CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University has awarded wheat breeder Jim Peterson a second term as the Kronstad Wheat Research Endowed Chair.

Peterson joined OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences in 1998. Since then he has overseen the development of several new wheat varieties adapted to Oregon, including the widely grown variety Tubbs and herbicide resistant varieties ORCF-101 and ORCF-102.

Peterson's latest innovation is a new supersoft white winter wheat, ORSS-1757, that is being brought into production as Oregon's first identity-preserved wheat to maintain its exceptional end-use qualities from field to market.

Peterson also recently has been elected chair of the National Wheat Improvement Committee.

The Kronstad Wheat Research Endowed Chair honors Warren Kronstad, a wheat breeder at OSU for four decades beginning in the 1960s. Kronstad expanded OSU's program with genetic material he collected from more than 125 countries in an effort to improve wheat varieties in Oregon and abroad.

Peterson took over leadership of OSU's wheat breeding program in 1998, shortly before Kronstad retired.

Source: 

Russ Karow, 541-737-5857

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