Aberdeen Research and Extension Center

Research and Extension Center photos
Ariel view of the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center

The Aberdeen Research and Extension Center provides critical research and improved cultural practices for major crops grown in Idaho.

Aberdeen Research and Extension Center

The Aberdeen Research and Extension Center conducts research on many of Idaho’s most important crops, including potatoes, wheat and barley. The center also collaborates with the USDA Agricultural Research Service on potato and small grains germplasm improvement and on increasing rainbow trout production efficiency through use of grain-based feeds. The center is made up of 440 acres, 360 of which are irrigated.

U of I faculty conduct research on a variety of topics including:

  • Irrigated and dryland wheat variety development
  • Potato variety development
  • Potato disease
  • Weed and insect management systems
  • Potato and small grain irrigation and nutrient management
  • Improved cultural practices for all major crops grown in the area
  • Discovery and development of native plants for the horticulture industry

The center includes two office buildings, fully equipped laboratories for small grains (cereal) and potato research, 10 greenhouses, three potato storage units, two graduate student housing units and various other minor structures.

The center conducts several field days annually and faculty also participate in winter commodity conferences and trainings. The purpose of these activities is to present information to producers and associated agribusiness professionals on cultivar performance, improved crop and pest management practices and marketing. 

Research and Extension Center photos

Research programs

Explore the different research programs housed at the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center, including wheat breeding, cereals, potatoes, barley, entomology and native plants.

Wheat breeding and genetics

Five different classes of wheat are grown in Idaho’s diverse agricultural environment. Wheat generates approximately $350 million per year and over 60% of the wheat in Idaho is grown in the southern part of the state.

Wheat research at the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center focuses on developing an accelerated and internationally recognized wheat breeding and genetics program. Emphasis is placed on the development of spring and winter wheat cultivars with high agronomic adaptability to irrigated agriculture, with biotic and abiotic resistances, and with desirable end-use quality to meet the needs of the foreign and domestic wheat industry.

The research program focuses on applied genetics and genomics that can accelerate variety release under national and international collaborations.

Objectives

  • To develop desired wheat varieties and germplasm using an integrated breeding system combining traditional and mutant breeding methods with doubled haploid production and molecular marker-assisted selection.
  • To identify QTL/markers associated with grain yield, desirable end-use quality, resistance to stripe rust, dwarf bunt, snow mold, fusarium head blight and late maturity alpha amylase.
  • To identify QTL/markers associated with improved water and nitrogen use efficiency in both wheat and barley materials from the National Small Grain Collection.
  • To teach and provide training and supervision for graduate and undergraduate students. 
Wheat cultivars

The following varieties have been developed by U of I wheat breeding program:

Soft white spring

Hard white spring

Hard red spring

Hard white winter

  • Gary
  • U of I Darwin
  • UICF Grace
  • U of I Silver

Hard red winter

Soft white winter

  • Lambert
  • Brundage
  • Simon
  • Brundage96
  • Bitterroot
  • Bruneau
  • UICF Lambert
  • UICF Brundage
  • Idaho 587
  • U of I Sparrow (pdf)

If you are interested in obtaining seed for any of these varieties, please contact the Idaho Foundation Seed Program. 

Resources
CALS people and EXT people

Jianli Chen

Professor

Cereals

University of Idaho Extension south central and southeast Idaho cereals program goals are:

  • Evaluate and report cereal cultivar performance at various locations in south central and southeastern Idaho
  • Evaluate and report management trials involving production and marketing
  • Train and support cereal producers, agribusiness personnel and UI Extension county educators
  • Support state and private breeding programs
  • Evaluate usefulness of new products and cereals management techniques
  • Study cereal disease problems and find ways to manage new diseases 
CALS people and EXT people

Juliet Marshall

Associate director of Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station

Potatoes

The Aberdeen Research and Extension Center is home to multiple potato research projects investigating potato related diseases and disease management techniques; potato pests; potato cropping systems and weed biology, control and herbicide resistance; and potato variety development. Aberdeen is home to the USDA-ARS and University of Idaho’s potato breeding program which incorporates improved germplasm from other ARS and state programs, completes pre-breeding research and provides most of the true seed for variety development efforts. Over 20 potato varieties have originated at Aberdeen.

Disease

U of I faculty are continually investigating potato related diseases and effective disease management techniques. Contact Phil Wharton for more information about potato diseases.

Pests

Learn more about potato pests and current research at the U of I Potato website.

Variety

The Aberdeen Research and Extension Center is home to the U of I potato breeding program. Contact Rhett Spear for more information about potato variety development.

Weeds

Research projects focused on potato cropping systems include weed biology, weed control, herbicide and bio-pesticide environmental fate, herbicide resistance management and cover crop systems for weed control.

CALS people and EXT people

Phillip Wharton

Associate professor

Barley agronomy  

Barley is grown for malt, feed grain, human food and forage. Approximately 75% of Idaho’s barley is grown under irrigation allowing barley producers to consistently produce high yielding barley that consistently meets end-user quality specifications 95% of the time. Research at the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center focuses on sustainable irrigated and dryland barley production strategies with emphasis on soil nutrient management for yield, end-use quality (malt, feed, food and forage), plant health, and soil and water quality.  

Research projects

Barley yield and protein response to nitrogen and sulfur rates and application timing (2021-2023) Funded by: Idaho Barley Commission, Stukenholtz Laboratories, American Malting Barley Association

Objectives

  • Assess the effect of variety and the rate of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) application on plant nutrient utilization, grain yield and protein, and soil responses for three barley varieties
  • Identify the critical concentration ranges of N and S for developing correlated tissue test guidelines for malt, feed and food barley under Idaho growing conditions
  • Develop a correlation-calibration response curve to establish the relationship between plant tissue N and S content with active canopy sensors for Idaho growing conditions

Active canopy sensors to prescribe in-season supplemental nitrogen for barley and wheat (2021-2023) Funded by: Idaho Barley Commission (IBC) and Idaho Wheat Commission (IWC)

Objectives

  • Determine food, feed and malt barley yield and grain protein response to in-season N application
  • Determine hard red, hard white and soft white wheat yield and grain protein response to in-season N application
  • Assess if split-applications can be done to achieve yield and protein goals for different barley and wheat classes
  • Develop crop sensor algorithms for Idaho conditions for different barley and wheat classes

Malt barley yield and grain metabolite response to nitrogen and sulfur grown outside the snake river plain (2023-2025) Funded by: Idaho Barley Commission, American Malting Barley Association, The FERT Foundation, USDA ARS Wisconsin Small Grains Research Lab

Objectives

  • Assess the effect of liquid and dry S fertilizer rates and sources on two contrasting malt barley lines grown outside the Snake River plain in terms of grain yield, quality and grain metabolite species.
  • Evaluate liquid and dry N fertilizer stabilizer/protection products for malt barley yield and grain quality.

Planting dates, seeding rates and available moisture for dryland winter wheat yields (2022-2024) Funded by: Idaho Wheat Commission

Objectives

  • Evaluate the effect of dryland winter wheat planting date and seeding rate on soil moisture availability, nitrogen use efficiency, and grain quality and yield.
  • Assess the relationship of available water and spring rainfall with dryland winter wheat grain yield.

Improving nitrogen management in southeast Idaho dryland winter wheat (2023-2024) Funded by: Idaho Wheat Commission

Objectives

  • Evaluate the effects of different combinations of N sources, rates, application timings, and advanced fertilizer technologies on the overall stand, yield and grain quality of wheat

Hi-nitrogen fixing alfalfa credits for fall and spring malt barley and wheat production (2023-2025) Funded by: University of Idaho Extension

Objectives

  • Quantify the effect of fall tillage following Hi-Nitro alfalfa termination on the timing of N availability and uptake, yield and grain quality to the subsequent winter malt barley or soft white wheat crop.
  • Quantify the effect of spring tillage following first-year dormant and non-dormant alfalfa cultivars’ on the timing of soil N supply and plant N uptake to malt barley or wheat over two subsequent growing seasons.
  • Quantify malt barley and wheat grain quality over two subsequent growing seasons.
  • Utilize aerial thermal and multispectral drone imagery and handheld sensors to evaluate canopy greenness, canopy cover and vegetative indices for predicting barley and wheat N deficiencies.
  • Evaluate the economic budget of incorporating annual alfalfa-barley-barley or alfalfa-wheat-wheat into a southern Idaho crop rotation

Optimizing nutrient management in irrigated culinary mustard for spice production (2023-2025) Funded by: Idaho Oilseed Commission, Idaho State Department of Agriculture

Objectives

  • Evaluate the optimal fertilizer rates (N, P, S) and seeding rates to optimize yellow, oriental, and brown mustard yield under southern Idaho irrigated growing conditions.
  • Evaluate the timing of N applications’ (all applied at planting; split-applied at planting and the rosette stage; split-applied at planting and the bud stage; split-applied at planting, the rosette stage and the bud stage) effect on yellow, oriental and brown mustard yield and oilseed quality.
  • Evaluate the effect of soil and foliar applications of copper, zinc, manganese and boron on irrigated culinary yellow, oriental and brown mustard yield and spice quality.
  • Evaluate the effect of seeding rate on irrigated culinary yellow, oriental and brown mustard yield and spice quality.

Liming for improved nutrient utilization and weed management (2021-2024) Funded by: Idaho Wheat Commission (IWC), Idaho Barley Commission (IBC), Western SARE OW23-383

Objectives

  • Evaluate how liming modifies soil nutrient availability, plant nutrient uptake, and grain quality and yield
  • Evaluate the effect of liming on weed pressure
  • Perform a survey of southern Idaho acidic soils’ physical and chemical properties and weed seed census

Timing of forage cereal harvest on yield and livestock feed quality (2021-2024) Funded by: University of Idaho Extension, KWS Seeds

Objectives

  • Evaluate the effect of four different harvest timings on forage barley and oat yield, feed quality and stand regrowth
  • Evaluate the effect of N rate on forage barley and oat yield, feed quality and stand regrowth 
Malt barley

Barley must meet strict quality criteria to be acceptable for malt production. Maintaining tight controls on these quality factors in the grain is necessary to ensure good processing efficiency and final product quality in the malthouse and brewery. High quality malting barley should have the following characteristics:

  • Pure lot of an acceptable variety
  • Germination of 95% or higher
  • Protein content raging between 9.5% to 12.5% (dry basis)
  • Moisture content below 13.5%
  • Plump and uniform kernels
  • Free of disease and low DON content
  • Less than 5% of peeled, broken or damaged kernels
  • Clean and free of insects, admixtures, ergot or foreign material (Aaron MacLeod, Understanding malting barley quality.pdf)

Additional resources

CALS people and EXT people

Jared Spackman

Assistant professor and Extension specialist

Entomology

Researchers at the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center take an interdisciplinary approach to combine knowledge of ecology, entomology, plant pathology and evolutionary biology to understand how variations in inter-specific interactions affect agro-ecosystem productivity.

A clear understanding of established ecological interactions is especially important within the context of a changing environment, which can alter fundamentally the nature of these interactions at the population, community and ecosystem scale. Answers to such questions are key in developing innovative and sustainable management approaches, which aim to minimize economic losses due to pests.

Wireworms

Wireworms are the larval stage of click beetles (Col., Elateridae). Historically, wireworm damage was managed by using environmentally persistent conventional chemistries.

These products have been removed from the market due to environmental and human health concerns. Shortly after banning those chemicals, wireworms resurged, causing significant damage to the cereals crops in Idaho. Current registered insecticides for wireworm control in cereals have provided very limited protection.

Regardless of the underlying cause of resurgence, the failure to provide a uniform protection with current insecticides has been attributed to the species-dependent susceptibility as well as the high wireworm pressure. Recently, there has been more emphasis on exploring integrated pest management (IPM) approaches to achieve a sustainable pest control.

Some of the variations in susceptibility may be due to the existing ecological and behavioral differences among species. In most locations, wireworms are a complex of multiple species each with different ecological traits and different levels of susceptibility to current protective chemistries.

The effectiveness of any IPM program relies on a clear knowledge of the co-occurring species and determining predominant species in each locality. With such understanding and information on their behavioral ecology, appropriate management practices can be recommended.

U of I researchers are committed to studying the wireworm species composition in southern Idaho. Ecological factors are also being investigated, which may predict the pattern of insect movement and the extent of inflicted damage during field season.

U of I is part of a collaborative team of researchers from multiple institutions across the U.S. committed to address cereal growers concern regarding the wireworm issue.

Barley yellow dwarf virus

Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) has become a widespread problem that has significantly reduced yields and quality in the Magic Valley and Burley areas of Idaho. BYDV is a vector-borne pathogen, which can be a limiting factor in cereal growing regions production. Pathogen infections can trigger plant physical and biochemical responses to either limit pathogen multiplication by making the host environment unsuitable for pathogen growth or by targeting and eliminating the invading microorganism.

Different varieties are expected to show different levels of susceptibility to BYDV/aphid infestation occurring at different developmental stages. It is possible that only infestations happening at earlier developmental stages inflict significant quantity and quality loss; late-season infestations may not require intense aphid treatment if changes in biochemical properties and yield are negligible.

This knowledge may not only help to reduce cost of chemical applications by identifying least susceptible developmental stages of different wheat varieties to BYDV infection, but it would also contribute into future development of less susceptible wheat genotypes.

Ongoing research focuses on

  • Evaluating the susceptibility and physiological responses of several commonly planted winter and spring wheat cultivars, at different developmental stages, to BYDV infection.
  • Quantifying BYDV transmission efficiency from wild alternative hosts to cultivated cereals by the bird cherry-oat aphid vector.
Zebra chip disease

Zebra chip disease is associated with the pathogen “Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum” (Lso), a vector-borne phloem-limited bacterium transmitted by the potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli  (Hemiptera: Triozidae). Frequent insecticide application has been the main approach to limit Lso spread during field season, by eliminating or reducing the potato psyllid numbers. While developing resistant cultivars may provide a relatively more sustainable way to minimize ZC damage, no resistance has been detected in the U.S. potato cultivars.

No research has been conducted to evaluate pathogen/disease development within tubers post-harvest, in relation to the time of infection and insect numbers. U of I is set to address these shortfalls through a collaborative effort.

News and events

Our people

Jianli Chen

Professor

Chad A. Jackson

Operations manager

Xi Liang

Associate professor

Alan Malek

Agricultural technician

Katie Malek

Research specialist

Juliet Marshall

Associate director of Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station

Jared Spackman

Assistant professor and Extension specialist

Phillip Wharton

Associate professor

Farm and office staff

Research support staff

History

The center was established in 1911 to serve irrigated and dryland agriculture in eastern and southern Idaho. Funds used to purchase the property were raised by the local community and the university leased the land comprised of 80 acres, 16 of which were irrigated.

The Regents of University of Idaho purchased the land in 1925 and added additional acres resulting in the current 440 acres, 360 of which are used for irrigated crop research.

In 1988, the USDA Agricultural Research Service constructed the 32,000 square foot National Small Grains Germplasm Facility at the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center to provide storage for the National Small Grains Collection and fully equipped lab space for small grains research.