‘Goldmine’ big bluestem [Andropogon gerardii Vitman.] (Reg. no. CV-14, PI 641702) was released in May 2004 by the USDA-ARS and the Agricultural ResearchDivision, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska. Goldmine is a perennial warm-season grass cultivar that produces forage with moderately improved in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), protein concentration, and improved forage yields in some hay management systems. Animal gains from Goldmine were greater than its parent cultivar when utilized by beef cattle in well-managed grazing systems. Goldmine was tested as Kaw 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 ‘Goldmine’ 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 ‘Goldmine’ Big Bluestem" (2006). Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty. 1943. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaarsfacpub/1943 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 ‘Goldmine’ Big Bluestem‘Goldmine’ big bluestem [Andropogon gerardii Vitman.](Reg. no. CV-14, PI 641702) was released in May 2004 by theUSDA, Agricultural Research Service and the Agricultural Re-search Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources,University of Nebraska. Goldmine is a perennial warm-seasongrass cultivar that produces forage with moderately improvedin vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), protein concentra-tion, and improved forage yields in some hay management sys-tems. Animal gains fromGoldmine were greater than its parentcultivar when utilized by beef cattle in well-managed grazingsystems. Goldmine was tested as Kaw C3.Goldmine is an open-pollinated population that was de-veloped by three generations of breeding for improved forageyield and forage digestibility asmeasured by IVDMD.The basepopulation was the cultivar Kaw which was released in 1950(Alderson and Sharp, 1994). Kaw, which has a broad geneticbase, has proven to be well adapted over a broad geographicarea in the Central and Southern Plains and adjacent regionsof the Midwest. Kaw was not selected or evaluated for foragequality; hence, a need existed to improve its forage quality foruse in livestock production systems. The breeding phase of theresearch was initiated in 1977. A modified restricted, recurrentselection breeding system (Vogel and Pedersen, 1993) was usedin which forage yield and forage IVDMD were the main selec-tion criteria. Approximately 55 to 60 selected plants were inter-mated in isolation in each selection cycle to produce seedto start the next generation of selection. Each selection cycletook approximately 5 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 Goldmine had moderatelygreater IVDMD (P # 0.20) than Kaw when harvested beforeheading or as regrowth (P # 0.10), and its forage had greatercrude protein concentration (P # 0.10) when harvested be-fore heading. Forage yields of Goldmine were significantlygreater (P # 0.10) than those of Kaw when hay was harvestedafter heading. Goldmine had greater forage yields and for-age IVDMD (P # 0.10) averaged over all trials and harveststhan the cultivars Pawnee, Rountree, and Niagara. Goldminewas compared to Kaw 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, forage availability and IVDMD were similarfor Goldmine and Kaw, but forage of Goldmine had greatercrude protein concentration (P # 0.05). Averaged over 3 yr atMead, yearling steers grazing the Goldmine pastures had 7%greater average daily gain (P # 0.20) than cattle grazing Kawpastures. Based on an economic analysis, the increased gain bycattle grazing Goldmine pastures in comparison to Kaw pas-tures resulted in an increase of $11 per ha net return (Mitchellet al., 2005a, 2005b).Goldmine is botanically typical of big bluestems that arenative to the tallgrass prairie ecoregion of North America.In space-transplanted nurseries, plants of Goldmine are at theR2 stage of development (spikelets fully emerged/pedunclenot emerged; Moore et al., 1991) an average of 1 d later thanthose of Kaw when evaluated at Mead, NE (418 N Lat.). Insolid stands or sward trials, there were no differences in matu-rity between Goldmine and Kaw. Goldmine can be distin-guished from Kaw by its wider (5.6 vs. 4.5 mm) and longer(14.9 vs. 11.1 mm) flag leaf and a greater percentage of plantswith reddish-brown glumes (18 vs. 8%) and peduncles (23 vs.16%), and by correspondingly fewer plants with brown or lightbrown glume and peduncle color. In spaced-plant nurseriesat Mead, Goldmine is at the R2 stage of development 10 and8 d later than ‘Pawnee’ and ‘Bonanza’, respectively, 12 d laterthan ‘Rountree’, and 18 day later than ‘Champ’ and ‘Sunny-view’. In swards, Goldmine is later in maturity than otherreleased cultivars except forKaw and ‘Earl’. It is aminimumof 4d earlier in maturity than Earl. Goldmine can be differentiatedfrom Kaw by the percentage of plants with light brown andreddish brown glume and peduncle color. At 418 N Lat., Gold-mine is at the R2 stage of development about 10 August. It is ahexaploid cultivar.Goldmine is a stable, improved, random mating populationand will be maintained and increased accordingly. It is adaptedto lower USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5 and Plant HardinessZone 6 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 Goldmine 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 Goldmine.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 5 and PlantHardiness Zone 6 where the cultivar is adapted. A technologydevelopment and transfer fee will be assessed by the Univer-sity of Nebraska. Application has been made 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 germplasm oris used for other research purposes. Seed of Goldmine will bedeposited in the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)(USDA-ARS, 2006), but no seed will be distributed by theNPGS without written permission for 20 yr from the date ofpublication in Crop Science, at which time seed 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.ReferencesAlderson, J., and W.C. Sharp. 1994. Grass varieties in the UnitedStates. Agricultural Handbook No. 170. Soil Conservation Service,U.S. Dep. Agriculture, Washington, DC.Mitchell, R.B., K.P. Vogel, T.J. Klopfenstein, B.E. Anderson, and R.A.ReproducedfromCropScience.PublishedbyCropScienceSocietyofAmerica.Allcopyrightsreserved.2314 CROP SCIENCE, VOL. 46, SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2006 Published online September 8, 2006Masters. 2005a. Grazing evaluation of big bluestems bred for im-proved forage yield and digestibility. Crop Sci. 45:2288–2292.Mitchell, R.B., K. Vogel, G. Varvel, T. Klopfenstein, D. Clark, and B.Anderson. 2005b. Big Bluestem pastures in the Great Plains: Analternative to dryland corn. Rangelands 27:31–35.Moore, K.J., L.E. Moser, K.P. Vogel, S.S. Waller, B.E. Johnson, andJ.F. Pedersen. 1991. Describing and quantifying growth stages ofperennial forage grasses. Agron. J. 83:1073–1077.USDA-ARS. 2006. National Genetic Resources Program. GermplasmResources Information Network-(GRIN) [Online Database]. Na-tional Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, MD. Availableat: www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/; verified 18 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 byCSSA.Received 2 Feb. 2006. * Corre-sponding author (kpv@unlserve. unl.edu).doi:10.2135/cropsci2006.02.0070Published in Crop Sci. 46:2314–2315 (2006).ReproducedfromCropScience.PublishedbyCropScienceSocietyofAmerica.Allcopyrightsreserved.2315REGISTRATIONS

Registration of ‘Goldmine’ 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 ‘Goldmine’ 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 ‘Goldmine’ 
Big Bluestem" (2006). Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty. 1943. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaarsfacpub/1943 
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 ‘Goldmine’ Big Bluestem
‘Goldmine’ big bluestem [Andropogon gerardii Vitman.]
(Reg. no. CV-14, PI 641702) was released in May 2004 by the
USDA, Agricultural Research Service and the Agricultural Re-
search Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
University of Nebraska. Goldmine is a perennial warm-season
grass cultivar that produces forage with moderately improved
in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), protein concentra-
tion, and improved forage yields in some hay management sys-
tems. Animal gains fromGoldmine were greater than its parent
cultivar when utilized by beef cattle in well-managed grazing
systems. Goldmine was tested as Kaw C3.
Goldmine is an open-pollinated population that was de-
veloped by three generations of breeding for improved forage
yield and forage digestibility asmeasured by IVDMD.The base
population was the cultivar Kaw which was released in 1950
(Alderson and Sharp, 1994). Kaw, which has a broad genetic
base, has proven to be well adapted over a broad geographic
area in the Central and Southern Plains and adjacent regions
of the Midwest. Kaw 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 selec-
tion criteria. Approximately 55 to 60 selected plants were inter-
mated in isolation in each selection cycle to produce seed
to start the next generation of selection. Each selection cycle
took approximately 5 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 Goldmine had moderately
greater IVDMD (P # 0.20) than Kaw when harvested before
heading or as regrowth (P # 0.10), and its forage had greater
crude protein concentration (P # 0.10) when harvested be-
fore heading. Forage yields of Goldmine were significantly
greater (P # 0.10) than those of Kaw when hay was harvested
after heading. Goldmine had greater forage yields and for-
age IVDMD (P # 0.10) averaged over all trials and harvests
than the cultivars Pawnee, Rountree, and Niagara. Goldmine
was compared to Kaw 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, forage availability and IVDMD were similar
for Goldmine and Kaw, but forage of Goldmine had greater
crude protein concentration (P # 0.05). Averaged over 3 yr at
Mead, yearling steers grazing the Goldmine pastures had 7%
greater average daily gain (P # 0.20) than cattle grazing Kaw
pastures. Based on an economic analysis, the increased gain by
cattle grazing Goldmine pastures in comparison to Kaw pas-
tures resulted in an increase of $11 per ha net return (Mitchell
et al., 2005a, 2005b).
Goldmine is botanically typical of big bluestems that are
native to the tallgrass prairie ecoregion of North America.
In space-transplanted nurseries, plants of Goldmine are at the
R2 stage of development (spikelets fully emerged/peduncle
not emerged; Moore et al., 1991) an average of 1 d later than
those of Kaw when evaluated at Mead, NE (418 N Lat.). In
solid stands or sward trials, there were no differences in matu-
rity between Goldmine and Kaw. Goldmine can be distin-
guished from Kaw by its wider (5.6 vs. 4.5 mm) and longer
(14.9 vs. 11.1 mm) flag leaf and a greater percentage of plants
with reddish-brown glumes (18 vs. 8%) and peduncles (23 vs.
16%), and by correspondingly fewer plants with brown or light
brown glume and peduncle color. In spaced-plant nurseries
at Mead, Goldmine is at the R2 stage of development 10 and
8 d later than ‘Pawnee’ and ‘Bonanza’, respectively, 12 d later
than ‘Rountree’, and 18 day later than ‘Champ’ and ‘Sunny-
view’. In swards, Goldmine is later in maturity than other
released cultivars except forKaw and ‘Earl’. It is aminimumof 4
d earlier in maturity than Earl. Goldmine can be differentiated
from Kaw by the percentage of plants with light brown and
reddish brown glume and peduncle color. At 418 N Lat., Gold-
mine is at the R2 stage of development about 10 August. It is a
hexaploid cultivar.
Goldmine is a stable, improved, random mating population
and will be maintained and increased accordingly. It is adapted
to lower USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5 and Plant Hardiness
Zone 6 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 Goldmine 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 Goldmine.
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 5 and Plant
Hardiness Zone 6 where the cultivar is adapted. A technology
development and transfer fee will be assessed by the Univer-
sity of Nebraska. Application has been made 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. Seed of Goldmine will be
deposited in the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)
(USDA-ARS, 2006), but no seed will be distributed by the
NPGS without written permission for 20 yr from the date of
publication in Crop Science, at which time seed 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
Alderson, J., and W.C. Sharp. 1994. Grass varieties in the United
States. Agricultural Handbook No. 170. Soil Conservation Service,
U.S. Dep. Agriculture, Washington, DC.
Mitchell, R.B., K.P. Vogel, T.J. Klopfenstein, B.E. Anderson, and R.A.
R
e
p
ro
d
u
c
e
d
fr
o
m
C
ro
p
S
c
ie
n
c
e
.
P
u
b
lis
h
e
d
b
y
C
ro
p
S
c
ie
n
c
e
S
o
c
ie
ty
o
f
A
m
e
ri
c
a
.
A
ll
c
o
p
y
ri
g
h
ts
re
s
e
rv
e
d
.
2314 CROP SCIENCE, VOL. 46, SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2006
 Published online September 8, 2006
Masters. 2005a. Grazing evaluation of big bluestems bred for im-
proved forage yield and digestibility. Crop Sci. 45:2288–2292.
Mitchell, R.B., K. Vogel, G. Varvel, T. Klopfenstein, D. Clark, and B.
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.
USDA-ARS. 2006. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm
Resources Information Network-(GRIN) [Online Database]. Na-
tional Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, MD. Available
at: www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/; verified 18 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 byCSSA.Received 2 Feb. 2006. * Corre-
sponding author (kpv@unlserve. unl.edu).
doi:10.2135/cropsci2006.02.0070
Published in Crop Sci. 46:2314–2315 (2006).
R
e
p
ro
d
u
c
e
d
fr
o
m
C
ro
p
S
c
ie
n
c
e
.
P
u
b
lis
h
e
d
b
y
C
ro
p
S
c
ie
n
c
e
S
o
c
ie
ty
o
f
A
m
e
ri
c
a
.
A
ll
c
o
p
y
ri
g
h
ts
re
s
e
rv
e
d
.
2315REGISTRATIONS


https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2948&amp;context=usdaarsfacpub

Registration of ‘Goldmine’ Big Bluestem

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

UNL | Libraries