Keene Will Share "Wheat & Durum Variety Update"

As part of the afternoon session at this year's 72nd Annual National Hard Spring Wheat Show, Dr. Clair Keene, NDSU Extension agronomist for Small Grains and Corn will be sharing her "Wheat and Durum Variety Update", as well as showcasing her graduate student Jose Bais's work on analyzing 14 site-years of yield and quality responses in four varieties of hard red spring wheat.

Keene has her Ph.D. in agronomy, and is currently an assistant professor and agronomist at NDSU. She spent six years working at the Williston NDSU research extension center, conducting research on small grains, pulses, and other crops grown in the MonDak. She also studies fungicide solutions for head scab or FHB, and performs corn variety testing and population studies in North Dakota. The new perennial grain crop, Kernza, a perennial grain crop derived from the forage species intermediate wheatgrass, is included in her work.

Jose Bais, whose work she will discuss, will graduate with his Ph.D. in plant sciences from NDSU in May, has been studying how the HRS wheat varieties Glenn, Frohberg, Faller, and SY Valda response to different levels of fertilizer and fungicide inputs at sites in northwest Minnesota and across North Dakota. His project is exciting because he has been tracking not only yield and protein but also milling the grain to test how the treatments in the field influence milling, dough, and bread-baking qualities. From grinding the samples, to baking bread from the flour they produced, he is learning about the wheat's qualities from start to finish. His project is funded by the North Dakota Wheat Commission and Keene and Bais are extremely grateful for their support of their research.

Clair Keene

Clair started as the small grain and corn extension agronomist in 2021 and her research program is currently under development. Her goal is to conduct applied research that improves wheat and corn production in North Dakota and helps farmers meet their production goals.

Her research interests include partnering with NDSU breeders and agronomists across the state to evaluate varieties for traits important to growers, enhancing yield and quality of spring wheat production, and increasing the sustainability of crop production through crop rotation and the inclusion of new perennial grain crops like Kernza intermediate wheatgrass.