Agronomy and Plant Genetics 100 Years No.2 - Department of ...

Willet Hays, Andrew Boss and an unknown personworking inside the Farm House.The Farm House being torn down (above).THE FARM HOUSEIn the fall of 1941, 23 students on a NationalYouth Administration project attended theschool of agriculture three days a week andworked three days on a project dismantlingthe Farm House piece by piece and salvagingall the lumber. Some of the lumber was usedby Don Harvey (an Agronomy plot worker) tobuild a house at 1965 North ClevelandAvenue in Roseville. This property is stilloccupied today.

ST. PAUL CAMPUS TODAY

1895Northwest Research& Outreach CenterCrookston1896Northcentral Research& Outreach CenterGrand Rapids1910West Central Research& Outreach CenterMorris1949Experimental Farm atRosemont (now part ofU More Park)Rosemount1976Sand Plain ExperimentalResearch FarmBeckerUniversity ofMinnesota -St. Paul CampusH1912Southern Research &Outreach CenterWaseca1959Southwest Research& Outreach CenterLamberton

E.D. PORTERProfessor E.D. Porter was hired by the Board of Regents in January 1981. He was the native of Vermont and a graduateof the University of Pennsylvania. He had held the Chair of Agriculture at Delaware College in Newark.With no students enrolled in agriculture, Porter was free to attend meetings of the state legislature and agriculturalorganizations to learn what they wanted in the way of agricultural programs. He conducted meetings for farmersthrough the Farmer’s Lecture courses which later became the Farmer Institutes and still later the Agricultural ExtensionDivision.In June, 1882, the Board of Regents purchased the Bass Farm of 155 acres in St. Anthony Park. The next fewyears were spent cleaning up the farmland and constructing the Farm House, Home Building, Barn, and anExperiment Station building.The second president of the U of MN, Cyrus Northrup, observed...In Minnesota there was a professor of agriculture, a Farm House, a large barn, and a farmdevoted to agriculture and chemistry about 4 miles from the main campus. This professor wasa good man, earnest, energetic, and enthusiastic, but he had little help. It was difficult to findqualified people because in no colleges could there be found men of sufficient knowledge in thevarious branches of agriculture to train students, and if such competent men could be found,they were already engaged and not interested in serving at an agricultural college.The Hatch Act passed in March, 1887, making $15,000/year available to the experimentstation. Porter soon used this money to bring together five men of such talents and abilitythat he soon was criticized for being less able than the new scientists he had just hired.Willet M. Hays was hired to conduct agricultural research and teach in the school.Porter soon responded to questions about education in agriculture by getting Board ofRegents approval of a School of Agriculture which was neither a high school nor a collegebut a school whose primary focus was to bring as large a number of intelligent and ambitiousfarmer boys of agriculture, horticulture and allied industries. Students needed to beat least 15 years old and have a good common school education. Such was the start of theschool which operated from 1888 to 1960. Classes dealing with grain crops, forage crops,genetics, crop breeding, crop judging and farm management were taught by Agronomyfaculty (Willet Hays, Andrew Boss, H.L. Thomas, E. Pinnell, L. Elling, C. Borgeson, H.K.Wilson, L. Bassett, A.C. Arny and J. Senz.)Porter resigned in March, 1889 to become Dean and Director of the College of Agricultureand Experiment Station at the University of Missouri.

Willet Hays addressing a group of field plot workers.WILLET HAYSWillet Hays began research and teaching at theUniversity of Minnesota in 1888 as an AssistantProfessor. He was the first appointee made by E.D.Porter to the fledgling Department of Agriculture.He became Professor in 1893. He resigned in 1905to become the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture.While with the department, Hays laid out thegeneral framework for the study of farmmanagement and conceived of the idea that thereare “Shakespeares” in plants, or plants with agenius strain, before the concept of heredity waswidely known.

ANDREW BOSSAndrew Boss was born in Wabasha County, Minnesota in 1867. At age 24 hegraduated in the second class (1891) of the School of Agriculture (a 2 year programat that time). Boss was chosen as the commencement speaker and a quotefrom his speech gives some insight into his views on the need for education, workexperience, attention to details and a positive attitude towards life.If we wish to be successful as farmers we must first obtain an education appropriateto the vocation, have some practical experience in field work, develop a habit of closeobservation and watchfulness, and last, but not least, a determined will to succeed.He was immediately hired as the experimental farm foreman by Willet Hays.Boss was actively involved in most aspects of the plant breeding program and veryearly saw the importance of the developing science of genetics to the improvementof crop plants and animals.He initiated pioneering studies of meats, including preparation, grading andproper application of these grades to live animal evaluation. He was responsiblefor construction and operation of the first abattoir at an educational institution inthe United States.Boss and W. Hays developed and taught courses in farm implements use,production and handling of hay and grain crops and farm management.BOSS’ CAREER TIMELINE1891 farm foreman1892 instructor in agriculture1894 assistant professor1902 associate professor1905 professor and actingchief-division of animalindustry1909 professor and chief-divisionof agriculture (agronomyand farm management). . .1927 professor and vice-director,Minnesota AgriculturalExperiment Station1936 retired1944 acting associate director ofthe experiment station

HERBERT KENDALL HAYESH.K. Hayes came to U as an Assistant Professor of plant breeding in 1915. He becameProfessor in 1919 and by 1928 he was Chief of the Division of Agronomy & PlantGenetics. In 1952, he retired from the university. One of his former students, W.M. Myers,succeeded Dr. Hayes as Division Chief.He was often called “the dean of corn breeders” and in 1994 the Agronomy Building builtin 1941 was renamed as Hayes Hall.H.K. Hayes (above left). H.K. Hayes and his faculty (below left and above).

A HERITAGE OF OUTSTANDING RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITYOne of these Ph.D. student advisees was R. Phillips,who had recently completed his B.S. and M.S.degrees at Purdue University. Dr. Phillips’ thesistitle was “Cytogenetic Studies of Recombination inReciprocal Crosses and Location of Genes in Zeamays L.” and was completed in 1966. After postdoctoral research at Cornell University, Dr. Phillipsreturned to the department as a Research Associateand in 1968 was hired as Assistant Professorwho would take charge of the cytogenetics programwhen Burnham retired. He was the third scientist inthe line of scholarly descent from the eastern maizescholars.In late May 2010, 34 former students and post docsreturned to the campus for a symposium celebratingDr. Phillip’s career and retirement. Nineteen ofthem presented summaries of the research that theyare now involved in and how their experiences atMinnesota prepared them for their future careers.These students and post docs represented the nextgeneration in the line of maize research scholars thatstarted on the east coast. They are currently workingat 15 universities and 2 companies in the USA,Canada, England and Italy.133 graduate students68 M.S.65 Ph.D.H.K. Hayes1915-1952R. Phillips1966-2010H.K. Hayes was hired by Andrew Boss to leadPlant Breeding & Genetics research and teachat the University of Minnesota in 1915. He wasthe first of a line of scholarly men who weretrained by the early geneticists at Harvard, ConnecticutAgricultural Station, and the BusseyInstitution. In fact, Hayes and his major professorE.M. East were the first to describe two ofthe maize genes in 1911.In 1937, H.K. Hayes met with then-PresidentG.S. Ford and described his frustrations overthe years attempting to conduct cytogeneticresearch on maize. President Ford asked whatwas needed to change that. Hays replied, “Sufficientsalary and support funding to make aposition attractive.” Ford told him to put therequest in writing and he would approve it.66 graduate students23 post docs29 visiting scholarsuuC.R. Burnham1937-197262 graduate students23 M.S.39 Ph.D.W. Hays responded and soon Dr. C.R. Burnham,who was studying at Cornell University, was hiredto teach graduate courses in genetics and cytogenetics,conduct research and direct thesis problems. Hewas the second product of the eastern cytogeneticsgroup to migrate to Minnesota. During his 34-year(1937-1972) career, Dr. Burnham and his studentsdiscovered much of what is now known about inversions,translocations and other aberrations relatedto maize chromosomes. Four of his students wereelected to the National Academy of Science, andgraduate students came from all over the world tostudy with him.

RON PHILLIPSThe Department of Agronomy &Plant Genetics’ Most Honored ScholarPHILLIPS’ CAREER TIMELINE & HONORS1966 completed Ph.D. at U of MN under C. Burnham1968. . .appointed to U of MN Agronomy faculty1979 Program Director, USDA Competitive Research. . .Grants Office1985 Northrup King Award for Outstanding Faculty. . .Performance1988. . .Member, National Plant Genetics Board1991 Member of National Academy of Sciences1993 U of MN Regents Professor1993 Member, Advisory Committee for InternationalFood Policy Institute (IFPRI)1996 Chief Scientist, USDA National Research Initiative. . .Competetive Grants (thru 1998)1999 McKnight Presidential Chair in Genomics2000 Director, Center for Microbial & Plant Genetics(thru 2005)2000 Member, Danforth Plant Science CenterScientific Advisory Board (thru 2009)2004 Member, Board of Trustees, International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI) (continuing)2007 Wolf Prize in Agriculture, Israel2009 Named honorary citizen of Nebraska2010 Medal of Honour in Science from the Institute forAdvanced Studies, University of Bologna, Italy2010 Siehl Prize2010 retires from the U of MNDuring Ron Phillips’ 40+ years of service, he oversaw the research efforts of 66 graduate students, 23post doctoral associates and 29 visiting scientists. This work contributed to a better understanding ofthe roles of the nucleolus, nuclear organizer region and ribosomal genes. He also studied DNAendoreduplication, male sterility and tissue culture induced variations. More recently his work dealtwith techniques for improving the amino acid and oil composition of corn grain. His work used thebasic techniques of plant genetics and molecular biology to enhance the understanding of the basicbiology of cereal crops and to improve them.Phillips’ outstanding publication record included 150 refereed journal articles, 355 abstracts, 75book chapters and editor of 6 books. He was an elected fellow in the American Society of Agronomy(ASA), the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and the American Association for theAdvancement of Science (AAAS). He has received the DeKalb Genetics/Crop Science DistinguishedCareer Award, and an honorary Doctorate degree from Purdue University (the highest honor theUniversity can bestow on an alumnus).Dr. Phillips’ students recently reflected on their time of study with him. They learned to: conductresearch with integrity and scientific rigor, treasure the encountered exceptions, facilitate the growthof students in the scientific community, give students your best ideas, collegiate relationships areimportant in advancing scientific excellence, and lastly that a successful scientist can have a successfuland fulfilling family life as well as a fulfilling career.

our laureatesSIEHL PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN AGRICULTURE1996 D.C. RasmussenThe Siehl Prize was established to honor the personal and professional achievements ofagriculture’s foremost leaders who have turned their love of the land into a lifetime of exemplarywork. By honoring such excellence, the Siehl Prize expands public awareness and knowledge ofagriculture. Laureates are selected from three categories: production agriculture, agri-business andacademics. Each laureate receives a granite and glass sculpture, a lapel pin and a cash awardpresented by the Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural & Natural Resources at a specialceremony.These retirees from the Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics were honored for their work inacademics and research.2009 W.F. Hueg, Jr.2010 R.L. Phillips Siehl Prize pin (left), Siehl Prize sculpture (right).

EXTENSION

CROSSINGTHEN NOWFIELDPREPARATIONBARLEYHARVESTTHEN NOWTHENTHENNOWTHEN NOW

NOWTHENFERTILIZINGNOWLAB ANALYSISTHEN

HORSESWork horses had a place on thefarm campus until 1959, whenthe last one was sold. Thesephotos are from the late 1920’sand early 1930’s.

ALFALFAU of MN and USDA-ARS researchers have been working cooperativelyon alfalfa improvement for 114 years (1895-2009). Work has focused ondisease resistant germplasm, nematode resistance, winter survival in amultiple (3-4 per year) cut system, high N fixing ability, special types foruse as biofuel, and deep-rooted types for use in fertilizer andpesticide spill clean-ups.A notable contribution of this project was the release (1895) of the Grimmvariety, an outstanding winter hardy variety developed from seed brought toMinnesota by a German immigrant in 1857. It quickly became the premierforage for dairy producers in the northern areas of the United States.

The University of Minnesota has been improving barley for 108 years(1901-2009).Nineteen varieties have been released, the earliest ones were all feedbarleys.When D. Rasmusson became the full-time breeder in 1961 the focuswas switched to developing high yielding, disease resistant maltingvarieties, which resulted in these Minnesota six-row barley varietiesbecoming the industry standard.An economic analysis in 1992 determined that two-thirds of all thebeer brewed in the United States used Minnesota developed varieties.Supplemental funds to support this work have been provided by theMinnesota Barley Research and Promotion Council, Minnesota ScabInitiative, and the American Malting Barley Association.BARLEY

OATSThis project was one of the first applied research projectsat the MAES.118 years of breeding research (1889-2009) began whenWillet Hays began work on oats. He produced the firstoat variety, Improved Ligoua, which was released in1895. 32 varieties have been produced.Variety development work focused on increased proteincontent, seed size, disease resistance and shorter heightplants to prevent lodging in higher yield environments.

WHEATAs a result of the University of Minnesota’s cooperative work withUSDA-ARS geneticists, 32 varieties of Hard Red Spring Wheat werereleased since 1907.Yield, disease and insect resistance, and management research madethe crop attractive to producers in the West Central and Northwestsections of the state as interest in corn pushed wheat out of southernMinnesota.Breeders have produced shorter high yielding varieties with resistanceto lodging, leaf and stem rust and scab.

Open pollinated corn, which required farmers to select the best ears forplanting next year’s crop, predominated on Minnesota farms between1893 and 1920’s.Minn 13 developed by Willet Hays was widely planted. There were200,000 acres in 1896, 2 million acres in 1911 and 5 million acres in 1932.When H.K. Hayes arrived he set up an aggressive program to develop inbredsto use as parents for hybrids. Early season vigor, insect and diseaseresistance, height, number and length of ears, root and stem strength toresist lodging, maturity and yield were the selection criteria. Project workwas split between Waseca (full season types) and St. Paul (earlier maturitytypes). At one time there were more than 10,000 individual plots (on 40acres of land) of corn planted at Waseca.First Minnhybrid Minn 402 was released to seedsmen in 1929-1930.CORNThe project has produced 78 Minnhybrids, 102 inbred lines, and 14special use germplasms.

FLAXThe flax work in Minnesota began in 1890 when the governor,responding to the flax disease (Wilt) crisis ordered ExperimentStation scientists to solve this problem. Thousands of plants werescreened for resistance during the next four years and only oneresistant plant was identified. Progeny of this single plant wasreleased as the variety Primost in 1900. This was the first pureline flax variety to be developed in the United States.The early work on disease resistant varieties, along with the weedmanagement research by agronomists resulted in flax becomingthe number one oilseed crop in Minnesota until shortly afterWorld War II when demand for linseed oil and fiber for linendeclined.

SOYBEANSJean Lambert began as a part-time soybean breeder in 1948. He assumed full-time leadership of theproject in 1961. So far, only two full-time breeders have worked on the soybean breeding project:Jean Lambert and Jim Orf who came in 1981.Breeding strategies focused on yield, maturity by climatic zone, disease and insect resistance, ironchlorosis tolerance, seed size, hilum color, and protein and oil content. The first variety release wasRenville in 1953 followed by 95 regular and special use varieties appropriate for the various climaticzones in the states. Special funds appropriated by the Minnesota state legislature (Soybean Special)and supplemental funds from the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (SoybeanCheckoff) allowed the Project to expand its work. Their influence and financial support helped toincrease soybean acreage from about 2 million in the 60’s to 5 million in the 70’s. Today there areabout 7 million acres of soybeans produced in the state.Jean Lambert (above left). Jim Orf (below left). Jean Lambert and Jim Orf together (above).

CREDITSAuthorDesignerContent ResearcherLeland L. Hardman Professor Emeritus, Department of Agronomy & PlantGenetics, University of MinnesotaSarah MoreanLeslie Delserone, Agriculture Librarian, University of Minnesota LibrariesPHOTOGRAPH CREDITSDepartmental ArchivesPage 3: all portraits (3)Page 4: all portraits (3)Page 5: all portraits (2)Page 6: all photos (1)Page 7: all photos (5)Page 8: top photo (1)Page 10: right photo, faculty in a row (1)Page 12: upper left, lower left, upper rightrotating photos (4)Page 15: lower left (1)Page 16: only photo (1)Page 17: all photos (3)Page 20: upper left (1)UnknownPage 10: lower right, Stakman portrait (1)Page 11: right photo (1)Page 21: bottom right photos (2)Page 23: left photo (1)Page 10: lower right, Hayes portrait (1)Page 9: upper right (1)Sarah MoreanLee HardmanJohn R. Borchert Map LibraryPage 3: all maps (3)Page 4: all maps (3)Page 5: all maps (2)David L. HansenPage 8: lower photo (1)Page 13: only photo (1)Page 14: all photos (6)Page 19: only photo (1)Page 20: lower center (1)Page 21: top left, bottom left (2)Page 22: all photos (3)Page 23: upper right (1)Page 24: middle top, bottom center, bottomright (3)Page 25: top right, bottom right (2)Page 28: all photos (4)Page 29: all photos (4)Page 30: upper right, middle left, lower left (3)Page 31: upper left (1)Page 33: all photos (3)Page 34: only photo (1)CFANS Archives in Coffey HallPage 10: lower left, upper left rotating photos(3)MAES Photo CollectionPage 21: center left (1)Page 25: upper left (1)Page 26: middle left (1)Page 27: upper left, upper right (2)Page 31: lower left (1)Page 32: left, upper right (2)University ArchivesPage 9: upper and lower left photos (2)Page 11: left photo (1)Page 15: upper left, upper right (2)Page 18: only photo (1)Page 20: upper right (1)Page 23: lower right (1)Page 24: upper left, upper right, lower left (3)Page 25: lower left (1)Page 26: upper left, top center, top right,center, middle right, lower left, lower right (7)Page 27: top center, lower left (2)Page 30: upper left (1)Page 31: bottom right (1)Page 32: lower right (1)