ORIGINALLY WRITTEN
Kansas wheat producers are invited to participate in Kansas Wheat Day May 26 at Kansas State University Agricultural Research Station auditorium at Hays. Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers meetings will take place in the morning beginning at 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., respectively, and producers are welcome to attend either meeting.
A luncheon buffet will be served in honor of Kansas wheat producers beginning at 12:30 p.m. There will be no charge for the luncheon.
The afternoon program, beginning at 1:30 p.m., will focus on the use of biotechnology in wheat production and marketing. Bickram Gill, director of the Wheat Genetics Resource Center at Kansas State University in Manhattan, will address the group on the topic of “Mapping the Wheat Genome.”
Also speaking at Kansas Wheat Day will be Bill Nicholson, a farmer-elected director on the Canadian Wheat Board. Nicholson, who farms in Manitoba, Canada, and chairs the Board’s Strategic Issues Committee, will present his perspective on future issues concerning the marketing of biotech wheat.
Following the afternoon slate of speakers addressing wheat biotechnology issues, a field tour of wheat research conducted at the Agricultural Research Center will be offered. KSU’s Hays wheat breeder, Joe Martin, will present the 2004 edition of the wheat variety performance test.
Alan Fritz, KSU’s Manhattan wheat breeder, will showcase breeding lines that are in the advanced phase of testing for possible release. In addition to comparing the field performance of wheat varieties and breeding lines, Phillip Stahlman, Hays weed scientist, will discuss results from his testing of Clearfield technology in wheat, and Hays entomologist J.P. Michaud will provide an update on the status of army cutworm and recent genetic changes reported in the Russian wheat aphid.
The Kansas Wheat Commission is a grower-funded, grower-governed wheat advocacy organization working to increase wheat producer productivity and profitability through research, education and domestic and inter-
national market development.
