Steven E. Ullrich
Building Better Barley
Barley is an ancient cereal grain, originating in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, and is one of the first crops to be domesticated 10,000 years ago. Its scientific name, Hordeum refers to Roman gladiators and means “barley eater.”.Barley is widely grown today and is among the top five crops produced worldwide. It is a major crop in the United States, the Pacific Northwest, and Washington state. The annual value of barley from farm gate to end user is over $180 billion nationally, and the farm gate value alone in Washington state is about $40 million annually.
Barley is known in various cultures as an animal feed, brewing, and/or food grain. The use of barley for all of these purposes predates agriculture and is an important factor in barley improvement today. The WSU Barley Improvement program emphasizes grain and forage end use quality, as well as adaptation and agronomic performance. It is a collaborative program led by Dr. Steve Ullrich but includes molecular geneticists, cereal chemists, plant pathologists, entomologists, and agronomists. The breeding program actively works on cultivar development, emphasizing spring two-row malting and feed grain types, but also includes six-row, forage, and food and processing types (hulless and waxy). The release of improved cultivars provides the opportunity for increased production, uses, and/or market value to growers, processors, and end users. Growers are currently adopting two new cultivars with improved stripe rust, Hessian fly, and lodging resistances. Hulless, waxy, and reduced phenol types are bred to enhance the quality of barley for processing and food use in anticipation of increased demand due to a recent FDA health benefit endorsement of food containing barley.
Genetics research is an integral part of the barley program to ultimately enhance breeding for critical traits. Molecular genetic analysis of complex traits such as malting and nutritional quality, seed dormancy, and preharvest sprouting has brought international recognition to the program. Information and genetic stocks generated have been used in collaborative studies in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, and several universities in the U.S. Research support has come from federal sources; USDA-NRI, USDA-CAP and national and state industry and grower organizations. Genetic understanding of complexly inherited, economically important traits lays the foundation for barley improvement through molecular breeding techniques.
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Contact Information
Steven E. Ullrich, Ph.D.
Professor and Scientist
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Washington State University
PO Box 646420
Johnson Hall 273
Pullman, WA 99164-6420
Telephone: 509-335-4936
Fax: 509-335-8674
E-mail: ullrich@wsu.edu
Dr. Steve Ullrich received a B.S. degree from the University of Michigan (1968), an M.N.S. degree from the University of Idaho (1972), and a Ph.D. from Montana State University (1978). Between earning degrees, he served in the Peace Corps in Malawi and taught at a community college in Wisconsin. Upon arrival at WSU in 1978, he filled a largely teaching position and did research in oilseed agronomy to serve a growing interest in the Pacific Northwest. He has led the barley breeding program since 1980 and has released 10 barley cultivars. Other research activities have focused on genetics of nutritional, malting and brewing quality, yield, adaptation, and agronomic traits of barley. Research has culminated in over 110 refereed/edited publications including nearly 80 journal articles, 8 invited book chapters, and 30 invited/volunteered symposia presentations and papers. He has served many years on the International Barley Genetics Committee, National Barley Improvement Committee, the USDA Barley Crop Germplasm Committee, and has been a crop registration editor of Crop Science and is an associate editor of the Journal of Agricultural Genetics. Currently, besides barley research, he teaches four upper division undergraduate courses, advises undergraduate and graduate students, and is assistant chair of the department.
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