Wheat Research Getting Prioritized

The National Association of Wheat Growers is looking to push wheat research as a priority for public and private funding in 2016.

Director of Research and Technology Steve Joehl said wheat is one of three major crops in the U.S. but often seems forgotten since, “A lot of the big research that came into the other commodities was related to genetic engineering-type technology. Those commodities, because of that, attract a lot because most of those commodities go into the feed side of the marketplace. Wheat is more of a food crop and goes directly into the food chain.”

In particular, Joehl said they want to get a fully mapped genomic sequence of wheat which will open many new doors.

Local farmers can help the cause by reaching out to, “Try to make sure, anyone who has influence on research dollars on wheat, know what the issues are that you’re trying to deal with and let them know that some of those areas are not being funded today.”

The Association is hosting a fly-in this week in Washington D.C. for researchers, growers and the industry in general to meet with Congressional leaders to make that plea face-to-face.

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