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CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 12, 2021
Discovery could expand peach
resilience and growing region
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press File
ITHACA, N.Y. — New research
could lead to the development of peach
varieties that can better handle climate
stresses and extreme weather condi-
tions, potentially increasing yields and
widening the growing
region for peaches.
Scientists at Boyce
Thompson Institute, an
independent research
institute in New York
state, have identified
genes in wild peaches
that could help breeders Zhangjun
Fei
develop domesticated
peach varieties more
tolerant of environmental extremes,
including cold, drought and ultraviolet
radiation at high altitudes.
The researchers published their find-
ings in Genome Research, a scientific
journal, Tuesday.
“This study can provide a lot of infor-
mation about how to do targeted breed-
ing to create more resilient peaches that
can grow in specific environments,”
said Zhangjun Fei, lead researcher, a
faculty member at the Boyce Thompson
Institute and associate professor at Cor-
nell University.
The new genetic insights, Fei said,
could help growers across the Western
U.S.
With the new information, breeders
may be able to develop cultivars that
can better handle drought, which would
be useful for growers in California, the
No. 1 state in peach production.
Washington State University professor Michael Neff
overlooks the university’s new grass farm Sept. 4,
2019. Neff’s breeding program is developing a no-
burn Kentucky bluegrass, long in the making.
No-burn Kentucky bluegrass
on the way from WSU
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
A no-burn Kentucky
bluegrass variety is in the
works at Washington State
University.
The university is apply-
ing for plant variety protec-
tion for the bluegrass, called
Matchless, said Michael
Neff, WSU grass breeder.
After that step, it will begin
licensing the seed.
He expects WSU to
release Matchless in the
near future, he said.
Neff spoke during the
recent online Spokane Ag
Show.
The variety has been
20 years in the making,
beginning with the work of
researchers William John-
ston and R.C. Johnson,
who developed a Kentucky
bluegrass that didn’t need
field burning after harvest.
Typically,
Kentucky
bluegrass fields are burned
after harvest, Neff said. The
burning removes excess
thatch to increase yield the
following year and help
control pests and weeds.
“This was a way to
keep the fields in produc-
tion for many years,” Neff
said. “These are perennial
grasses. Once you have
the field established, you
can go in and harvest every
year until the harvest starts
to drop down.”
But burning was banned
in the state because the
heavy smoke raised con-
cerns about health and the
visibility on nearby roads.
Without burning, grow-
ers haven’t been able to
keep the field in produc-
tion for as many years, Neff
said. They wound up with
shorter rotations, less than
three years instead of four
or five years, which led to a
lower economic return.
“There’s a trade-off,”
he said. “If you can’t burn,
what you have to do is basi-
cally leave the field after
it’s been harvested with a
thatch or even go in and
mow or pull off that hay
and thatch.”
Taking perennial grass
fields out of production can
impact soil and water qual-
ity due to erosion, topsoil
loss and potential pesticide
runoff, Neff said.
Researchers Johnston
and Johnson wanted to
identify a Kentucky blue-
grass germplasm that
would have good turf-
grass quality and seed yield
under no-burn seed produc-
tion, Neff said. They nar-
rowed more than 600 pos-
sible options in the USDA’s
seed collection down to 225
in field tests, then down to
45, then down to 10.
Neff’s program is also
working on seed germina-
tion in Kentucky bluegrass
and western wheatgrass,
among other projects.
Yong Li
Prunus mira, or Tibetan peach, na-
tive to the foothills of the Himalayas
and the Tibetan plateau.
According to the Agricultural Mar-
keting Resource Center, in 2017, Cal-
ifornia supplied nearly 56% of the
U.S. fresh peach crop and more
than 96% of the nation’s peaches for
processing.
Breeders may also be able to develop
varieties adapted to frost and cold snaps,
which could prove useful to growers in
the Pacific Northwest, where the peach
industry is expanding.
According to USDA’s 2020 report,
Washington state peach production
increased 12% from the previous year,
up to 12,500 tons — the fifth largest
production of any state. Idaho’s crop
is less than half that size, and Ore-
gon’s peach crop is even smaller, but
Idaho Senate committee kills driving-card bill for non-citizens
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
The Idaho Senate Trans-
portation Committee March
4 killed a driving-authoriza-
tion card proposal that many
in the agriculture and busi-
ness communities supported.
Undocumented
work-
ers are among those who
would have qualified for
GMD 51 TL SERIES
driving cards under Senate
Bill 1132, which proposed
to make the annually renew-
able cards available to any-
one 16 or older who could
verify identity, prove he or
she lives in the state and
pass a test.
The bill aimed in part to
ensure more drivers have
safety training and insur-
ance, its purpose statement
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according to Oregon State University,
peaches in Oregon remain one of the
most popular summer fruits at road-
side stands and U-pick orchards.
Fei said if breeders create varieties
more adapted to cold climates, it could
potentially expand the peach growing
region and resilience in the Northwest.
During this study, Fei and his
co-researchers studied wild peaches
to better understand how peach trees
adapt to different climates and weather
conditions.
The researchers gathered 263 peach
wild relatives and landraces, or local
cultivars, across seven distinct grow-
ing regions in China, where peaches
originated.
In each region of China — ranging
from lowlands to high altitudes and from
warm to cold climates — wild peaches
have adapted to their environments.
Fei said many of the domesticated
peach’s adaption genes have been lost
through the generations as people have
bred the plant to focus on flavor, sweet-
ness and other traits. Going back to the
peach’s ancestors, he said, allows him to
tap into lost genes.
One example is that wild peach trees
growing at high altitudes closer to the
sun have developed specially colored
branches and new shoots to protect them
from UV light damage. Fei’s team was
able to identify the genes responsible for
this, which will help breeders who wish
to create peach varieties better suited to
high altitudes.
Breeders, Fei said, can use the infor-
mation either in traditional breeding or
with gene editing technology.
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said. Cards would have had
a distinguishable appearance
and clear statements that they
could not be used for voting,
buying firearms or exercis-
ing any rights or privileges
reserved for citizens.
The Idaho Dairymen’s
Association and the Idaho
Association of Commerce
and Industry were among
many business groups that
either testified in favor of SB
1132 at the hearing, or ear-
lier in writing, as benefiting
the larger population includ-
ing an established part of the
workforce. Several citizens
and nonprofits also expressed
support.
Jeff Neumeyer, executive
vice president and general
counsel with Meridian-based
United Heritage Insurance,
testified in favor of the bill as
a means of reducing accident
frequency and severity.
An Idaho Office of Per-
formance Evaluations report
said accidents involving unli-
censed drivers are three times
deadlier and result in an aver-
age property-damage claim
$22,000 higher, and unli-
censed drivers are 9.5 times
more likely to flee a fatal
accident.
Sixteen states offer similar
driver-authorization cards.
Idaho Dairymen’s Asso-
ciation CEO Rick Naerebout
told Capital Press a driv-
ing-authorization card pro-
gram would benefit more of
the industry’s workers, many
of whom already are driving
to and from work. It would
increase safety, though not
necessarily labor availability.
About half the agricul-
tural workforce is in the
country without legal sta-
tus, “and it seems providing
a driving-authorization card
shouldn’t be a step too far in
recognizing the federal gov-
ernment has not addressed
our broken immigration sys-
tem for decades and states
are left with a very difficult
situation,” he said. “States
have authority to do this,
and it would be helpful for
everybody.
“These individuals are in
our country and they are part
of our communities,” Naere-
bout said.
The Idaho Sheriffs Asso-
ciation opposed SB 1132 as
potentially forcing counties
to issue a legal document
— however limited in scope
— to someone who cannot
or does not choose to prove
legal status. Other concerns
included increased admin-
istrative burden without a
meaningful decrease in vehi-
cle-related incidents to which
law enforcement respond.
Several committee mem-
bers also expressed concerns,
from potential legal and tech-
nical issues to a hesitation to
get involved in federal immi-
gration policy.
“It does warrant a really
thorough look. … It does
impact literally tens of thou-
sands of people,” said com-
mittee member and Senate
President Pro-Tem Chuck
Winder, R-Boise.
He said he would support
establishment of an interim
committee to study the issue
between legislative sessions.
The committee voted
down a motion to send SB
1132 to the full Senate with
no recommendation. The
committee instead approved
a motion to hold the bill.