Grains Continued from Page 7
interesting germplasm that we hope will be useful down the road for improving yield,” Brummer said. UC small grains research has led to improved wheat varieties with resistance to stripe rust disease and drought. It has also helped to increase nitrogen uptake efficiencies and produce awnless wheat varieties suitable for livestock forage. Bill Cruickshank, chairman of the Woodland-based California Wheat Commission, noted that new develop- ments also include “wheat varieties with improved nutrition, most notably on fiber and iron but also variety work being done on reduced allergens for celiac disease.” Mark Lundy, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist in grain cropping systems, is studying water-limited winter cereal crops as a potential low-cost option for farmers. He said winter crops will be in greater demand as summer production diminishes from growers who must idle acreage to curb pumping from aquifers to comply with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. “We’re probably going to see a half a mil- lion to a million acres go out of summer production over the next 10 years,” Lundy said. “The lowest value, highest-water-us- ing crops are probably going to be top on the list. That’s alfalfa, corn—those are for- age crops for the dairy industry.”
Attendees at the University of California Alfalfa, Forages and Small Grains Field Day in Davis ride a tractor- drawn wagon in a tour of test plots and the UC Davis Plant Science Field Station. Small grains research has led to varieties resistant to drought and diseases.
Lundy posed questions to growers who may have to fallow acreage for summer-ir- rigated forage crops. “Would you rather have bare ground that you may have to manage weeds on and potentially create new costs, or would you rather get a winter crop on that ground and get some flexibility?” he asked, noting that such questions inspire his research into winter crop options. Eric Brennan, a USDA scientist in the Salinas Valley, noted that cereal grains are also useful as cover crops in high-value vegetable crops. Attendees who toured the research plots at the Davis field day included farm- ers, millers, seed and grain merchants, bakers, food processors, farm advisors
and university researchers. “It’s beneficial to be able to see these trials because this is where some of our foundation seed comes from,” said Fred Boes of L.A. Hearne Company, a seed supplier in King City. “We sell a lot of cov- er crop seed—that’s a huge part of our business. We’re going more and more to- wards the concept of nitrogen cycling— taking it out of the soil at the time you don’t need it, storing it in a plant, then mowing it down and putting it back in later when you need it. We’re using crops as a solution for another crop.” Kurt Anderson, field representative for Adams Grain Company in Woodland, said growers are looking to meet demand “for specific types of grains and forages” and
find market opportunities. Anderson said the bottom line ques- tion is, “How can the grower capture more value?” He then answered himself. “By growing specialty small grains— usually specific types of wheat, malting barley and other food-grade barleys, and rye—which add more value to the grower and California as a whole,” Anderson said. “It makes us unique and more com- petitive in the grain markets from a global standpoint.” (Robyn Rominger is a reporter based in Yolo County. She may be contacted at robynrominger@hotmail.com.)
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The California Agricultural Heritage Club is a prestigious group of families and businesses who are descendants of pioneer ranches, farms, and agribusinesses of California. The club’s purpose is to recognize at the California State Fair those who have maintained a financial responsibility in agriculture for 100 years or longer.
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8 Ag Alert June 21, 2023
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