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18 CapitalPress.com January 26, 2018 Idaho Innovators Preserving the world’s small grains In support of women in ag Harold Bockelman maintains unique collection of 143,000 types of grain By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press She Grows Idaho Founded: October 2016 By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press ABERDEEN, Idaho — USDA has made ordering seed from its vast National Small Grains Collection sim- ilar to shopping for merchan- dise online. Since 1898, the facili- ty has preserved more than 143,000 types of wheat, bar- ley, oats, rice, rye, triticale and wild relatives originating from throughout the world, maintaining a pool of genet- ics to help scientists tackle some of the great challenges facing agriculture. Harold Bockelman, the collection’s curator of more than 30 years, explained crop researchers may search his online database for specific numbered lines, or by de- sired traits. The grain types, called accessions, are paired with descriptions and pho- tographs. Map coordinates accompany some of the land- race accessions, which were cultivated over thousands of years, to show their place of origin. Shoppers fill a virtual cart upon making their selections, though Bockelman’s service is free of charge. “It looks more like an Amazon site than it used to,” Bockelman said. In an average year, Bock- elman and his staff mail more than 50,000 envelopes, each containing 5 grams of seed, to roughly 800 domestic and international crop research- John O’Connell/Capital Press Harold Bockelman, curator of the National Small Grains Collection in Aberdeen, Idaho, with variety plots from the collection. Harold Bockelman Age: 68 Education: Undergraduate degree from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in plant genetics from University of California-Davis Hometown: Aberdeen, Idaho Job: Supervisory agronomist with USDA and curator of its Nation- al Small Grains Collection Innovation: Maintaining USDA’s National Small Grains Collection for more than 30 years and helping to make accessing its materi- als more convenient Frank Curtis, chief op- erating officer at Limagrain Cereal Seeds of Fort Collins, Colo., said the collection has provided his company with invaluable genetic material. Most recently, Curtis said Limagrain propagated seed from about 2,000 of the col- lection’s barley lines, hoping IDInnov18-4/108 ers and cereal breeders. Breeders have found plen- ty of hidden gems in the col- lection, such as PI 178383, a land-race wheat line originat- ing in Eastern Turkey with resistance to dwarf bunt, stripe rust and other diseas- es. It was used as a parent in many modern crosses. D & S TIRES INC. 26884 Pearl Rd • Parma, Idaho 83660 New Track Shop that brings BIG Savings to the Western U.S! (208) 635-0700 We your are #1 your #1 for Source for and retreading We are Source retreading repairing & repairing rubber tracks for your ag tractor. rubber tracks for your ag tractor. to cross them with Europe- an varieties to develop early maturing, drought-resistant malt lines adapted for North- west conditions. “It’s a wonderful initia- tive,” Curtis said of the col- lection. “Anything that has been in the gene pool and has potential use is preserved for all time.” For several years, variet- ies from the collection have also been sent to Kenya and Ethiopia, where they’re be- ing evaluated for resistance to a destructive stem rust found there, based on the concerns that it could spread. The collection includes about 50,000 wheat, 33,000 barley, 20,000 oat, 19,000 rice, 2,000 rye and 2,000 trit- icale accessions, plus wild relatives. Each spring and fall, Bockelman and his staff plant a few thousand of the collection’s acces- sions to replenish seed and evaluate them in research fields at Aberdeen. Acces- sions are planted in 10-foot strips, separated by “guard rows” of unrelated crops. The staff uses a Japanese rice binder to harvest them. Seed at the facility is stored at 42 degrees and 25 percent humidity and remains viable for up to 25 years. The collection is backed up by seed frozen in liquid nitrogen in Fort Col- lins, Colo., where it can be stored for up to 100 years. New accessions are added periodically. Bockelman now plans to add a wild barley collection obtained through an exchange by a Minnesota scientist. “We still look out for possibilities to obtain other collections from through- out the world, but not so much now because our col- lection is fairly complete,” Bockelman said. This story was first pub- lished Oct. 17, 2017. TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Laughter and lively banter dominate at a recent gathering of women passionate about ag- riculture. They are members of She Grows Ida- ho, a fledging organization focused on sup- porting women Karma in agriculture Metzler and educating Fitzgerald consumers. The group is the brainchild of Alison Hurwitch, a veterinarian with Elanco, and Karma Metzler Fitzgerald, a writer and agricul- tural advocate. Its inspiration was twofold — to provide a social and supportive network for young women in agricul- ture and to educate consumers about food and agriculture. The approach is three- pronged: to educate, empower and enrich, Fitzgerald said. There’s been an influx of young women in agriculture to the Magic Valley over recent years and there was no orga- nization to help them find out about resources or connect to other women in ag, she said. “There is a void; there’s no way for them to network,” she said. Agriculture can be a re- ally lonely place for women, whether they’re on the farm or working in traditionally male roles, she said. Women’s struggles Hurwitch said she knows the struggles young profes- sional women face. She came to the Magic Valley as a single mother in 2008, juggling ca- reer, family and a little gender bias. The first time she went to a dairy to pull a calf, she was met with “Where’s the vet?” Women farm owners face the same frustration when peo- ple ask, “Where’s the owner?” she said. “We wanted get the group together so women feel sup- ported,” she said. Women are taking up non-traditional roles in agricul- ture — a great opportunity that comes with growing pains. “We want them to be excit- ed and happy about choosing a path in ag,” she said. For those college-bound women, the group wants to en- courage them to pursue the de- gree they want — even if it has been traditionally male-domi- nated, she said. “It’s a mentoring thing,” Fitzgerald said. Her daughter is majoring in agricultural technology and production management at Washington State University and belongs to the universi- ty’s dairy club, whose quarters were designed for young men. The vast majority of club members today are female, all working on dairies, yet the club’s quarters didn’t even have a women’s bathroom until re- cently, Fitzgerald said. While women have always Co-founders: Alison Hurwitch and Karma Metzler Fitzgerald Membership: 105 and growing Mission: Empowering women involved in all aspects of food production, from field to fork. Email: info@shegrowsidaho. com Website: http://www. shegrowsidaho.com/ Motto: “Lead by serving, learn by giving and nurture by feeding our families, our communities and our world.” had a strong role in agriculture, they haven’t been recognized or appreciated. With today’s young women now working more, “We want them to know they have a support system,” she said. They’re bound to have frus- trations, and She Grows Idaho offers a safe place to air those issues and find solutions. It’s a forum for empowerment and education where they can find support, she said. It’s also a means to connect women in the industry and help them be a voice in agriculture and for agriculture, Hurwitch said. “There’s a lot of misinfor- mation out there about food, la- bels and what’s going on in ag- riculture. We wanted to have an opportunity to educate anyone and everyone we can on what things mean, such as GMO or hormones,” she said. The group is also meant to further the education of women in agriculture, from production and marketing to how to give farm tours and handle pub- lic-relations issues, she said. Varied backgrounds The group spans the spec- trum of backgrounds — from Ph.D.-level researchers to traditional farm wives, from young women just entering agriculture to those closer to retirement and from staunch conservatives to determined liberals. The constant is their female perspective and their passion for agriculture. “Being able to hang out with women who have the same ag- ricultural passion” is what drew Shayna Wilks to the group. She’s part of a multi-gener- ational dairy in Gooding Coun- ty and said there are a lot of men in dairy. She Grows Idaho gives her the opportunity to be with like-minded women and provides resources as well. “It’s reassuring to hang out with people (women) from the same walk of life,” said Kristi- na Reitsma, the only female on her multi-generational family dairy. Katy Jo Fitzgerald, in her first year of ag studies at Wash- ington State University, joins the group when she’s in town. People think she can’t han- dle ag work because she’s female, and she enjoys being with women who do “handle it,” she said. This story was first pub- lished on March 25, 2017. STOP! Don’t Throw Away Perfectly Good Track Because It’s Missing Guide Blocks. Don’t Waste Money! 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