many hold key leadership positions in the in- dustry. While the program has al- Duane Grant, farmer and LIA course graduate Submitted photo Participants in Leadership Idaho Agriculture’s 2014 class tour the Port of Lewiston in November. LIA officials are trying to get more growers to attend the course and are working closer with the state’s farm commissions and associations. ways had strong support from agribusiness, the support has not been as strong from farm groups, said Kendra Dustin, LIA’s development director. The LIA board wants to re-engage with those groups and convince them to buy in to the program, she said. That could mean financial support or by convincing members to attend. LIA’s goal is to ensure at least 30 percent of each year’s 30-member class are producers. “It shouldn’t be difficult for us to get growers to attend,” Purdy told fellow IBC mem- bers shortly before they voted to give the program $1,600 this year. “It’s just a matter of a commitment of time.” Other farm groups that have responded in a significant way to the LIA’s recent attempt to re-engage with them include the U.S. Dry Pea & Lentil Council, Idaho Beef Council and Idaho Wheat Commission, Dustin said. Rep. Clark Kauffman, a Republican farmer from Filer and an LIA graduate, said he was glad to hear the group is trying to get more farmers to attend the course. He said the course was a real eye-opener for him in terms of getting him to realize how important it is for farmers and ranchers to be involved with public policy making and the regulatory process. After attending, he went on to become involved with the barley commission, served as president of Idaho Grain Pro- ducers Association and was an Idaho representative on the U.S. Grains Council. “If nobody leaves their farm long enough to do these things, somebody that knows nothing about farming will make the rules,” he said. “I’m really glad (LIA) is looking to do that.” Rupert farmer Duane Grant, chairman of the Snake River Sugar Co-op, graduated from the LIA course in 1987 and credits the experience “with giving me both the vi- sion and confidence to get involved and, I hope, make a meaningful difference in agri- culture in Idaho.” He has since encouraged a son, two nephews and his farm’s agronomics manager to attend. “I’m a big believer in (LIA),” he said. “A lot of good has come out of that program.” Hard white winter wheat options showing potential in irrigated fields By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press European barley variety bred for craft brewing By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press Limagrain Cereal Seeds of- ficials say a high-yielding irri- gated barley variety developed in Europe has performed well in Pacific Northwest trials and should fill a critical need for the growing U.S. craft brewing industry. Bred by Limagrain U.K., Genie — as in genie in a beer bottle — has the attributes craft brewers desire but have trouble finding, given that most U.S. malts were devel- oped for the American lagers that dominate the market. Mass-produced Ameri- can lagers typically use sugar from secondary sources, such as corn or rice, called adjunct brewing, requiring different malt specifications. Limagrain Chief Operat- ing Officer Frank Curtis said a few hundred acres of Genie are being raised in Idaho and Washington, both for seed and commercial malting, and 120 acres were planted in Colorado. Curtis said a small malting company in Fort Col- lins, Colo., has contracted for some Genie, and Great West- ern Malting Co. has also been evaluating Genie. “We are hoping to go to sev- eral thousand acres of malt pro- duction next year,” Curtis said. Most large, U.S. brewing companies require malt high in free amino nitrogen, providing the energy to ferment supple- mental corn or rice sugars. In all-grain craft brewing, however, residual FAN contrib- utes to undesirable flavors. In addition to having lower FAN, Genie has high extract, yielding more beer per pound of malt, and low beta glucan levels and viscosity, enabling hot water to filter through grain at the ideal timing. Curtis said the predominate craft variety now available is CDC Copeland, which is best suited for dryland growers and doesn’t yield well. But Genie has shown good disease resis- tance and has ranked among the top yielders in University of Ida- ho trials. Limagrain chose Genie after evaluating 50 advanced Euro- pean malting lines and entered the variety in American Malting Barley Association trials in 2012 and 2013. Great Western saw promise in Genie and malted a large batch of 2014 crop for fur- ther evaluation. If there’s commercial in- terest, Curtis said additional Limagrain craft lines in devel- opment — LCS Overture, LCS Odyssey and LCS Pilot — could be two years from entering the market. Another 70 lines are a year behind them. “We are intending to provide the industry with a steady prod- uct flow,” Curtis said. Curtis said 14 breweries from Washington state to Kan- sas made special beers with Genie, serving them at a June 9 event in Fort Collins. He plans to repeat the demonstration next year in Idaho. He’s also sched- uled to serve a beer made with Genie and UI Stone wheat at a July 15 field day at University of Idaho’s Aberdeen Research & Extension Center. CHS Primeland in Lewiston, Idaho, is the sole distributor of this year’s Genie seed and will offer additional seed to partner- ing cooperatives next season, said Kevin Whittaker, the com- pany’s seed plant manager. “We’re thinking it’s going to be a big boomer for us that the maltsters will be after, especially Great Western,” Whittaker said. “Not only is it a good barley, but it out yields some of the good feed barleys out here. It’s going to be good for our growers.” John O’Connell/Capital Press University of Idaho wheat breeder Jianli Chen discusses the characteristics of IDO 1101, a hard white winter wheat she developed with good yield and agronomic traits, during a recent field day of Arbon Valley research plots. The Idaho Wheat Commission has asked Chen to step up her efforts to develop hard white winter varieties well suited for irrigation to fill an industry need. end-use quality, but Chen be- lieves the sample came from a stressed field and plans to resubmit the variety for eval- uation. A third line Chen bred with doubled haploid tech- nology — a breeding short- cut that eliminates variation in progeny — IDO 1209 DH, may be too tall to appeal to irrigated growers. Tall plants tend to tip in fields, called lodging, complicating har- vesting. Chen has already released a high-yielding hard white winter wheat for dry- land growers, UI Silver, and has about 200 doubled hap- loid hard white winter wheat lines in development and testing. “The Idaho Wheat Com- mission requested that my breeding program work hard- er to release short, hard white winter wheats for southeast Idaho,” Chen said. UI Extension cereals pa- thologist Juliet Marshall is overseeing a first year of hard white test plots at the Aberdeen Research & Ex- tension Center in partner- ship with Limagrain Cereal Seeds. Marshall said the plots include many hard white winter wheats devel- oped by Limagrain and other programs, as well as Europe- an varieties under evaluation in Idaho conditions. Marshall said a couple of irrigated hard white winter varieties developed by Ore- gon State University wheat breeder Bob Zemetra are un- der evaluation, and a Clear- field variety, UICF Grace, is already on the market, though it’s prone to lodging under ir- rigation. Idaho is the top produc- ing hard white wheat state. Limagrain Chief Operating Officer Frank Curtis be- lieves Idaho is in a unique position to benefit from the class because it has a freight disadvantage for foreign ex- ports and emphasizes the do- mestic market, which tends to have narrower product specifications. “We’re hoping very much to have a (hard white winter variety) to release after we get this year’s data,” Curtis said. rop-6-26-5/#17 Courtesy of Zach Gaines Kevin Bolin, owner of the Mayor of Old Town tap house, pours a beer made with Genie malt during a recent tasting event in Fort Collins, Colo., featuring 14 beers made with the variety. Genie is a high-yielding new Limagrain variety with ideal characteristics for the craft brewing industry. ABERDEEN, Idaho — Wheat industry leaders say several new hard white winter wheat varieties are showing promise in Eastern Idaho ir- rigated field conditions and could help the state meet strong demand for the hard white class. Hard white is growing in popularity for its ability to produce a whole wheat prod- uct without the bitter taste of red wheats. However, the state lacks a good winter variety for ir- rigated growers, and spring wheat acres must compete with more profitable crops, said Cathy Wilson, director of research collaboration with the Idaho Wheat Com- mission. For example, Ritchie Toevs, who farms under irri- gation in Aberdeen, planted soft white winter wheat this season and replaced his spring wheat acres with corn and malt barley. “The one area where we could increase hard white wheat would be in winter acreage,” Wilson said. “It could compete very well as a winter crop. University of Idaho wheat breeder Jianli Chen said IDO 1501 appears to be an espe- cially promising hard white winter line for the region’s ir- rigated growers, demonstrat- ing good yield, good end- use quality and resistance to diseases including stripe rust and dwarf bunt. Chen hopes to have IDO 1501 breed- er seed — controlled by the breeding institution to devel- op certified seed — available in 2016. Chen also retains hope for IDO 1101, a short, hard white winter wheat she bred that’s high yielding and ideal for irrigated fields. A recent test raised questions about its 28-2/#17
