Developing Agronomic Strategies to Optimize Production of Quinoa and Hulless Barley on No-till Farms in the Palouse Region of Idaho and Washington

Impacts

Our results and observations indicate enthusiastic and growing interest in the potential for growing heart-healthy, high beta glucan food barley in dryland systems in the Palouse. Yields continue to increase as new varieties are tested and released, and the potential for increasing the food barley market is strong. Through our research we have raised awareness of hulless, high beta glucan food barley as a novel and economically viable market class of barley. We conducted multiple field days, and presented our research at local, state, regional and national conferences. This research also helped us identify a new barley variety, Meg's Song, which was released in the 3rd year of this project. Meg's Song is a high yielding hulless barley with approximately 7 to 8% beta glucan content. We have also worked with chefs to develop novel recipes for Meg's Song and Havener hulless barley, and these have been promoted at two breeder-chef events, one in California and one in New York, and at the 2018 Cascadia Grains Conference. Much of the work to generate an impact from this research will continue along in this vein where we can showcase the products to generate more interest. We anticipate one Extension bulletin and one research paper to be submitted for publication in 2019. We also anticipate the successful graduation of one PhD student in 2019 whose major focus was the research conducted in this project. We will track the change in productionof hulless barley over the next few years to continue to gauge impact. Finally, we are working with the WSU College of Medicine to test cardiovascular biomarkers based on a diet incorporating Meg's Song barley compared to commonly available hulled barley and a rice control. This WSARE funded research has really allowed us to focus on the potential of hulless barley production and marketing in the Inland Northwest, and we are excited to see how this could impact our farming systems in upcoming years.

The outlook is not as good in the immediate future for quinoa as it is for barley in the dryland grain producing region of the Palouse. High temperatures on these dryland farms pose a significant impact on the yields of quinoa. This WSARE research allowed us to test for heat tolerance among diverse varieties, and now heat tolerance is one of our major breeding objectives. As WSU and others begin to release more productive, and heat and drought tolerant varieties of quinoa, we anticipate more grower adoption. There is considerable interest among growers in quinoa, but because it is a much newer crop species to our region, there is still much research to conduct prior to the reliable and dependable development of quinoa production strategies and adapted varieties. This research will continue, though any meaningful impact may be more distant in the future than it will be for food barley.

Accomplishments

Below are our objectives, with accomplishments summarized below each.

1. Identify specific varieties and/or breeding lines of quinoa and hulless barley that perform well on no-till farms in the Palouse.

We evaluated 10 varieties and/or breeding lines each of quinoa and hulless barley on two no-till farms in Washington and Idaho. Results from these trials summarized over years will inform us on which varieties of each crop that will perform best, measured across a diversity of traits, on no-till farms in the Palouse region. Each year were very different in terms of rainfall and temperature extremes, and we are in the process of finalizing 3-year results for these trials. In general, barley trials were much more consistent than the quinoa trials. High temperature have a strongly detrimental effect on quinoa yield, particularly in soil moisture limited environments. 2017 was an extremely hot year, and high temperatures during flowering and seed set resulted in negligible quinoa yields. These results will be included in both an Extension bulletin and a peer-reviewed journal article, both to be submitted for review in 2019.

2. Determine the effect of seeding rate and nitrogen rate on agronomic traits and seed yield of quinoa and hulless barley;

Two food barley and one quinoa variety were grown in separate but similar agronomy trials on two no-till farms over three years. The focus of these trials was to identify optimum seeding rates and nitrogen fertility rates. To this end, five nitrogen fertility rates and three seeding rates were tested across varieties and locations. Differences were significant especially for nitrogen fertility rate. Interactions were also found across seeding rate and fertility rate. Each no-till farm represents a distinct rainfall zone and/or soil type. Agronomic traits of interest include: speed and rate of emergence, juvenile growth habit, leaf and stem color, plant height at maturity, disease resistance, lodging tolerance, weed suppression and seed yield. End-use quality and nutritional traits of interest include seed protein content, seed size, test weight, β-glucan content (for barley only), and extrusion properties. We have found significant differences among  barley varieties, nitrogen rate in both crops and seeding rate in quinoa. These will be summarized and provided in our Extension bulletin and research article. We will also continue to communicate these results to farmers and other stakeholders at field days and conferences across the Pacific Northwest.

3. Develop outreach products and events in Idaho and Washington, as well as at regional and national conferences, to increase knowledge of and awareness about the agronomic and market capacity of quinoa and hulless barley.

Two field days in 2016 were held to introduce farmers to quinoa and hulless barley, and to describe and show our field trials. One on-farm field day in conjunction with Shepard's Grain Farmer Cooperative was held in 2017 where this trial and preliminary results were discussed. Results were also discussed with farmers at two additional field days in conjunction with WSU Variety Testing during the summer of 2017. Preliminary results were also shared during an oral presentation at the Cascadia Grains Conference in Olympia, Washington in January 2017.  Stakeholders in attendance included no-till and conventional till farmers, consumers, chefs, and other scientists. In addition, results were presented at a WSU BIOAg symposium in a poster format in March 2017 and in an oral presentation at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA annual meeting in October 2017. Results were again presented at the 2018 and 2019 Cascadia Grains Conference in Olympia, and the 2018 Cascadia Grains East Conference held in Moscow, ID in August 2018. PhD student Cedric Habiyaremye presented his research again at the ASA-CSSA annual meeting in November 2018. Select grains from this trial, particularly Havener and Meg's Song barley varieties, were shared with chefs and presented in mouth-watering barley dishes at three separate events in Olympia, WA, Sonoma, CA, and NYC, NY. Close to 800 people attended these three events and all ate this barley. We have also included Meg's Song and Havener barley in the WSU Small Grain Variety packet so their agronomic information is available to farmers. Both these varieties are now regularly included in the University of Idaho and the Washington State University Variety Testing Programs and grown at 15 locations each year. Each locations is host to a field day, and these barley varieties are discussed at every field day, and their agronomic information is published into booklets available to the public as well as on websites and sent out to listserves. Finally, we are in the process of developing an Extension bulletin that we will publish through the University of Idaho as a way of presenting our data and translating the results for our farmer stakeholders.

4. Publish a peer-reviewed paper in an impactful agriculture-based academic journal.

We are in the process of writing a peer-reviewed article that will be submitted to an academic journal, tentatively by Summer 2019.

5. Provide varietal information that will contribute to an officially released variety.

This project provided a unique source of additional information that contributed to the release of Meg's Song barley by WSU in 2017. This variety is already gaining attention from growers and stakeholders, and we expect that it will contribute positively to the food barley market class. Seed is becoming available and we anticipate that this barley will begin to be grown in different regions of the Palouse. It is broadly adapted, high yielding for a hulless type, contains 7 to 8% beta glucan, and is resistant to lodging.