Milling & Baking News - November 7, 2017 - 28

Milling Technology

Wheat gene discovery key in
developing high-yielding hybrids
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - Australian
researchers have discovered a gene that
could help in the breeding of high-yielding hybrid wheats and radically change
the way wheat is bred.
The research by the University of Adelaide, in collaboration with DuPont Pioneer, was published in the journal Nature
Communications in October.
Researchers identified Ms1, a naturally occurring wheat gene that when it is
turned off eliminates self-pollination but
allows for cross-pollination. This will allow for breeding high-yield wheat varieties, which will be necessary to meet the
increasing demand for food due to global
population growth.
Wheat production needs to increase
60% by 2050, said Ryan Whitford, hybrid
wheat program leader at the University
of Adelaide's School of Agriculture, Food
and Wine.
"One of the most promising options to

meet this demand is for farmers to grow
hybrid wheat varieties, which can offer
a 10% to 15% yield boost relative to conventionally bred varieties that are currently on the market," he said.
Hybrid wheats are the result of crosses
from two pure wheat lines. The challenge in producing hybrid wheat is in the
breeding and commercial multiplication
of the hybrid parent seed. Wheat is a selfpollinator, but the production of hybrid
seed requires large-scale cross-pollination, researchers said.
"Hybrids are widely used for the cereals
maize (or corn) and rice, but developing a
viable hybrid system for bread wheat has
been a challenge because of the complexity of the wheat genome," Mr. Whitford
said. "We have now identified a gene necessary for cross-pollination in wheat that
can be used in large-scale, low-cost production of parent breeding lines necessary
for hybrid wheat seed production."

In Australia, hybrid wheat would probably best serve those wheat growers in the
higher yielding, high rainfall zones along
the eastern seaboard, but hybrids also could
provide improved yield stability in the more
challenging growing regions of Australia.
In addition to yield increases, hybrid seed
production would stimulate investment in
wheat improvement from the public and
private sectors, researchers said. But, the
competitiveness of wheat hybrids will depend on hybrid seed production costs.
In the United States, DuPont Pioneer has
developed an innovative breeding technology for corn called Seed Production Technology (SPT) used to bulk up parent breeding lines for hybrid production.
"The pollination gene is 'biologically
contained' to the breeding process and
does not make its way past the grandparent stage in producing the end-user hybrid seed," said Marc Albertsen, research
director, DuPont Pioneer. "This identified
pollination gene is the key step for a similar technology for wheat and could dramatically increase the efficiency of hybrid
wheat seed production." MBN

FarmLead launches on-line grain
marketplace testing service
CHICAGO - FarmLead, a North American on-line grain marketplace, announced
the launch of GrainTests.com. The latest addition to the FarmLead ecosystem,
GrainTests.com is the first on-line service
that allows grain farmers to conveniently
test their grain. Farmers can obtain thirdparty validation from testing labs across
North America, including BioVision,
Cotecna, Intertek, NDGI, NQI, SGS and
20/20 Seed Labs.
"Grain testing has become a vital component in price setting in today's agricultural markets," said Kia Adams-Mikesh,
vice-president of NDGI. "Given the increased demand for commodities and
tight production schedules of end users,
grain buyers require a deeper, more immediate understanding of the specifications
of the commodities they are purchasing.
GrainTests.com provides access to testing
labs for independent producers that are
enjoyed by North America's top agricultural producers. Some of these labs are
also certified by the U.S.D.A., the centralized standard for the United States."
The grain testing process is an integral
part of the grain marketing lifecycle. Unlike traditional grain testing methods that
rely on manual processes, the new GrainTests service by FarmLead streamlines the
process. According to the company, the
new process will free farmers from the
28 / November 7, 2017

Milling & Baking News

through GrainTests.com assures each
farmer honest but critical feedback to
boost grain marketing power. Farmers
can then use the FarmLead Marketplace
typical workday-hour constraints and pa- to easily reach the maximum number
perwork, phone calls and e-mails between of buyers, who can also be instantly asfarmers and lab managers. The GrainTests sured of the grain's quality."
Buyers have specific and limited qualon-line portal moves grain testing into the
digital era and gives farmers 24-7 access to ity tolerances when purchasing barley,
labs and payment processing. In addition, oats and pulse crop markets. In a competitive market, the more
the resulting indepeninformation a farmer can
dent perspective of what
provide about the grain,
is for sale helps buyers
especially the quality of
know they are paying a
their grain, during the
fair price, the company
marketing process, the
said.
easier it will be to set the
FarmLead said buyright price, attract interers
have
expanded
est and close the sale,
across their traditional
FarmLead said.
networks to work with
From grain testing,
farmers to find grain
price visibility and sale
with unique specificarecommendations, to the
tions to meet the needs of
largest and fastest growtheir buying programs.
ing marketplace of veriKnowing grain specifi- FARMLEAD RESOURCES LTD.
fied buyers and sellers of
cation is essential, especially in a buyer's market, farmers need grain in North America, FarmLead said it
to understand the quality of their grain so works to offer grain farmers everywhere
they can set a fair price and better negoti- unprecedented control over the process of
selling their crops.
ate with buyers across the country.
Available on-line and as a mobile app,
"Second only to knowing your cost
of production, knowing the quality FarmLead also provides farmers access to
of your grain is a critical factor when market research, grain testing, price visfarmers try to sell grain for top dollar," ibility and reduced brokerage fees and
said Brennan Turner, chief executive of- risks. The FarmLead Marketplace facilificer and president of FarmLead. "Get- tates works to greater equality, efficiency
ting your grain independently tested and transparency for the grain industry. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.GrainTests.com http://www.GrainTests.com http://www.GrainTests.com http://www.GrainTests.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - November 7, 2017

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