'USDA‐FORAGECREST', a New Crested Wheatgrass Cultivar with Improved Seedling Establishment and Forage Production on Semiarid Western US Rangelands. Issue 3 (29th June 2017) - Jensen, Kevin B.
Abstract : 'USDA‐FORAGECREST' crested wheatgrass [ Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn.] (Reg. No. CV‐34, PI 678570) (2 n = 4 x = 28) was released by the USDA‐ARS on 1 Sept. 2016. We expect that USDA‐FORAGECREST will establish and persist over time, providing dry‐matter yield (DMY) similar to or greater than current crested wheatgrass cultivars on rangelands of the Intermountain West, Great Basin, and Northern Great Plains Regions of the United States receiving less than 300 mm of annual precipitation. USDA‐FORAGECREST originated from a cross between crested wheatgrass cultivar Hycrest and PI 406442. After backcrossing, five cycles of recurrent selection were applied to this population for improved seedling establishment, plant persistence, and seed yield and mass. Genetically, USDA‐FORAGECREST is most similar to 'Kirk', followed by 'Nordan' and Hycrest, and least similar to 'RoadCrest'. At Aberdeen, ID (2012), USDA‐FORAGECREST demonstrated significantly ( P < 0.05) higher seedling‐frequency percentage in the establishment year (98.3%) than 'Hycrest II' (93.5%), Hycrest (92.6%), and Nordan (82.5%). At Beaver (2005) and Nephi (2011), UT, sites, seedling‐frequency percentage of USDA‐FORAGECREST was similar to Hycrest II and Hycrest but significantly ( P < 0.05) higher than Nordan at Beaver (56.8%). Five years after seeding at Beaver, USDA‐FORAGECREST had significantly ( P < 0.05) higher plant‐frequency percentage (96.2%) than Hycrest (86.1%) and Nordan (80.9%) and was similar to Hycrest II (89.6%) and Douglas (88.2%). Combined across locations and years, DMY of USDA‐FORAGECREST (2824 kg ha −1 ) was significantly ( P < 0.05) greater than Hycrest II (2149 kg ha −1 ) and Nordan (2300 kg ha −1 ) but similar to Hycrest (2433 kg ha −1 ).