Dear Cooperators,

I am requesting that you complete the attached form to help us plan for the coming season of evaluations for the 2008 crop.  I would like you to give us an idea of what your requests will be for the next year.

We are also soliciting cultivars for the Wheat Quality Evaluation Council and the US Wheat Overseas Varietal Analysis.  We have had very successful evaluations for these two programs in the past year.  If you have not received a copy of the report and would like to, please contact me.  I would encourage you to put proposed releases or very new releases in the Wheat QEC.  If there is a dominant cultivar in your region that we have yet to submit to the US Wheat OVA trial please let me know.  I can get seed from seed producers.

As you prepare for sample shipment please consider the following:

Sample Sizes

Micro Samples – 150 grams

Advanced Samples – 400 grams

Wheat Quality Evaluation Council – 80 lbs

Overseas Varietal Analysis – 200 lbs

The best shipping materials are Spear envelopes followed by heavy Kraft bags.  Stapled, thin envelopes are often the poorest sample packaging.

Consecutive numbering of samples with an electronic entry-list e-mailed at time of shipping greatly speeds our processing of the initial entry.  

It is even better if the samples are packed in an organized pattern too.

 We will limit each breeding program to 460 total micro samples, due to time and budget constraints. Because of the added labor cost of the advanced evaluations, breeding programs that use advanced testing can “purchase” one advanced evaluation with three micro evaluations. For example, a request of 20 advanced sample evaluations would still leave available 400 micro sample evaluations [460 micros - (20 adv. x 3 micros/adv) = 400 micros].

What to do if you have more than 460 samples? Based on my experience to date with the laboratory, most of those cases involve grants or graduate research problems. Contact me about the research problem during the planning phase so that we can assist in designing an experiment that efficiently uses lab resources. If the research topic is of regional interest and has potential for publication, we can waive the 460 sample limit. Highest priority will be given to publishable research in the areas of 1) Fusarium Head Blight resistance, 2) mapping for wheat quality, and 3) introduction or measurement of novel genes that affect end-use quality (e.g. introduction of a second puroindoline locus).

Our timeline for this year is given below.  Contact me if you have questions.

Best regards,

Edward Souza

Timelines for Collaborative Research with the SWQL in 2008

May 15^th

First Call for All Evaluations (Micro, Advanced, QEC, OVA) – Submission forms will be e-mailed to our regular collaborators.

June 15^th

Deadline for nomination of cultivars for the Overseas Varietal Analysis (OVA).  The OVA requires 200 lbs of clean, untreated grain from a commercial field production of a released cultivar.  Pedigreed seed fields are ideal, but commercial grain from fields planted with certified seed is also appropriate.  OVA cultivars do not require a paired check cultivar.

First Deadline for Submission of Micro and Advanced Nursery Lists
Breeders and agronomists who would like to use our early evaluation program beginning in July need to have an nursery list (Nursery name and approximate number of entries) submitted by this date.

July 1^st

Deadline for submission of samples for July evaluations (Please e-mail an MS Excel list with the exact entries for each nursery submitted).

Deadline for submission of nursery list of Micro and Advanced samples that must be processed before planting.

August 1^st

Deadline for nomination of breeding lines or cultivars for QEC evaluation.  Note the QEC requires 80 lbs of clean, untreated grain.   QEC breeding samples need to be paired with a check cultivar. 

Deadline for nursery list of Micro and Advanced samples to be processed before December 15^th 2008.

August 15^th

Deadline for receipt of samples to be processed before planting in 2008.

September 1^st

Deadline for receipt of samples for QEC and OVA programs.

October 15^th

Deadline for receipt of samples to be processed before December 15^th 2008.  Samples received after this date will be processed on a first-come-first-serve basis between the first of the year and May 15^th. 

November 1^st 

Deadline for nursery list of Micro and Advanced samples to be processed before May 15^th 2009.  Requests for evaluation of small nurseries or supplemental samples can be sent after this date.  They will be processed if time and resources allow. Check with the lab director before sending seed.

Request for Samples of 2008 Harvest form