Background
Minnesota lawmakers first appropriated funding to advance research of Fusarium Head Blight (FHB, scab) in 1994, following the severe 1993 epidemic that affected much of the Northern Plains. This funding is now referred to as the “Small Grain Initiative (SGI), and is awarded to faculty within the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) on a biennial basis. The SGI provides a means for the U of M to initiate or accelerate problem-solving or opportunity research, and associated extension programs, and to support and sustain Minnesota’s wheat and barley industry. Although there are no set guidelines for minimum or maximum grants, it is the intent to fund significant, comprehensive proposals, rather than small individual proposals. The funds are restricted to project expenses; they are not intended for long-term recurring commitments for faculty and staff.
Review Process
A faculty review committee conducts an initial screening of the proposals and then provides recommendations to the SGI Steering Committee. The SGI steering committee is composed of the Executive Director of the Minnesota Wheat Growers Association, a Minnesota wheat grower, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Barley Growers Association, a Minnesota barley grower, the SGI Coordinator, and the CFANS Associate Dean for Research and Outreach. Progress and final reports are a requirement of funding.
SGI Accomplishments
The SGI may be the largest and most comprehensive scab research/extension initiative among agricultural experiment stations in the nation.
Thanks to the sustained funding commitment by the state of Minnesota, the U of M SGI has resulted in a number of structural and programmatic accomplishments including:
- A working coalition between small grain producers and the U of M
- Stronger linkages with crop scientists regionally and nationally to focus on scab research
- Increased public awareness of the community-wide impacts of agricultural disasters
- Better greenhouse and field research techniques, so that plant breeding material and pest management protocols can be tested no matter what the weather conditions
- A more rapid and accurate means of measuring mycotoxin levels in grain samples
Programmatic accomplishments include:
- New wheat and barley varieties with improved scab tolerance, to be followed by even better varieties several years down the road
- Discovery of sources and different types of scab resistance in exotic and domestic gene pools
- A better understanding of management techniques including:
- Chemical and biological control products
- Application techniques
- Better understanding of the impacts of tillage, previous crop, row spacing, companion crops, and other crop management approaches as a means of minimizing the susceptibility of wheat and barley to scab
The Minnesota SGI was used as a model to obtain federal research funding via USDA-ARS. The current funding for the National Scab Initiative is $5.5 million. A Minnesota wheat grower served on the first steering committee.
2022-2023 SGI Grants
| Principal Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|
| Brian Steffenson, Ruth Dill-Macky, Yanhong Dong and Ian MacRae | Evaluation of Small Grain Cereals for Multiple Disease Resistance and Mycotoxins |
| Brian Steffenson | Phenotyping Populations for Validation. Exploiting Wild Barley Germplasm for Disease Resistance |
| James Anderson | Breeding Disease Resistant Wheat |
| Roger Ruan | Control of Fusarium Seedling Blight in Wheat Through Fast Physical Seed Treatment |
| Kevin Smith | Enhancing Resistance to Multiple Diseases in Barley |
| Jochum Wiersma | General Support Small Grains Specialist |
2020-2021 SGI Grants
| Principal Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|
| James Anderson | Breeding Disease Resistant Wheat |
| Gary Muehlbauer | Identify Natural HvUGT13248 Expression Variants that Increase FHB Resistance in Barley |
| Kevin Smith | Enhancing Resistance to Multiple Diseases in Barley |
| Kevin Smith | Improving Crown Rust Resistance in Oats |
| Brian Steffenson, Ruth Dill-Macky, Yanhong Dong and Albert Sims | Evaluation of Small Grain Cereals for Multiple Disease Resistance and Mycotoxins |
| Jochum Wiersma | General Support Small Grains Specialist |
2018-2019 SGI Grants
| Project Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|
| James Anderson | Breeding Disease Resistant Wheat |
| Melania Figueroa | Genetic Improvement of Oat against Fungal Disease: Crown Rust and Loose Smut |
| Gary Muehlbauer | Examine the Utility of Fhb1 for Scab Resistance in Barley |
| Madeleine Smith | Epidemiology of Barley Yellow Dwarf in Minnesota |
| Kevin Smith | Improving Durable Resistance to Crown Rust in Oats |
| Kevin Smith | Enhancing Resistance to Multiple Disease in Barley |
| Brian Steffenson, Ruth Dill-Macky, Madeleine Smith, Yanhong Dong and Carol Ishimaru | Evaluation of Small Grains Cereals for Multiple Disease Resistance and Mycotoxins |
| Jochum Wiersma | General Support of Small Grains Specialist |
2016-2017 SGI Grants
| Principal Investigator | Protect Title |
|---|---|
| James Anderson | Accelerated Breeding of Disease Resistant Wheat |
| Ruth Dill-Macky | Evaluation of Wheat and Barley for Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Yanhong Dong | Mycotoxin Analysis Services for Fusarium Head Blight Research |
| Melania Figueroa | Assessment of Disease Resistance Durability in Oats against Aggressive Isolates of Crown Rust and Smut Fungi |
| Carol Ishimaru | Incorporating Pathogen Variability into Breeding Strategies for Bacterial Leaf Streak Resistance in Wheat and Barley |
| Gary Muehlbauer | Identify Novel Scab Resistance Loci in Barley |
| Gary Muehlbauer | Enhancement of Scab Resistance in Wheat by Molecular Genetics |
| Kevin Smith | Enhancing Resistance to Multiple Diseases in Barley |
| Madeleine Smith | Evaluating Spring Wheat and Barley Lines for Resistance to Multiple Diseases in Northwest Minnesota |
| Brian Steffenson | Evaluation of Minnesota Barley Breeding Germplasm for Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Jochum Wiersma | General Support of Small Grains Specialist |
2014-2015 SGI Grants
| Principal Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|
| James Anderson | Accelerated Breeding of Disease Resistant Wheat |
| Ruth Dill-Macky | Evaluation of Wheat and Barley for Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Yanhong Dong | Mycotoxin Analysis Services for Fusarium Head Blight Research |
| Carol Ishimaru | Bacterial Leaf Streak of Wheat: An Emergent Problem in Need of Solutions |
| Kevin Smith | Enhancing Resistance to Multiple Diseases in Barley |
| Madeleine Smith | Evaluating Spring Wheat and Barley Lines for Resistance to Multiple Diseases in Northwest Minnesota |
| Brian Steffenson | Developing Barley Varieties with Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Jochum Wiersma | General Support of Small Grains Specialist |
2012-2013 SGI Grants
| Principal Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|
| James Anderson | Accelerated Breeding of Disease Resistant Wheat |
| Ruth Dill-Macky | Evaluation of Wheat and Barley for Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Yanhong Dong | Mycotoxin Analysis Services for Fusarium Head Blight Research |
| Carol Ishimaru | Bacterial Leaf Streak of Wheat: An Emergent Problem in Need of Solutions |
| Albert Sims | Evaluating Spring Wheat and Barley Lines for Resistance to Multiple Diseases in Northwest Minnesota |
| Kevin Smith | Marker Assisted Breeding for Enhanced Disease Resistance in Barley |
| Brian Steffenson | Breeding Barley for Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Jochum Wiersma | General Support of Small Grains Specialist |
2010-2011 SGI Grants
| Principal Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|
| James Anderson | Accelerated Breeding of Disease Resistant Wheat |
| Ruth Dill-Macky | Evaluation of Wheat and Barley Breeding Lines for Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Yanhong Dong | Mycotoxin Analysis Services for Fusarium Head Blight Research |
| Charla Hollingsworth | Bacterial Leaf Stripe of Wheat: An Emergent Problem in Need of Solutions |
| James Kolmer | Chromosome Mapping of New Genes for Leaf Rust Resistance in Wheat and Enhancement of Leaf Rust Resistence in Spring Wheat Cultivars |
| Gary Muehlbauer | Enhancement of Scab Resistance in Wheat and Barley by Molecular Genetics |
| George Nelson | General Wheat Support/Fusarium Head Blight Nursery |
| Kevin Smith | Marker Assisted Breeding for Enhanced Disease Resistance in Barley |
| Larry Smith | Evaluating Spring Wheat and Barley Lines for Resistance to Multiples Diseases in Northwest Minnesota |
| Brian Steffenson | Breeding Barley for Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Jochum Wiersma | General Support of Small Grains Specialist |
| Jochum Wiersma | Red River On-Farm Yield Trials for Spirng Wheat and Barley |
2008-2009 SGI Grants
| Principal Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|
| James Anderson | Accelerated Breeding of Disease Resistant Wheat |
| Ruth Dill-Macky | Evaluation of Wheat and Barley Breeding Lines for Multiple Disease Resistance: St. Paul |
| Ruth Dill-Macky | Deoxynivalenol Production in the Fusarium Disease Complex |
| Yanhong Dong | Mycotoxin Analysis Services for Fusarium Head Blight Research |
| Charla Hollingsworth | Examining Mycotoxin Content of Grain In Response to Application of Triazole and/or Strobilurin Fugicide on Wheat and Barley At Different Crop Growth Stages |
| Charla Hollingsworth | Examining Germplasm Response to Fungicide Application in Regard to Growing Environment |
| James Kolmer | Chromosome Mapping of New Genes for Leaf Rust Resistance and Improvement of Leaf Rust Resistance in Spring Wheat Germplasm |
| Gary Muehlbauer | Enhancement of Scab Resistance in Wheat and Barley by Molecular Genetics |
| Kevin Smith | Marker Assisted Breeding for Enhanced Disease Resistance in Barley |
| Larry Smith | Evaluating Spring Wheat and Barley Lines for Resistance to Multiple Diseases in Northwest Minnesota |
| Brian Steffenson | Validation of Marker Assisted Selection for FHB Resistance Loci from Barley Accession COMP 351 |
| Brian Steffenson | Evaluation of Barley Breeding Lines for Multiple Disease Resistance |
| Jochum Wiersma | Red River On-Farm Yield Trials for Spring Wheat and Barley |
| Jochum Wiersma | General Support of Small Grains Specialist |
| Jochum Wiersma | Using Historical Yield Data to Determine the Effect of Climate Change on Productivity of Spring Wheat, Barley, and Oats in Minnesota |
| George Nelson | General Wheat Support / Fusarium Head Blight Nursery |