Breeding for Organic Production Systems Project: On-Farm Variety Trials for Organic Growers

1. Breeding for Organic
Production Systems
Project:
On-Farm Variety Trials
for Organic Growers
Kelli Dale
Project Coordinator
Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA
www.rafiusa.org

2. Rural Advancement Foundation International
 Nonprofit organization based in Pittsboro, NC.
 RAFI combines on-the-ground services with policy and market advocacy in order to ensure
that farmers have the opportunity to make the right choices for their farm and families and that
these are also the right choices for the environment and farming community.
www.rafiusa.org

3. What is BOPS?
• BOPS stands for Breeding for Organic Production
Systems
• The project intends to increase the sustainability of
organic agriculture by ensuring continual
improvement of the genetic base for organic field
crops.
• Partnership between North Carolina State University
(NCSU) and RAFI
• Funded through USDA/OREI grant
www.rafiusa.org

4. Long Term Goals
• To release corn hybrids resistant to GMO
contamination
• To increase weed competitive ability in
soybeans
• To find seedling disease resistance in peanuts
• To discover allopathic wheat lines through
newly developed protocols
• To increase the yield of all four crops under
organic conditions
www.rafiusa.org

5. RAFI’s Role
• Provide farmers with information on the
latest cultivars
• On-farm trials that meet accepted research
rigor while fully addressing farmers’ needs
for ease of implementation and practicality
www.rafiusa.org

6. Benefits of On-Farm Variety Trials
for Organic Growers
• The vast majority of seed industry and
public variety trails are conducted and
managed in conventional systems.
• Organic producers have system-specific
needs that make trails more valuable
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7. Variety trials help manage risk
Choosing the right variety for the local
climate and field conditions can minimize
loss and increase your success
• Maximize yields
• Minimize crop lost due to pest
• Fill key market and production niches
• Identify the best organic seed sources
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8. Field Selection
•Uniform in slope, drainage, and fertility where
the soil type is representative of your farm
•Plots shouldn’t border fence line, road, or edge of
field to avoid favoring or penalizing one variety
over another
•Calculate total width of experiment to make sure
chosen field is large enough to accommodate
experiment
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9. www.rafiusa.org

10. Plot Design
• Randomize and Replicate (This helps
account for any differences that may be
caused by variation throughout the field.)
• We try to have at least three reps of each
variety.
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11. Plot Size
•Consider the size of your planting and harvesting equipment.
•Plots should be slightly larger than your harvesting equipment so a pass
can be made through the middle leaving guard rows on either side
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12. Tracking & Collecting Data
Decide beforehand what you would like to
track and keep accurate records.
Soybean:
• How competitive they are against weeds
• How far up the first set of leaves start making
cultivation easier
Wheat:
• Head height
• Lodging
www.rafiusa.org

13. Planting
 Clean your drill or planter between varieties
 Record your planting date and rate
 Take measurements of the plot area.
 Don’t rely on the flags being there at the end of the growing season.
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14. Monitoring
• Germination date
• Stand counts
• Date at full canopy (soybeans)
• Height at flowering (soybeans)
• Pod set (soybeans)
• Rate for early expansion/Growth Habit
• Height at heading (wheat)
• Heading date (wheat)
• Lodging
www.rafiusa.org

15. www.rafiusa.org

16. Harvest
 Take exact measurements of the area harvested
 Record moisture level for each plot
 Record weight of each plot
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17. Results of On-Farm Trials
What We’ve Learned so Far
www.rafiusa.org

18. Peanuts
• Grew experimental line of organic peanuts at three locations
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19. Corn
 Worked with Organic Valley on their variety trials
 Two test plots using four varieties of open pollinated corn from Walter Goldstein
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20. Wheat
 2013-Tested five varieties, two hard and three soft
 2014-Testing five varieties, two hard and three soft
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21. Results: Soft Wheat Varieties
Soft
Wheat
Variety
Average
Bu/acre
Test
Weight
(lbs/bu)
Falling
number
Protein
(%)
USG 3251 65.0 63.6 330 10.2%
USG 3201 63.1* 64.4 364 10.8%
Featherstone 56.2 60.9 312 10.8%
*USG 3201 is statistically different from Featherstone at 5%. USG 3251 and USG 3201
are not statistically different.
• The wheat trials were planted at three locations.
• Plots were planted October 25, 29, 30, 2013.
• Harvest dates were June 16, 19, 20 of 2013.
• The planting rate was 150 lbs/acre.
www.rafiusa.org

22. Results: Hard Wheat Varieties
Hard
Wheat
Variety
Average
Bu/acre
Test
Weight
(lbs/bu)
Falling
Number
Protein
(%)
Tam 303 58.3* 61.3 389 11.2%
NuEast 46.9 67.8 467 11.3%
*Tam 303 is statistically different from NuEast at 5%.
• The hard wheat was only tested at two locations.
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23. Comparing Results
NCSU
• Featherstone
• USG 3251
• USG 3201
RAFI
• USG 3251
• USG 3201
• Featherstone
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24. Soybeans
 2013- tested five experimental varieties one commercial variety
 2014-tested three experimental varieties and five commercial
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25. Soybeans (2013)
Variety Bu/acre Bu/acre Bu/acre Average
NCC06-929 33.9 33.9 33.8 33.9*
NC05-7432 33.5 33.7 33.0 33.4*
NCC07-8138 31.9 32.0 32.7 32.2
NCC06-899 32.7 34.2 26.2 31.0
NCC06-579 30.7 33.5 28.1 30.8
Roy 32.5 29.1 30.4 30.7
*Marginally significantly different at 30% from the variety ranked directly below it. All other rankings are not
statistically different.
• The soybeans were planted on 36 inch rows. Due to the wet weather that year they were not planted until July 23,
2013. Harvest date was November 25th.
• The varieties with the letter-number names are still in the NCSU breeding program and not yet available to the public.
www.rafiusa.org

26. Soybeans (2014)
Variety Bu/acre Bu/acre Bu/acre Average
NCC06-1090 32.7 43.2 38.0
NCC07-8138 37.4 37.4
NCC06-899 35.1 38.2 36.7
Roy 23.0 33.0 37.5 31.2
Woodruff 29.1 26.8 35.6 30.5*
N7003CN 27.7 28.4 27.3 27.8*
Miller 21.6 25.3 24.1 23.7**
Raleigh 16.6 12.7 18.8 16.0**
*The Roy, Woodruff, and N7003CN are not significantly different from each other.
**The Miller is marginally significantly different at 30% from the top yielding commercial variety and the Raleigh is
marginally significantly different at 10% from the top yielding commercial varieties.
• Planting date was June 13, 2014. Harvest was January 10, 2015.
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27. Comparing Results
NCSU
• Roy
• NCC06-899
• NCC07-8138
• Woodruff
• Miller
• Raleigh
• N7003CN
• NCC06-1090
RAFI
• NCC06-1090
• NCC07-8138
• NCC06-899
• Roy
• Woodruff
• N7003CN
• Miller
• Raleigh
www.rafiusa.org

28. Additional Resources
http://www.organicgrains.ncsu.edu/NCOrganicGrainProject.htm
http://rafiusa.org/bopscoalition/
www.rafiusa.org

29. If you are interested in
having an on-farm variety
trial please contact:
Kelli Dale
kelli@rafiusa.org
910-890-3464
www.rafiusa.org