Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 14844 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2016 with the legume in the 1970s: Cylindrocladium black rot (more commonly known as CBR or black root rot), Sclerotinia blight, and tomato spotted wilt virus. Sclerotinia blight is not really new, but Isleib says it’s much more widely distributed in the Virginia-Carolina area than it used to be. All of this creates a huge challenge for breeders. “There will be new ones or resurgence of old ones, I have no doubt,” he says. “I am confident in the abhorrence nature has of a vacuum and in the efficacy of selection — artificial or natural.” Health Concerns Other than disease resistance, the peanut industry has been focused on breeding new peanuts keeping the health conscious in mind — specifically, peanuts high in oleic acid. Isleib was there to see the development of the high-oleic trait, which he calls another "drop everything/must have" trait. He developed the Sullivan and Wynne varieties of peanuts, both high-oleic varieties in 2015. Both saw their seeds available in limited supply this past spring, and are comparably resistant to black root rot, tomato spotted wilt virus and Sclerotinia blight. Both of the new varieties boast 43 to 44 percent extra large kernels (ELK), which is prized by certain manufacturers. “It is hard, if not impossible, to hit the right average pod weight for a new release,” Isleib says. “Different shellers have dif- ferent markets for the various sizes of pods and kernels, so one size definitely does not fit all.” Another development in recent years has been the push to create a hypoallergenic peanut. While efforts have been made to breed such a peanut, so far nothing has hit the market. According to Isleib, creating a peanut free of the genetic material that triggers allergic reactions isn’t simple, and he’s not sure it’s possible, despite enthusiasm about gene editing techniques that could theoretically create such a peanut. “Breeding that material out would make for a different peanut,” he notes. “I’m not convinced you can breed out these proteins and still have something you could call a peanut. What would the effect be on germination? There are a lot of questions.” Successful Event This and many more questions were discussed at this year’s NAPB Annual Meeting, which had an estimated 270 attendees. “It’s higher than past years. In the past three years, we were probably up 50 people at least,” says Don Jones, NAPB treasurer and organizer of this year’s event, held in Raleigh, N.C. Isleib was among a host of presenters who spoke about a range of crops, among them sweet potatoes, tobacco, straw- berries, soybeans, ornamentals and more. Jones says organizers made a special effort this year to feature a wide range of crops. “We wanted to feature more than just row crops and reach out to the horticulture and ornamental and fruit tree community,” he says. “NAPB has traditionally had the meeting in the Midwest, so you tend to get a lot of corn and soybean-type speakers.” This year’s theme was Improving Efficiency in Breeding Programs. Next year’s meeting will be held in Davis, Calif. For more information about NAPB, visit plantbreeding.org. SW MIDCO GLOBAL, INC. 145 GRAND AVENUE, KIRKWOOD (ST LOUIS) 800-264-8785 314-965-6300 midcoglobal.com PACKAGING SOLUTIONS FOR AGRICULTURE RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION INDUSTRIES • STOCK AND CUSTOM SEED PACKETS • MONOFILAMENT MESH BAGS • P4 PACKET PRINTER • P4 UPGRADE TO GARDEN STAKE PRINTER • TRIFOLD GRAIN STORAGE ENVELOPES • SEED TREATERS • SEED COUNTERS • TISSUE PUNCHES • CUSTOM BOXES • DATA STAKES • STAKE DRIVER