‘Bonanza’ big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman.) (Reg. no. CV-13, PI 641701) was released in May 2004 by the USDA-ARS and the Agricultural Research Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska. It is a broadly adapted perennial warm-season grass cultivar that produces forage with high in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and improved animal gains in comparison to its parent cultivar when utilized by beef cattle in well-managed grazing systems. Bonanza was tested as Pawnee C3

Anderson, Bruce E.

Klopfenstein, Terry J.

Mitchell, R. B.

Vogel, Kenneth P.

English

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska 2006 Registration of ‘Bonanza’ Big Bluestem Kenneth P. Vogel University of Nebraska-Lincoln, kvogel1@unl.edu R. B. Mitchell USDA-ARS, rob.mitchell@ars.usda.gov Terry J. Klopfenstein University of Nebraska-Lincoln, tklopfenstein1@unl.edu Bruce E. Anderson University of Nebraska-Lincoln, banderson1@unl.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaarsfacpub Vogel, Kenneth P.; Mitchell, R. B.; Klopfenstein, Terry J.; and Anderson, Bruce E., "Registration of ‘Bonanza’ Big Bluestem" (2006). Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty. 1944. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaarsfacpub/1944 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Registration of ‘Bonanza’ Big Bluestem‘Bonanza’ big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman.)(Reg. no. CV-13, PI 641701) was released in May 2004 by theUSDA, Agricultural Research Service and the AgriculturalResearch Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Re-sources, University of Nebraska. It is a broadly adapted pe-rennial warm-season grass cultivar that produces forage withhigh in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and improvedanimal gains in comparison to its parent cultivar when utilizedby beef cattle in well-managed grazing systems. Bonanza wastested as Pawnee C3.Bonanzawas developed by three generations of breeding forimproved forage yield and forage digestibility as measured byIVDMD. The base population was the cultivar Pawnee whichwas released in 1963 (Newell, 1968). Pawnee has a broadgenetic base and has proven to be well adapted over a broadgeographic area in the Central Plains and theMidwest. Pawneewas not selected or evaluated for forage quality; hence a needexisted to improve its forage quality for use in livestockproduction systems. The breeding phase of the research wasinitiated in 1977. A modified restricted, recurrent selectionbreeding system (Vogel and Pedersen, 1993) was used in whichforage yield and forage IVDMD were the main selectioncriteria. Approximately 53 to 63 selected plants were inter-mated in isolation each selection cycle to produce seed to startthe next generation of selection. Each selection cycle tookapproximately five yr. The breeding research was conductedat the University of Nebraska’s Agricultural Research andDevelopment Center near Mead, NE. After the third cycle ofselection was completed, seed was increased for use in smallplot evaluation trials and a replicated grazing trial.Two sets of multi-year forage evaluation trials were con-ducted at Mead, Clay Center, and Concord, NE during theperiod 1999 to 2002 to evaluate the hay production potentialof the cultivar. Concord and Mead are in the tallgrass prairieecosystem in Plant Hardiness Zones 4 and 5, respectively, whileClay Center is in the transition zone between the tallgrass andmidgrass prairie ecoregions in Plant Hardiness Zone 5. One setof trials was managed for hay harvest at the mid- to late-bootstage of physiological development while the other set wasmanaged for hay harvest after inflorescences emerged whichwas about a month later. Forage of Bonanza had significantly(P # 0.10) greater IVDMD than Pawnee averaged over alltrials and had equivalent forage yields. It had greater digesti-bility (P # 0.10) than the big bluestem cultivars Rountree andNiagara that can be grown in similar regions. Bonanza wascompared to Pawnee in a replicated grazing trial located nearMead, NE using yearling steers during the period 2000 to 2002(Mitchell et al., 2005a). Based on weekly samples during thegrazing season, there was significantly (P # 0.05) more forageavailable in the Bonanza pastures and the forage wassignificantly (P # 0.05) higher in IVDMD than in the Pawneepastures. Averaged over 3 yr atMead, NE, yearling steers graz-ing the Bonanza pastures had 16% greater average daily gain(P # 0.05) than cattle grazing Pawnee pastures. Bonanza pas-tures produced 14% more kg ha21 beef cattle gains (P # 0.05)than Pawnee pastures. Based on an economic analysis, the in-creased gain by cattle grazing Bonanza pasture in comparisonto Pawnee pastures resulted in an increase of $37 per ha netreturn (Mitchell et al., 2005b).Bonanza is botanically typical of big bluestems that arenative to the tallgrass prairie ecoregion of North America.Bonanza is most similar in appearance to Pawnee from whichit was selected. In space-transplanted nurseries, plants ofBonanza are at the R2 stage of development (spikelets fullyemerged/peduncle not emerged;Moore et al., 1991) two d laterthan those of Pawnee when evaluated at Mead, NE (approx-imately 418 N Lat.). At Mead, NE, Bonanza is at the R2 stageof development about 1 or 2 August. In solid stands or swardtrials, there are no differences in maturity between Bonanzaand Pawnee. Plants of Bonanza vary for the unselected traits ofglume and peduncle color. Bonanza can be distinguished fromPawnee by its greater flag leaf length (13.3 vs. 9.6 cm) andwidth(5.1 vs. 3.7 mm), and a smaller percentage of plants with brownor dark brown glumes (3 vs. 9%) and peduncles (5 vs. 17%).Bonanza in spaced-plant nurseries is at the R2 stage about 7 to8 d earlier than ‘Kaw’ or ‘Goldmine’ and 4 and 10 d later,respectively, than Rountree and ‘Champ’.Bonanza is a stable, improved, random mating populationandwill bemaintained and increased accordingly. It is adaptedto USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5 and lower Plant HardinessZone 4 of the U.S. Central Plains and Midwest, and pendingadditional tests, it may be adapted to other regions. Breederseed will be jointly maintained and produced by USDA-ARSand the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with random-mated,isolated increase fields originating from the Syn 2 breeder seedproduced from the cycle 3 polycross nursery. Foundation seedproduction of Bonanza will be managed by the NebraskaFoundation Seed Division, University of Nebraska-Lincoln,Lincoln, NE 68583. Foundation seed will be made availablefor Certified seed production on a non-exclusive basis to seedproducers who contractually agree to produce and market theseed only as Certified seed using the cultivar name Bonanza.Foundation and Certified seed fields will be limited to a singlegeneration. Certified seed production will be restricted to thesouthern half of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 4 and PlantHardiness Zone 5 where the cultivar is adapted. A technologydevelopment and transfer fee will be assessed by the Uni-versity of Nebraska. Application has beenmade for U.S. PlantVariety Protection. Contact the corresponding author for allseed requests. Recipients are asked to recognize the source ifit contributes to the development of a cultivar or germplasmor is used for other research purposes. Bonanza seeds will bedeposited in the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)(USDA-ARS, 2006), but no seeds will be distributed by theNPGS without written permission for 20 yr from the date ofpublication in Crop Science, at which time seeds will also beavailable from NPGS.K.P. VOGEL,* R.B. MITCHELL, T.J. KLOPFENSTEIN,AND B.E. ANDERSONAcknowledgmentsAppreciation for the technical support of Keith Glewen,James Kube, Patrick Callahan, Steve Masterson, Marty Schmer,and Kevin Grams is acknowledged.ReferencesMitchell, R.B., K.P. Vogel, T.J. Klopfenstein, B.E. Anderson, and R.A.Masters. 2005a. Grazing evaluation of big bluestems bred forimproved forage yield and digestibility. Crop Sci. 45:2288–2292.Mitchell, Rob, Ken Vogel, Gary Varvel, Terry Klopfenstein,Dick Clark and Bruce Anderson. 2005b. Big Bluestem pastures inthe Great Plains: An alternative to dryland corn. Rangelands.27:31–35.Moore, K.J., L.E. Moser, K.P. Vogel, S.S. Waller, B.E. Johnson, and J.F.Pedersen. 1991. Describing and quantifying growth stages ofperennial forage grasses. Agron. J. 83:1073–1077.Newell, L.C. 1968. Registration of Pawnee Big Bluestem (Reg. No. 1).Crop Sci. 8:514–515.USDA-ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. 2006. GermplasmResources Information Network-(GRIN) [Online Database].ReproducedfromCropScience.PublishedbyCropScienceSocietyofAmerica.Allcopyrightsreserved.2313REGISTRATIONS Published online September 8, 2006National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, MD.Available at: www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/; verified 28 July 2006.Vogel, K.P., and J.F. Pedersen. 1993. Breeding systems for cross-pollinated perennial grasses. Plant Breed. Rev. 11:251–274.K.P. Vogel and R.B. Mitchell, USDA-ARS, 344 Keim Hall, P.O. Box830937, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0937; T.J. Klopfenstein,Dep. of Animal Science, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583; B.E.Anderson, Dep. of Agronomy and Horticulture, Univ. of Nebraska,Lincoln, NE 68583. Registration by CSSA. Received 2 Feb. 2006.*Corresponding author (kpv@unlserve.unl.edu).doi:10.2135/cropsci2006.02.0068Published in Crop Sci. 46:2313–2314 (2006).ReproducedfromCropScience.PublishedbyCropScienceSocietyofAmerica.Allcopyrightsreserved.2314 CROP SCIENCE, VOL. 46, SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2006

Registration of ‘Bonanza’ Big Bluestem

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska 
2006 
Registration of ‘Bonanza’ Big Bluestem 
Kenneth P. Vogel 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, kvogel1@unl.edu 
R. B. Mitchell 
USDA-ARS, rob.mitchell@ars.usda.gov 
Terry J. Klopfenstein 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, tklopfenstein1@unl.edu 
Bruce E. Anderson 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, banderson1@unl.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaarsfacpub 
Vogel, Kenneth P.; Mitchell, R. B.; Klopfenstein, Terry J.; and Anderson, Bruce E., "Registration of ‘Bonanza’ 
Big Bluestem" (2006). Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty. 1944. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaarsfacpub/1944 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research 
Service, Lincoln, Nebraska at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in 
Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of 
Nebraska - Lincoln. 
Registration of ‘Bonanza’ Big Bluestem
‘Bonanza’ big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman.)
(Reg. no. CV-13, PI 641701) was released in May 2004 by the
USDA, Agricultural Research Service and the Agricultural
Research Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Re-
sources, University of Nebraska. It is a broadly adapted pe-
rennial warm-season grass cultivar that produces forage with
high in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and improved
animal gains in comparison to its parent cultivar when utilized
by beef cattle in well-managed grazing systems. Bonanza was
tested as Pawnee C3.
Bonanzawas developed by three generations of breeding for
improved forage yield and forage digestibility as measured by
IVDMD. The base population was the cultivar Pawnee which
was released in 1963 (Newell, 1968). Pawnee has a broad
genetic base and has proven to be well adapted over a broad
geographic area in the Central Plains and theMidwest. Pawnee
was not selected or evaluated for forage quality; hence a need
existed to improve its forage quality for use in livestock
production systems. The breeding phase of the research was
initiated in 1977. A modified restricted, recurrent selection
breeding system (Vogel and Pedersen, 1993) was used in which
forage yield and forage IVDMD were the main selection
criteria. Approximately 53 to 63 selected plants were inter-
mated in isolation each selection cycle to produce seed to start
the next generation of selection. Each selection cycle took
approximately five yr. The breeding research was conducted
at the University of Nebraska’s Agricultural Research and
Development Center near Mead, NE. After the third cycle of
selection was completed, seed was increased for use in small
plot evaluation trials and a replicated grazing trial.
Two sets of multi-year forage evaluation trials were con-
ducted at Mead, Clay Center, and Concord, NE during the
period 1999 to 2002 to evaluate the hay production potential
of the cultivar. Concord and Mead are in the tallgrass prairie
ecosystem in Plant Hardiness Zones 4 and 5, respectively, while
Clay Center is in the transition zone between the tallgrass and
midgrass prairie ecoregions in Plant Hardiness Zone 5. One set
of trials was managed for hay harvest at the mid- to late-boot
stage of physiological development while the other set was
managed for hay harvest after inflorescences emerged which
was about a month later. Forage of Bonanza had significantly
(P # 0.10) greater IVDMD than Pawnee averaged over all
trials and had equivalent forage yields. It had greater digesti-
bility (P # 0.10) than the big bluestem cultivars Rountree and
Niagara that can be grown in similar regions. Bonanza was
compared to Pawnee in a replicated grazing trial located near
Mead, NE using yearling steers during the period 2000 to 2002
(Mitchell et al., 2005a). Based on weekly samples during the
grazing season, there was significantly (P # 0.05) more forage
available in the Bonanza pastures and the forage was
significantly (P # 0.05) higher in IVDMD than in the Pawnee
pastures. Averaged over 3 yr atMead, NE, yearling steers graz-
ing the Bonanza pastures had 16% greater average daily gain
(P # 0.05) than cattle grazing Pawnee pastures. Bonanza pas-
tures produced 14% more kg ha21 beef cattle gains (P # 0.05)
than Pawnee pastures. Based on an economic analysis, the in-
creased gain by cattle grazing Bonanza pasture in comparison
to Pawnee pastures resulted in an increase of $37 per ha net
return (Mitchell et al., 2005b).
Bonanza is botanically typical of big bluestems that are
native to the tallgrass prairie ecoregion of North America.
Bonanza is most similar in appearance to Pawnee from which
it was selected. In space-transplanted nurseries, plants of
Bonanza are at the R2 stage of development (spikelets fully
emerged/peduncle not emerged;Moore et al., 1991) two d later
than those of Pawnee when evaluated at Mead, NE (approx-
imately 418 N Lat.). At Mead, NE, Bonanza is at the R2 stage
of development about 1 or 2 August. In solid stands or sward
trials, there are no differences in maturity between Bonanza
and Pawnee. Plants of Bonanza vary for the unselected traits of
glume and peduncle color. Bonanza can be distinguished from
Pawnee by its greater flag leaf length (13.3 vs. 9.6 cm) andwidth
(5.1 vs. 3.7 mm), and a smaller percentage of plants with brown
or dark brown glumes (3 vs. 9%) and peduncles (5 vs. 17%).
Bonanza in spaced-plant nurseries is at the R2 stage about 7 to
8 d earlier than ‘Kaw’ or ‘Goldmine’ and 4 and 10 d later,
respectively, than Rountree and ‘Champ’.
Bonanza is a stable, improved, random mating population
andwill bemaintained and increased accordingly. It is adapted
to USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5 and lower Plant Hardiness
Zone 4 of the U.S. Central Plains and Midwest, and pending
additional tests, it may be adapted to other regions. Breeder
seed will be jointly maintained and produced by USDA-ARS
and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with random-mated,
isolated increase fields originating from the Syn 2 breeder seed
produced from the cycle 3 polycross nursery. Foundation seed
production of Bonanza will be managed by the Nebraska
Foundation Seed Division, University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
Lincoln, NE 68583. Foundation seed will be made available
for Certified seed production on a non-exclusive basis to seed
producers who contractually agree to produce and market the
seed only as Certified seed using the cultivar name Bonanza.
Foundation and Certified seed fields will be limited to a single
generation. Certified seed production will be restricted to the
southern half of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 4 and Plant
Hardiness Zone 5 where the cultivar is adapted. A technology
development and transfer fee will be assessed by the Uni-
versity of Nebraska. Application has beenmade for U.S. Plant
Variety Protection. Contact the corresponding author for all
seed requests. Recipients are asked to recognize the source if
it contributes to the development of a cultivar or germplasm
or is used for other research purposes. Bonanza seeds will be
deposited in the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)
(USDA-ARS, 2006), but no seeds will be distributed by the
NPGS without written permission for 20 yr from the date of
publication in Crop Science, at which time seeds will also be
available from NPGS.
K.P. VOGEL,* R.B. MITCHELL, T.J. KLOPFENSTEIN,
AND B.E. ANDERSON
Acknowledgments
Appreciation for the technical support of Keith Glewen,
James Kube, Patrick Callahan, Steve Masterson, Marty Schmer,
and Kevin Grams is acknowledged.
References
Mitchell, R.B., K.P. Vogel, T.J. Klopfenstein, B.E. Anderson, and R.A.
Masters. 2005a. Grazing evaluation of big bluestems bred for
improved forage yield and digestibility. Crop Sci. 45:2288–2292.
Mitchell, Rob, Ken Vogel, Gary Varvel, Terry Klopfenstein,
Dick Clark and Bruce Anderson. 2005b. Big Bluestem pastures in
the Great Plains: An alternative to dryland corn. Rangelands.
27:31–35.
Moore, K.J., L.E. Moser, K.P. Vogel, S.S. Waller, B.E. Johnson, and J.F.
Pedersen. 1991. Describing and quantifying growth stages of
perennial forage grasses. Agron. J. 83:1073–1077.
Newell, L.C. 1968. Registration of Pawnee Big Bluestem (Reg. No. 1).
Crop Sci. 8:514–515.
USDA-ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. 2006. Germplasm
Resources Information Network-(GRIN) [Online Database].
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2313REGISTRATIONS
 Published online September 8, 2006
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, MD.
Available at: www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/; verified 28 July 2006.
Vogel, K.P., and J.F. Pedersen. 1993. Breeding systems for cross-
pollinated perennial grasses. Plant Breed. Rev. 11:251–274.
K.P. Vogel and R.B. Mitchell, USDA-ARS, 344 Keim Hall, P.O. Box
830937, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0937; T.J. Klopfenstein,
Dep. of Animal Science, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583; B.E.
Anderson, Dep. of Agronomy and Horticulture, Univ. of Nebraska,
Lincoln, NE 68583. Registration by CSSA. Received 2 Feb. 2006.
*Corresponding author (kpv@unlserve.unl.edu).
doi:10.2135/cropsci2006.02.0068
Published in Crop Sci. 46:2313–2314 (2006).
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2314 CROP SCIENCE, VOL. 46, SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2006


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Registration of ‘Bonanza’ Big Bluestem

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