Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics

The Forage Breeding Project focuses primarily on breeding and genetic research of alfalfa and on evaluating legume and grass cultivars for forage yield and quality.  Forage yield evaluation consists of harvesting 4-5000 plots at least three times per growing season.  Breeding objectives on alfalfa are to improve yield, quality, and persistence.

Forage yield is being improved by developing plant populations from both adapted and unadapted sources, followed by selecting vigorous plants with good agronomic characteristics.  We are also empirically comparing various selection methods for improving forage yield. In cooperation with researchers at Iowa and Kansas, we are evaluating Medicago sativa x M. falcata progenies to identify QTLs associated with forage yield and other agronomic traits.

Nutritional quality of alfalfa for the dairy animal is a priority in most alfalfa breeding programs in North America.  Research on methods to improve quality has been a major focus of the Cornell breeding project for more than two decades.  Consequently, many of the techniques that were developed at Cornell are being used by other breeders.  We currently are selecting plants with lower fiber concentration and different ratio of fiber constituents.  In addition, we are increasing forage pectin concentration for providing more energy to rumen microbes that convert protein into a form usable for milk production.

Breeding for plant persistence requires a significant proportion of our effort to maintain the perennial nature of the crop.  Traits of interest are disease and insect resistance, root traits, and winterhardiness.  In cooperation with entomologists at Cornell, breeding efforts have been initiated to develop alfalfa with resistance or tolerance to the alfalfa snout beetle.  This insect devastates alfalfa within 2 years of planting and has potential of spreading across North America.  We also are developing and evaluating alfalfa with both glandular and non-glandular trichomes for resistance to potato leafhopper. We are also determining the heritability of resistance to clover root curculio on alfalfa.

In cooperation with other forage breeders in North America, a small amount of Cornell effort goes into breeding birdsfoot trefoil for resistance to crown rot and Fusarium root rot. 'Pardee' birdsfoot trefoil was released in 1999 as the first cultivar with resistance to Fusarium wilt.

I teach Quantitative Genetics in Plant Breeding (PL BR 717). I am also serving as Associate Dean and Director of Academic Programs in CALS.

I also serve as Associate Director of Academic Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

---

Representative Publications:

Neally, J., J.L. Hansen, J.E. Miller-Garvin, E. Thomas, J. Yaeger, R. Deubler, and D.R. Viands. 2004. Increased crown rot resistance in the field as a result of greenhouse selection for resistance to Fusarium root and crown rot and corresponding severity of tap root injury by clover root curculio. 39th North Amer. Alfalfa Improv. Conf., 18-21 July. Ste. Foy, Quebec, Canada. http://www.naaic.org/Meetings/National/2004NAAIC&TC/2004abstracts/jneally.pdf

Tecle, I.Y., D.R. Viands, J.L. Hansen, and A.N. Pell. 2004. Evaluation of progress from selection for pectin in alfalfa populations. 39th North Amer. Alfalfa Improv. Conf., 18-21 July. Ste. Foy, Quebec, Canada. http://www.naaic.org/Meetings/National/2004NAAIC&TC/2004abstracts/itecle.pdf

Tecle, I.Y, D.R. Viands, J.L. Hansen, and A.N. Pell. 2004. Progress from divergent selection for cell wall components in alfalfa. Agronomy Abstracts. Amer. Soc. of Agron. 31 Oct.-4 Nov. 2004. Seattle, WA.

Hansen, J.L., J.K. Waldron, and D.R. Viands. Potato Leafhopper Resistant Alfalfa. 2003. Central Alfalfa Improvement Conference Virtual Meeting, 21-25 July 2003. http://www.naaic.org/Meetings/Central2003/Hansen_CAIC_Abstract.doc

Hansen, J. L., J. E. Miller-Garvin, J. L. Neally, E. M. Thomas, E. J. Shields, and D. R. Viands. 2002. Evaluation of alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil on alfalfa snout beetle infested fields. 38th North Amer. Alfalfa Improv. Conf., 27-30 July 2002, Sacramento, CA. p. 65. http://www.naaic.org/Meetings/National/2002meeting/2002Abstracts/Hansen.pdf [Presented by D. R. Viands]

Velde, M. D., Undersander, P. Sun, D. Gardner, S. Wagner, B. Anderson, C. Brummer, J. Hansen, R. Leep, K. Roozenboom, C. Schaeffer, G. Shewmaker, K. Silveria, M. Smith, D. Swanson, R. Todd, M. Trummell, D. Viands, and M. Witt. 2002. Forage yield response of alfalfa to percent hybridism. 38th North Amer. Alfalfa Improv. Conf., 27-30 July 2002, Sacramento, CA. p. 28.

Hansen, J. J. Miller-Gravin, K. Waldron, and D. Viands. 2000. Performance of potato leafhopper resistant cultivars in New York. 37th North Amer. Alfalfa Improv. Conf. 16-19 July 2000. Madison, WI. P. 302.

Waldron, J.K., J. Hansen, J. Miller-Garvin, D. Viands. 2000. Potato leafhopper impacts on seeding and first production year alfalfa: Comparison of PLH-resistant vs. susceptible alfalfa varieties. p.8 In Proceedings of the 34th Northeast Regional Field Crops Insect Conference. Springfield, Massachusettes, Feb. 23, 2000.

© 2006 Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University