Most farmers are familiar with the checklist of things that make a wheat variety good – high yield, good protein, disease resistance, drought tolerance and many more. But the list is much longer for K-State wheat breeder Allan Fritz, a familiar name for many Kansas wheat growers.
Fritz recently sat down with Aaron Harries, Kansas Wheat vice president of research and operations, for an episode of the “Wheat’s on Your Mind” podcast to talk about the science behind stronger wheat, better protein, value-added opportunities for Kansas wheat growers and much more.
“Whether you're aiming for protein premiums or simply trying to stay ahead of the curve, this conversation highlights the importance of selecting the right varieties, understanding the balance between yield and protein, and staying open to rapid innovation,” Harries said. “If you're farming in Kansas, this is one episode you won't want to miss.”
Fritz started as the K-State wheat breeder in April 2000. K-State has two wheat breeding programs — the Manhattan-based program led by Fritz and its western counterpart led by wheat breeder Guorong Zhang at K-State’s Agricultural Research Center in Hays.
These programs operate on a large scale. The Manhattan program makes approximately 750 to 1,000 crosses of wheat annually, translating to around 1.5 million wheat plants grown each year for evaluation. After selection for disease resistance or plant type, the program runs about 25,000 yield plots in up to 12 locations a year.
These big numbers translate into the development of successful wheat varieties, but that work requires a lot of time. The traditional wheat breeding cycle requires 10 to 12 years to go from a potential cross to a released wheat variety, but Fritz’s team is constantly looking for ways to cut years off that cycle to release better wheat varieties faster — saving time and money.
“In breeding, we’re just building. We’re just making incremental progress over time and building on finding something better, putting it back into the crossing program and trying to find something even better than that,” Fritz said. “It’s a continuous process of improvement.”
On the podcast episode, Fritz shared insights from the millions of plants evaluated over decades of research and discussed the traditional and innovative tools and targets within the K-State wheat breeding program. That list includes genetic gain, rapid-cycling, genomic modeling, high protein, high fiber, durum wheat, high water absorption, sharp root tips and much more.
The duo also discussed the story behind the BX7OE protein, a powerful trait first identified in Red River 68 and rooted in the Canadian super strong wheat class, which is reshaping how the wheat industry thinks about protein and yield.
Fritz also explained how partnerships with institutions like Oklahoma State University and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico are helping accelerate the development of high-performing wheat that meets today’s growing demands.
The common aspect among all this research — super high protein, fiber and durum — is adding another level of value to the Kansas wheat crop.
“We will always have commodity-class wheat, but there are opportunities out there for this value-added wheat,” Fritz said. “It will keep wheat on acres in Kansas and improve profitability. We really want to make sure that wheat is a viable crop for our producers in the state, and we want to be able to capture that value.”
Listen to the full conversation with Fritz and all other episodes of the “Wheat’s on Your Mind” podcast at wheatsonyourmind.com.