Forage Breeding From the Good Ole Days to “Green” Revolution 2.0.

My first CSSA annual meeting was in 1972 at the Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, FL.  Ironically, M.A. (Martin) Massengale became CSSA President during that meeting.  Keywords for breeding articles published in 1972 issues of Crop Science, and common to any forage breeder of that time, were apomixis, disease resistance, genetic trait, forage breeding, forage yield, isozymes, and mutant.  In my own most recent, co-authored, Crop Science publication, key words include LG (linkage group), LOD (logarithm of the odds), PCR (polymerase chain reaction), and SSR (simple sequence repeats).  These are also common key words used in the papers and posters at this annual meeting where even the theme, “Green Revolution 2.0”, has a technology feel.  Therefore, the main change from those good ole days of 1972 is the application of genomic and transgenic biotechnologies.  However, I am told that my own research that positively impacted farmers were the release and commercialization of ‘Alfagraze’ alfalfa, “MaxQ” tall fescue, and ‘Durana’ and ‘Patriot’ white clovers.  For these cultivars, all were developed with approaches, selection methods, experimental designs, and testing protocols that any forage breeder in 1972 would recognize.  In a final irony, I was also privileged to co-author a 2009 Tri-Society book chapter with Martin Massengale and Dan Undersander, where we point out that the number of forage breeders and overall funding support are in decline, and although the future for using biotechnology approaches in forage improvement appears to be established, they are currently expensive, transgenics remain controversial due to safety and regulatory concerns, and their application may be confined to a few economically viable species.  It would thus appear that the future challenge is the cost effective application of biotechnologies as tools to enhance the forage breeding methods of the good ole days in as many species as possible.