Carl Allen Griffey

‘VT Beahm’ (Reg. no CV‐384, PI 702638) is an awnless, six‐row barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar with a winter growth habit. VT Beahm was released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in May 2021. Prior to being named, VT Beahm was tested under the experimental designation VA16BFHB‐268 NA. VT Beahm was evaluated from 2020 to 2022 at four to six locations in the Virginia Tech Official Variety Trial. Compared with commercial cultivars, the mean grain yield (3755 kg ha ⁻¹ ) of VT Beahm was similar to that of ‘Nomini’ but lower than that of ‘Secretariat’, ‘Thoroughbred’, and ‘Flavia’. The average grain volume weight of VT Beahm (63.3 kg hL ⁻¹ ) was significantly ( p ≤ 0.05) higher than that of Nomini, but lower than that of the other commercial cultivars. Head emergence of VT Beahm was similar to that of Nomini and Secretariat and 6 and 10 days earlier than that of Thoroughbred and Flavia, respectively. VT Beahm was developed primarily as a replacement for the barley cultivar Nomini. VT Beahm provides barley producers and end users in the Eastern United States with acceptable forage quality and moderate‐to‐high levels of resistance to prevalent diseases, including Fusarium head blight. Forage evaluation results showed acceptable quality profiles with specific quality traits, including high crude protein and dry matter content for the years tested. VT Beahm is a good winter forage barley cultivar best adapted to the Mid‐Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. regions. VT Beahm will provide producers and farmers in Virginia and neighboring states with a viable alternative to the currently grown commercial forage winter barley cultivars.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) infection causes yield loss, quality degradation, and the production of damaging mycotoxins in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L). Marker analysis suggests that NC13‐20076 does not possess previously identified FHB resistance quantitative trait loci (QTL) screened for in eastern winter wheat germplasm. A doubled haploid population of 168 lines from the cross of GA06493‐13LE6 and NC13‐20076 was phenotyped in inoculated nurseries in six environments. Heading date, plant height, and visual ratings of Fusarium damage on heads were recorded in the field; percent Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK) and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation were recorded post‐harvest. Interval and multiple QTL mapping were performed on each environment‐by‐trait combination. Plant height and heading date QTL were identified on chromosomes 4A, 5A, 6A, and 7B, and peak markers were used as covariates in mapping of disease response traits. Disease response QTL were identified on chromosomes 1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A, 7A, and 7D. The largest percent variance (PV) QTL identified for FHB visual ratings (10.8%) and DON accumulation (10.1%) were found on chromosome 5A (QFvr.nc‐5A, QDon.nc‐5A). The largest PV (10.3%) QTL identified for FDK were found on 1A (QFdk.nc‐1A). Disease response QTL for multi‐environment scans of visual ratings, FDK, and DON accumulation accounted for 4.0%–10.8%, 4.1%–10.3%, and 4.9%–10.1% of the total variance, respectively. The present results indicate that NC13‐20076 contains several FHB response QTL, which overlap with previously identified QTL and demonstrate the importance of NC13‐20076 as a readily accessible source of FHB resistance.

‘Avalon’ (Reg. no. CV‐383, PI 700308) is the first two‐row, winter malt barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar developed by the Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station. Avalon was released in May 2020. Prior to being named, Avalon was tested under the experimental designation VA16M‐81. Avalon was evaluated from 2018 to 2023 in the Eastern Malt Barley Trials (EMBT) at one to three locations in three states and in the Winter Malt Barley Trial (WMBT) from 2020 to 2023 in six to 15 states. In the EMBT in Virginia, mean grain yield (5604 kg ha ⁻¹ ) of Avalon was higher to cultivar ‘Violetta’, but lower than those of ‘Flavia’, ‘Calypso’, and ‘Thoroughbred’. Average grain volume weight of Avalon (64.9 kg hL ⁻¹ ) was significantly ( P  ≤ 0.05) higher than the check cultivars, except Violetta. Head emergence of Avalon was 3 days earlier than Flavia and Calypso and 1 to 2 days later than Violetta and Thoroughbred, respectively. Avalon was developed primarily as a malt barley cultivar. On the basis of malting evaluations, Avalon has acceptable quality profiles with specific quality traits including high extract, low protein content, and low beta‐glucan for the years tested. Avalon provides malt barley producers and end users in the eastern United States with excellent malt quality and a unique and distinct flavor profile having good to moderate resistance to all diseases prevalent in the eastern United States. It is moderately susceptible to Fusarium head blight but has moderately low deoxynivalenol accumulation in the grain.

In plant breeding, selecting cross‐combinations that are more likely to result in superior lines for cultivar development is critical. This step, however, is subjective with decisions being based on available genomic and phenotypic data for prospective parents. Genomic prediction (GP) provides new opportunities to accelerate genetic gain for a target trait by identifying superior crosses through simulation of progeny performance. In this context, this study deployed GP using the phenotype and genotype of potential parents to predict the progeny genetic variance (V_G) and means of overall, inferior 10%, and superior 10% (μ, μ_ip, and μ_sp, respectively). This retrospective experimental design investigated whether the crosses that produced superior soft red winter wheat breeding lines would have been made if progeny simulations had guided crossing decisions of breeding programs. Here, data from historical wheat breeding lines were used to train GP models and predict V_G and means for yield, test weight, heading date, and plant height for all combinations of 217 parents. Predicted and observed data for 670 lines derived from biparental crosses were compared to assess the accuracy of progeny simulations, and low‐to‐moderate prediction accuracy was observed for the four traits (0.25–0.52). Of the pedigrees that produced lines that were selected and advanced into later stage nurseries, 76% were predicted to give rise to progeny with above‐average yield. The moderate correlation found between predicted progeny means and observed line per se performance justifies using cross‐combination prediction as a tool to reduce crossing number and focus on segregating populations that harbor future cultivars.

Soft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivum L.) production in the southeastern United States is affected by biotic and abiotic stresses that can result in yield losses and reduced acreage. Developing new cultivars with high yield, good resistance to predominant pests, and acceptable quality to maximize value in regional markets is needed. The University of Georgia (UGA) SRWW breeding program, in collaboration with institutions in the region including the Southern UNiversities GRAINS (SUNGRAINS) programs, is responding to these challenges by developing and releasing superior cultivars adapted to the region. ‘GA 08535‐15LE29’ (Reg. no. CV‐1191, PI 693269) SRWW cultivar was developed and released by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and licensed to Uni South Genetics seed company in 2018 as USG 3640. GA 08535‐15LE29 is well adapted to Georgia and the U.S. southeast region with high yield and good resistance to leaf (Puccinia triticina Erikss.) and stripe (P. striiformis Westend.) rusts, Fusarium head blight (caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe), powdery mildew (Erisyphe graminis), and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) diseases. GA 08535‐15LE29 showed moderate field resistance to Hessian fly [Mayetiola destructor (Say)]. GA 08535‐15LE29 has Sbm1 and Yr17/Lr37/Sr38 for resistance to SBWMV and rust diseases and has good grain volume weight and acceptable milling and baking qualities.

‘Hardy 2519’ (Reg. no. CV‐1189, PI 692613), a hard red winter (HRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar, was derived from the cross VA06HRW‐108 × ‘Vision 30’ (PI 661153) using a modified bulk breeding method. Hardy 2519 was tested as VA14HRW‐25 in replicated yield trials in Virginia (2015–2018) and in the USDA‐ARS Uniform Bread Wheat Trials (2016–2018) and released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. Hardy 2519 is a widely adapted, high‐yielding HRW wheat with 2*, 5+10 gluten subunits. Hardy 2519 is awned, semidwarf (Rht 2 gene) with medium spike emergence, resistant to leaf rust, and moderately resistant to powdery mildew in the mid‐Atlantic region. In the Virginia Bread Wheat Elite Trials from 2018 to 2020, Hardy 2519 produced a mean yield of 5,393 kg ha^–1, which was similar to that of the HRW wheat cultivar ‘Vision 45’ (PI 667642) at 5,267 kg ha^–1. Hardy 2519 has acceptable milling and baking quality on the basis of comparisons with the HRW wheat check cultivar ‘Jagger’.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most economically destructive diseases of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), causing substantial yield and quality loss worldwide. Fusarium graminearum is the predominant causal pathogen of FHB in the U.S., and produces deoxynivalenol (DON), a mycotoxin that accumulates in the grain throughout infection. FHB results in kernel damage, a visual symptom that is quantified by a human observer enumerating or estimating the percentage of Fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK) in a sample of grain. To date, FDK estimation is the most efficient and accurate method of predicting DON content without measuring presence in a laboratory. For this experiment, 1266 entries collectively representing elite varieties and SunGrains advanced breeding lines encompassing four inoculated FHB nurseries were represented in the analysis. All plots were subjected to a manual FDK count, both exact and estimated, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) analysis, DON laboratory analysis, and digital imaging seed phenotyping using the Vibe QM3 instrument developed by Vibe imaging analytics. Among the FDK analytical platforms used to establish percentage FDK within grain samples, Vibe QM3 showed the strongest prediction capabilities of DON content in experimental samples, R² = 0.63, and higher yet when deployed as FDK GEBVs, R² = 0.76. Additionally, Vibe QM3 was shown to detect a significant SNP association at locus S3B_9439629 within major FHB resistance quantitative trait locus (QTL) Fhb1. Visual estimates of FDK showed higher prediction capabilities of DON content in grain subsamples than previously expected when deployed as genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) (R² = 0.71), and the highest accuracy in genomic prediction, followed by Vibe QM3 digital imaging, with average Pearson’s correlations of r = 0.594 and r = 0.588 between observed and predicted values, respectively. These results demonstrate that seed phenotyping using traditional or automated platforms to determine FDK boast various throughput and efficacy that must be weighed appropriately when determining application in breeding programs to screen for and develop resistance to FHB and DON accumulation in wheat germplasms.

In Georgia and the southeast region of the United States, acreage of soft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivum L.) has decreased in recent years. There is an urgent need to release new cultivars with high yield potential, resistance to yield‐limiting diseases and insects, and good baking quality to maximize value in regional markets. To address this, the SRWW breeding program at the University of Georgia (UGA), in collaboration with the SUNGRAINS breeding programs, developed ‘GA JT141‐14E45’ (Reg. no. CV‐1183, PI 689519), a SRWW cultivar released by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and licensed to AGSouth (AGS) Genetics as AGS 3030. GA JT141‐14E45 is widely adapted to the U.S. Southeast, having high yield, good resistance to diseases such as leaf rust, stripe rust, powdery mildew, and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) and to current biotypes of Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor Say). It has good resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab. GA JT141‐14E45 has good grain volume weight and acceptable milling and baking quality. GA JT141‐14E45 was derived from the cross of ‘AGS 2026’/‘Jamestown’. Jamestown was used in the cross mainly for its resistance to FHB (FHB QTL 1A‐Neuse and 1B‐Jamestown). AGS 2026 is a UGA cultivar released in 2007 with very good disease resistance to rusts (Yr17/Lr37/Sr38), Hessian fly resistance (H13), and excellent yield.

‘SB255’ (Reg. no. CV‐373, PI 693987) is a six‐rowed hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar with winter growth habit. The cultivar was released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station in May 2019. SB255 is widely adapted, high yielding, high grain volume weight, and medium tall. It has good winterhardiness and good straw strength. The spikes of SB255 are strap and slightly waxy with no overlapping lateral kernels and with long awns. Prior to being named, SB255 was tested under the experimental designation VA11B‐141 (LA). It was derived from the cross Spont03‐44/VA01B‐44 and developed using a modified‐bulk breeding method. It was evaluated from 2013 to 2019 in the Virginia Official Variety Trials at five to six locations. SB255's average grain yield (5,214 kg ha^–1) was similar to the check cultivars ‘Secretariat’ and ‘Thoroughbred’ but significantly (P ≤ .05) higher than ‘Atlantic’, ‘Price’, ‘Callao’, ‘Nomini’, and ‘Wysor’. Average grain volume weight of SB255 (60.8 kg hL^–1) was similar to Secretariat and Price but exceeded (P ≤ 0.05) those of Thoroughbred, Atlantic, Callao, Nomini, and Wysor. Head emergence of SB255 was similar to Thoroughbred and 2–5 d later than winter feed barley cultivars Secretariat, Atlantic, Price, Callao, and Nomini. SB255 was developed primarily as a feed barley cultivar. It provides barley producers and end users in the eastern United States with a high‐grain‐yielding cultivar having good to moderate resistance to all diseases prevalent in the eastern United States, including Fusarium head blight (FHB), and also lower deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation in the grain.

Soft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivum L.), historically a major crop in Georgia and the U.S. Southeast (SE) region, has been challenged by numerous biotic and abiotic constraints resulting in decreased hectarage in recent years. Hence, an urgent need exists to release new cultivars with high yield potential, good resistance to predominant diseases and insects, and acceptable quality attributes to capture and maximize value in regional markets. The SRWW breeding program at the University of Georgia (UGA), in collaboration with the Southeastern University GRAINS (SUNGRAINS) breeding programs, is responding to these challenges by developing and releasing superior SRWW cultivars adapted to Georgia and the SE wheat region. ‘GA 07353‐14E19’ (Reg. no. CV‐1179, PI 689520), a SRWW cultivar developed by the UGA small grains breeding program, was released by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and licensed to Stratton Seed Company in 2017 as GO WHEAT 2032. GA 07353‐14E19 is adapted to the SE region with high yield, good resistance to prevalent diseases, including leaf and stripe rusts, Fusarium head blight, powdery mildew, and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus. GA 07353‐14E19 also showed good resistance to current biotypes of Hessian fly. GA 07353‐14E19 possesses the H13, Sbm1, and Yr17–Lr37–Sr38 genes that protect it against the above pests. It has very good grain volume weight and good milling and baking quality as a SRWW.