The Minnesota Crop Improvement Association recognized University of Minnesota scientist Don Wyse with its highest honor, the Achievement in Crop Improvement Award, during a Jan. 13 virtual annual meeting.
Wyse, a professor in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics in St. Paul, teaches and conducts research on invasive plant management, cropping system development, plant breeding and new crop development. His research efforts focus on perennial crops, cover crops and prairie polycultures. Active in numerous organizations that emphasize soil health and water quality, he also organized and leads the Forever Green Initiative that is developing new winter annual and perennial crops for farmers.
Wyse had just completed his doctoral work at Michigan State University when he accepted a weed science research and teaching position at U-MN in June 1974, a position that had been lobbied for by MCIA and the Northern Minnesota Grass Seed Industry. The primary research focus of his position at the time was on two perennial weeds, quackgrass and Canada thistle. However, early discussions with MCIA personnel and grass seed producers redirected his research program on the development and implementation of quackgrass management to support the production of certified quackgrass-free seed of turf and forage grass species.
“When I started my career, quackgrass was endemic throughout Minnesota, and was the primary deterrent to the production of high-quality grass seed of turf [Kentucky bluegrass] and forage [timothy] species that were under production in the region at that time,” Wyse recalls. “Grass seed not certified to be free of quackgrass could not be sold for sowing purposes, which was a very costly potential economic loss to grass seed producers. This is where my interaction with MCIA started, in a collaborative working relationship, along with the grass seed producers and seed processors in Roseau and Lake of the Woods counties.”
Wyse is quick to give credit to a long list of individuals whom he has worked with over the years on weed control and seed improvement. Major contributions include:
Roundup control on quackgrass. The herbicide came out in fall 1974 and was used by grass seed growers to control quackgrass. Back then, Roundup was about $30 per acre — an expensive input for growers. Producers tried to reduce the cost of Roundup by reducing the application rate, but this resulted in a dramatic reduction in quackgrass control. So, Wyse and other Roseau-area partners worked on a project to cut the cost of the Roundup treatment by 50% without a corresponding reduction in quackgrass control.