Originally published in the 6/22/18 print and online edition of Yellowstone County News.
HUNTLEY — Want a beer? How about a sandwich on really good bread?
How about some sugar for your coffee or to bake a cake?
Plant research happening today at Montana State University’s Southern Agricultural Research Center at Huntley could affect all of those menu items.
Tuesday’s field day at SARC included tours of dozens of research test plots where the future of sugar beets, barley, wheat, lentils, peas and other crops is taking shape.
Dr. Kent McVay, a researcher at SARC, and Jamie Sherman, a plant pathologist assigned to the Bozeman campus, are in the midst of a multi-year study crossing a gene from a barley variety called Karl with a barley variety called Hockett, which has shown higher yields. The study is designed to measure how using fertilizer to increase yields affects protein levels.
In malt barley, lower protein levels are useful in the malting process, McVay said. The experiment is duplicated in Bozeman and at the Moccasin station, he said. The Moccasin trial had poor results last year because of drought, but may turn out better after this year’s wet spring, he said. read more
