Update on hazelnut development program in the Lake States

Paper presented at the 13th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held June 19-21, 2013 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.In Poppy, L., Kort, J., Schroeder, B., Pollock, T., and Soolanayakanahally, R., eds. Agroforestry: Innovations in Agriculture. Proceedings, 13th North American Agroforestry Conference, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, June 19-21, 2013.Hazelnut (Corylus spp.) is a potential nut crop for the Lake States. In the past, researchers and hobbyists have hybridized American and European hazelnut in an effort to develop a cold hardy, disease resistant hybrid hazelnut. There are relatively few varieties available and most plantings are currently seed origin. For pure American hazelnut, there are nearly no available varieties (at this point we know of two). Our goals are to: select high productivity wild hazelnuts, successfully pilot one or more propagation protocols and field test the selected genotypes. A group representing a diversity of disciplines and Upper Midwest States has been selecting American hazelnut from wild populations in Northern Wisconsin for use as parents in controlled crosses as well as potential clonal planting stock. To date, we have screened 35 sites across 10 WI Counties and have selected more than 30 individuals that meet 1% selection criteria on kernel yield per square foot. We are currently micropropagating these individuals for evaluation in replicated germplasm trials. We have also successfully tested mound layering protocols. This is an intermediate general report and specific results will be reported as they become available.Mike Demchik (1), Jason Fischbach (2), Brent McCown (3), Eric Zeldin (3) and Tony Kern (4) ; 1. University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, 800 Reserve Street, Stevens Point, WI, 54481 USA. 2. University of Wisconsin Extension, 117 East 5th St, Washburn, WI, 54891 USA. 3. Department of Horticulture, 1575 Linden Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706 USA. 4. Department Chair of Biology and Chemistry, 1501 Morningside Avenue, Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa 51106, USA.Includes bibliographical references

A new hazelnut development program in the Lake States

Paper presented at the 12th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held June 4-9, 2011 in Athens, Georgia.In Ashton, S. F., S.W. Workman, W.G. Hubbard and D.J. Moorhead, eds. Agroforestry: A Profitable Land Use. Proceedings, 12th North American Agroforestry Conference, Athens, GA, June 4-9, 2011.Hazelnut is an intriguing new crop for the Lake States, suited for use as an oilseed and as an edible nut. Several researchers and hobby breeders have attempted to develop this crop for the Lake States with some current small-scale commercial adoption; however, the crop is still in its infancy. A group of researchers, extension specialists and growers are assisting in the development of a hazelnut industry in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Activities include 1) aiding farmers in selecting plant material from existing plantings of seed origin hybrids for their use or broader adoption, 2) screening wild American hazelnut for high-performing plantsfor use by breeders or as potential crop plants, 3) developing clonal propagation methods and 4) providing outreach activities to those currently growing and those interested in growing hazelnuts. We plan to discuss our results to date emphasizing clonal propagation research and the protocols and results of the schreening program for wild American hazelnuts.Mike Demchik (1), Brent McCown (2), Jason Fischbach (3), Anthony Kern (4) and Eric Zeldin (5) ; 1. College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. 2. Horticulture, University of Wisconsin Madison. 3. University of Wisconsin Extension. 4. Northland College. 5. University of Wisconsin.Includes bibliographical references

Critical research needs for successful food systems adaptation to climate change

There is a growing sense of the fragility of agricultural production in the Global North and South and of increasing risks to food security, as scientific observations confirm significant changes in the Gulf Stream, polar ice, atmospheric CO2, methane release, and other measures of climate change. This sense is heightened as each of us experiences extreme weather, such as the increasing frequency of droughts, floods, unseasonal temperatures, and erratic seasonality. The central research challenge before us is how global, national, regional, and local food systems may adapt to accelerating climate change stresses and uncertainties to ensure the availability, access, consumption, and stability of healthy food for and by all people. Missing aspects of research fall into two broad categories: the impacts of rapid climate change on the environmental systems supporting food production, and climate change’s impact on the predominantly human systems that influence food security. Of particular concern is how different policy and governance mechanisms can support or hinder the collective decision-making needed to promote a swift adaptive response to increase and sustain food security. Human systems research is needed to investigate food system activities beyond production (processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management). It also must consider political, cultural, and regulatory factors that influence behavior and facilitate positive behavioral changes. To accurately envision future scenarios, research is needed to characterize risk comprehensively throughout the food system, assess barriers to and opportunities for changing food systems, and evaluate novel and traditional approaches that may lead to greater food security

Food webs and food sovereignty: Research agenda for sustainability

Future food production will be constrained by the scarcity of fossil fuel and fresh water as well as increasing intensity and unpredictability of weather events and climate changes. The assurance of food security and equity for many consumers is complicated by concentration of ownership of land and other production resources, as well as a global corporate food systems model that is driven by profit at the expense of people and the environment. To assess potential alternatives to the contemporary global food chain, well focused research is needed on local food production and food webs where small- and midscale family farms provide economic viability for rural communities and their regions. We suggest multiple and integrative research priorities in production, enterprise, and farm economics, environmental impacts of farming at different scales, and social and community consequences of value adding and economic multipliers in local food webs and systems as well as the structure of agriculture. Research into key questions on food security and how it relates to increased food sovereignty is clearly needed to assess creative food system alternatives for the future

Multiplication of Four \u3ci\u3ePenstemon\u3c/i\u3e Species in Vitro

Penstemon (beard tongue) is a native genus of U.S. wildflower that is used for landscape plants (Lindgren, 1984a, 1984b, 1990), for cut flowers (Lindgren, 1986), and for ecological studies (Stubbendieck et al., 1982). Tissue culture techniques could be useful for propagating cultivars and species in this genus as some do not breed true from seed, require special seed germination conditions, or are difficult to propagate using other vegetative methods (Lindgren, 1984b, 1990; Stubbendieck et al., 1982). Penstemon haydenii is also the only listed endangered plant species in Nebraska. The Penstemon spp. P. digitalis Nutt. ‘Husker Red’ (Lindgren, 1984b); P. grandiflorus Nutt. ‘Prairie Snow’ (Lindgren, 1990); P. barbatus (Cav.) Roth ‘Schooley’s Yellow’ (Lindgren, 1984a), and P. haydenii S. Wats (Stubbendieck et al., 1982) were evaluated for their growth response to five levels of N- (phenylmethyl)-1H purine-6-amine (BA). Lateral buds from greenhouse-grown plants of each of the four species were surface sterilized by sequential immersion in 75% ethanol for 1 min and 0.53% NaOCl for 15 min, followed by rinsing three times in sterile water. Explants were then placed in 120-m] baby food jars with polypropylene closures that contained 30 ml Woody Plant Medium (Lloyd and McCown, 1980) with 0.1% (w/v) Gelrite, 0.3% (w/v) Sigma agar, 2% (w/v) sucrose, 6 mM calcium gluconate, and 0.4 μM BA. Shoots were grown on this medium for 8 weeks, then transferred to Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) without BA and grown for 6 weeks. Shoot sections with one node each were then transferred to 30 ml MS medium, placed vertically, and supplemented with either 0, 0.01, 0.1, 1.0, or 10.0 μM BA. At the end of 4 weeks, shoot tips (1 cm) were transferred to fresh MS media supplemented with the same concentrations of BA and, at the end of 6 weeks, plant growth was measured. All tissue culture media were adjusted to a pH of 5.7. Growth rooms were maintained at 27 ± 1C with 24 h continuous light provided by cool-white fluorescent bulbs (20 μmol·m–2·s–1). The experimental design was a randomized complete block with five replicates per treatment. One replicate consisted of one jar with one shoot per jar. Statistical comparisons were made between BA levels only within each species

Resorption Protection. Anthocyanins Facilitate Nutrient Recovery in Autumn by Shielding Leaves from Potentially Damaging Light Levels

The resorption protection hypothesis, which states that anthocyanins protect foliar nutrient resorption during senescence by shielding photosynthetic tissues from excess light, was tested using wild-type (WT) and anthocyanin-deficient mutants of three deciduous woody species, Cornus sericea, Vaccinium elliottii (Chapmn.), and Viburnum sargentii (Koehne). WT Betula papyrifera (Marsh) was included to compare the senescence performance of a species that does not produce anthocyanins in autumn. Plants were subjected to three environmental regimes during senescence: an outdoor treatment; a 5-d high-stress (high light and low temperature) treatment followed by transfer to a low-stress environment and a low-stress treatment that served as control. In the outdoor treatment, the appearance of anthocyanins in senescing leaves of WT plants was concomitant with the development of photo-inhibition in mutant plants of all three anthocyanin-producing species. In the high-stress environment, WT plants maintained higher photochemical efficiencies than mutants and were able to recover when transferred to the low-stress environment, whereas mutant leaves dropped while still green and displayed signs of irreversible photooxidative damage. Nitrogen resorption efficiencies and proficiencies of all mutants in both stressful treatments were significantly lower than the WT counterparts. B. papyrifera displayed photochemical efficiencies and nitrogen resorption performance comparable with the highest of the anthocyanin-producing species in all three senescing environments, indicating a photoprotective strategy divergent from the other species studied. These results strongly support the resorption protection hypothesis of anthocyanins in senescing leaves

A rat pancreatic ribonuclease fused to a late cotton pollen promoter severely reduces pollen viability in tobacco plants

The effects of an animal RNase fused to the late cotton pollen-specific promoter G9 in a plant system were investigated. Expression of the chimeric genes G9-uidA and G9-RNase in tobacco plants showed that the 1.2-kb promoter fragment of the G9 gene was sufficient to maintain tissue and temporal specificity in a heterologous system. GUS (beta-glucuronidase) expression was detected only in pollen from anther stage 6 through anthesis, with maximal GUS activity in pollen from stage 10 anthers. Investigating the effects of the rat RNase on pollen viability at stage 10, we found that pollen viability was reduced from 79 to 8% and from 89 to 40%, in pollen germination and fluoresceine diacetate assays, respectively, in one G9-RNase transgenic line, suggesting a lethal effect of the RNase gene. This indicates that the rat RNase produces deleterious effects in this plant system and may be useful for engineering male sterility

Food Webs and Food Sovereignty: Research Agenda for Sustainability

Future food production will be constrained by the scarcity of fossil fuel and fresh water as well as increasing intensity and unpredictability of weather events and climate changes. The assurance of food security and equity for many consumers is complicated by concentration of ownership of land and other production resources, as well as a global corporate food systems model that is driven by profit at the expense of people and the environment. To assess potential alternatives to the contemporary global food chain, well focused research is needed on local food production and food webs where small- and midscale family farms provide economic viability for rural communities and their regions. We suggest multiple and integrative research priorities in production, enterprise, and farm economics, environmental impacts of farming at different scales, and social and community consequences of value adding and economic multipliers in local food webs and systems as well as the structure of agriculture. Research into key questions on food security and how it relates to increased food sovereignty is clearly needed to assess creative food system alternatives for the future