The Last One Standing: O.A Vogel's Contribution to Feeding the World.

Orrvile A. Vogel’s career in wheat breeding began soon after breeders stopped developing new cultivars by purification of variants from ‘Turkey Red’ and ‘Mediterranean’ and ended at the beginning of the molecular genetics age.  His creativity, keen observational skills, and intellectual curiosity were combined with a farm kid’s ability to tinker and grow crops to generate germplasm that is contained in nearly every wheat cultivar released in the US and in most of those released around the world.    He was a good friend to wheat breeding colleagues including Norman Borlaug, a highly regarded mentor to young people pursuing degrees in agriculture, and caused no end of exasperation to USDA administration.  Three of his contributions have been key to increased productivity of wheat in the 20^th century:  1)  The recurrent selection program that he used to move the Norin10 genes for short stature into fertile, adapted, disease resistant breeding lines that were then used by Borlaug and other breeders; 2)  The invention of the Vogel grain thresher and small plot combines that enabled mechanization of wheat breeding and testing using equipment similar to that used by growers; and 3)  The mentoring of so many scientists, and farmers who have continued to employ his combination of intellect and common sense to food production in the 21^st century.