December 30, 1966
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Crops Research Division, ARS
Beltsville, Maryland 20705
REPORT OF MEETING OF
NATIONAL CERTIFIED ALFALFA VARIETY REVIEW BOARD
December 13, 1966
Members of the Review Board met December 13, 1966. They were of the opinion that the varieties listed below were distinctive and merit certification. A supplemental report may be issued at a later date on applications for which insufficient information was provided for evaluation. Also included in this report are two varieties, Delta and A-59, which were reviewed initially at the 1965 meeting and subsequently given a favorable report.
Experimental
Variety Designation
Name During Testing Breeder Applicant
Bonanza FFR Syn Robert J. Buker Farmers Forage Research Cooperative
H. Sierra Route 2, Box 290
Lafayette, Indiana 47906
Dawson N.S. 27 W.R. Kehr Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA
And Nebraska Agricultural Experiment
Station, University of Nebraska,
Lincoln, Nebraska 68503
Delta PC-1 H.W. Johnson Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA
P.G. Hogg And Mississippi Agricultural
Experiment Station, Delta Branch
Experiment Station, Stoneville,
Mississippi 38776
Iroquois WRN R.P. Murphy Department of Plant Breeding
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
14850
A-59 FSRC A-3 J. Lewis Allison Ed F. Mangelsdorf & Bro., Inc.
P.O. Box 327, St. Louis, Mo. 63166
Information pertinent to certifying agencies which was requested on
the application for each variety and the information submitted by the
applicants are given below. The respective applicants should be
contacted if additional information is desired.
Some of the Information Requested from Applicant:
1. A statement of the origin and the breeding procedures used in
developing the variety.
2. Area of probable adaptation and primary purpose (hay, grazing,
etc.) for which the variety will be used. Report States and areas
within States where the variety has been tested, and proposed areas of
recommendation and merchandising.
3. Information of value to field inspectors (such as uniformity, leaf,
flower characteristics, etc.), physiological characteristics, obvious
disease and insect reactions, and other identifying characteristics.
4. Procedure for maintaining stock seed, seed classes to be used, a
statement as to the limitations of generations that may be certified,
and any other requirements or limitations necessary to maintain
varietal characteristics.
5. If this variety is accepted by official certifying agencies, when
will certified seed first be offered for sale?
Information Submitted by Applicant on the Above Points:
Bonanza
1. Clones were selected for vigorous fall growth and potato leafhopper
resistance from non-hardy, spotted aphid resistant lines. Clones with
fungus diseases were avoided. Replicated clonal nurseries containing
the same clones were established at Lafayette, Indiana, and Westley,
California. Selection of the 35 parent clones was based on the
performance of the clones at both locations plus single cross and
polycross progeny tests at Lafayette.
2. Bonanza will be grown for hay production in California and as a
one-year alfalfa in the Corn Belt. In actual hay fields, evaluation
has been limited to 1965 and 1966 crop years in California but seed
production fields have been harvested for three years without stand
problems. In the Corn Belt, seedling year yield tests have been
conducted in Indiana and Ohio plus observational plantings in
Wisconsin and Minnesota.
3. Flower color, growth habit, and leaf color are relatively uniform. Non-dormant and upright. Flowers are purple. Resistant to downy mildew.
4. Parental clones will be maintained by F.F.R., Lafayette, Indiana.
Breeder seed will be the interpollinated, bulk harvested seed from an
isolated planting made from vegetative cuttings of the 35 parental
clones. Foundation seed will be the first generation seed grown from
breeder seed in California. Certified seed will be produced from
either breeder or foundation seed. In no instance will seed grown from
other than foundation or breeder seed be considered Bonanza by F.F.R.
5. 1967.
Dawson
1. N.S. 27 is an 8-clone synthetic. Six clones were selected from
North Central polycross progenies of clones that trace to Turkistan,
Cossack, Ladak, Kansas Common, and Baltic origin, and two were
selected from Ranger. All clones have antibiosis resistance to spotted
alfalfa and pea aphids. Resistance of all clones to spotted alfalfa
and pea aphids and bacterial wilt was verified in progeny tests.
Forage yields of open-pollinated progeny were not significantly
different from check varieties in the absence of economic levels of
insects or diseases.
2. The area of adaptation appears to be similar to Ranger. The variety
has been tested in the North Central region, including 4 locations in
Nebraska. The main usage will be for short- and long-term hay
production and in rotational pastures.
3. Purple, blue, and variegated flowers. Mostly glabrous, similar to
Buffalo, Ranger, and Vernal. Winter-hardy, intermediate between Ranger
and Vernal. Growth habit is intermediate between Ranger and Vernal.
Resistant to spotted aphid, pea aphid, and bacterial wilt.
4. Parental clones are maintained by vegetative propagation at
Lincoln, Nebraska. Seed classes will be breeder, foundation, and
certified. Breeder seed (Syn-l) is the bulk harvest from replicated
rooted cuttings of parental clones grown in isolated fields or in
cages pollinated by honeybees or other pollinators. Foundation seed
(Syn-2) is the first generation grown from breeder seed in the
Northern Region of Adaptation. Certified seed (Syn-2 or 3) may be
grown only from breeder or foundation seed. Number of years a field
may remain in production of a seed class is to be determined by the
certifying agency within that State.
5. Possibly some in 1967.
Delta
1. Maternal-line selection was used in developing Delta. Selection was
practiced for tolerance to root and crown rots, leafspot diseases and
leafhopper yellowing. Parentage traces to plants selected in 1948 and
1949 from an old field of Dakota 12 alfalfa near Leland, Mississippi,
and from other old alfalfa fields in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta.
2. The Lower Mississippi Valley area of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana,
and Mississippi; also, the Red River Valley of Louisiana. For hay
and/or grazing purposes.
3. Purple to light blue flower. Relatively uniform in height,
erectness, flower color and stem size.
4. The Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station will assume responsibility for the maintenance of breeder seed. There will be three generations of seed increase beyond breeder seed -- foundation, registered, and certified. Foundation seed supplies will be distributed through Foundation Seed Stocks, Mississippi State University, State College, Mississippi. Certification of seed fields shall be limited to stands not exceeding 6 years of age.
5. 1967.
Iroquois
1. Iroquois was produced by three generations of backcrossing and
selection for wilt resistance and desirable agronomic characters.
Vernal was the non-recurrent wilt-resistant parent and Narragansett
was the recurrent parent.
2. Iroquois is adapted for all environments and uses in the Northeast
suitable for Narragansett. It has been tested extensively in New York
and in six other Northeastern States. It will be marketed and
recommended in place of Narragansett, Vernal and Cayuga.
3. Similar to Narragansett in growth habit and flower color.
4. Iroquois is to be produced on the limited generation sequence of
breeder-foundation-certified with the certified class ineligible for
use as stock seed. The breeder seed production field is planted with a
composite of seed from crossing approximately 500 parent clones.
Breeder and foundation seed is produced in the Pacific Northwest;
parent clones are maintained vegetatively at Ithaca, New York. A
reserve of breeder seed will be kept in storage.
5. 1968 in very limited amounts since production will come from
seedling stands to be planted in the spring of 1967.
A-59
1. A-59 originated from selected clones in established seed fields of
certified Vernal, certified Ranger, and Common alfalfa in Eastern
Montana in 1957.
2. A-59 is adapted to the hay-producing areas of the Central United
States. It has been included in the evaluation trials conducted by
the Illinois Experiment Stations at DeKalb and Urbana, and by the
Missouri Experiment Station in Mt. Vernon.
3. Flower color is variegated but less so than Vernal.
4. Seed production of A-59 shall be on a four-generation basis:
breeder, foundation, registered and certified. Breeder seed will be
maintained by Farm Seed Research Corporation and will consist of seed
harvested in 1962 and 1963 from the original 540 parental plants.
Breeder seed will be released only to Ed F. Mangelsdorf & Bro., Inc.,
St. Louis, Missouri, for production of foundation seed. Foundation
seed will be used for production of registered or certified seed.
Certified seed fields will be established with foundation seed, except
in an emergency when registered seed will be used. Foundation and
registered seed will be produced in Kansas.
5. 1966.
C.H. Hanson, Chairman National Certified Alfalfa
Variety Review Board
Members of the Board
E.L. Granstaff
Allenby White
I.J. Johnson
R.L. Davis
C.H. Hanson, Chairman (nonvoting)
Alternates of the Board
Robert Teweles
Golden L. Stoker
Robert Kalton
C.C. Lowe