Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Development And Testing Of Cool-Season Grass Species, Varieties And Hybrids For Biomass Feedstock Production In Western North America, Steven R. Larson, Calvin H. Pearson, Kevin B. Jensen, Thomas A. Jones, Ivan W. Mott, Matthew Darwin Robbins, Jack E. Staub, Blair L. Waldron

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Breeding of native cool-season grasses has the potential to improve forage production and expand the range of bioenergy feedstocks throughout western North America. Basin wildrye (Leymus cinereus) and creeping wildrye (Leymus triticoides) rank among the tallest and most rhizomatous grasses of this region, respectively. The objectives of this study were to develop interspecific creeping wildrye (CWR) × basin wildrye (BWR) hybrids and evaluate their biomass yield relative to tetraploid ‘Trailhead’, octoploid ‘Magnar’ and interploidy-hybrid ‘Continental’ BWR cultivars in comparison with other perennial grasses across diverse single-harvest dryland range sites and a two-harvest irrigated production system. Two …