Conference Schedule

For a list of daily events, seminars and sessions, please click on any of the day/date headers below.

**NOTICE**

To book a hotel room, please email Abbey Whipple at abbey.whipple@ag.tamu.edu. We have rooms set aside for conference attendees that did not meet the earlier booking deadline.

Monday, April 24 (click to expand)
  • 5:00 PM: Registration (Lobby)
  • 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Welcoming Reception and poster set-up
  • 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM: The McFadden Address:
    • Dr. Ed Souza, Global Head Wheat Breeding, BASF Corporation  
  • 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Social hour and poster viewing
Tuesday, April 25 (click to expand)
  • 6:30 – 8:00 AM: Breakfast
  • 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM: Women in Crop Science Networking
    • Heritage 3 Ballroom
  • 8:00 AM: Registration
  • 8:15 AM: Welcoming Remarks and Overview of Texas A&M AgriLife Wheat Improvement Program
    • Dr. Leland Pierson, Interim Associate Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Research

Edgar McFadden Symposium

  • 8:30 AM: KEYNOTE – “Accelerating public plant breeding to respond to the demands of more and healthier food”
    • Susanne Dreisigacker, Wheat Molecular Breeding Laboratory Head, CIMMYT  
  • 9:15 AM: “Redefining crop breeding strategy for effective use of nitrogen in major field crops”
    • Dr. Ignacio Ciampitti, Kansas State University
  • 9:45 AM: Discussion
  • 10:00 AM: Coffee Break
  • 10:30 AM: “Current Status of Stem Rust”
    • Dr. Yue Jin, USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory
    • Dr. Matt Rouse, USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory
  • 11:00 AM: “Durable host plant resistance and gene stewardship”
    • Dr. Bob Bowden, USDA-ARS, Manhattan, KS
  • 11:30 AM: “The Challenge of Wheat Stem Sawfly”
    • Dr. Jeff Bradshaw, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
    • Dr. Esten Mason – Colorado State University
  • 12:00 PM: Lunch
  • 1:30 PM: “Managing Wheat for Plant Health in Changing Environments”
    • Dr. Amanda de Olivera Silva, Oklahoma State University
  • 2:00 PM: “Economics of Wheat Quality”
    • Dr. Cory Walters, Center for Agricultural Profitability, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
  • 2:30 PM: “Genomics of Utilization of Ancient Relatives”
    • Dr. Eduard Akhunov, Kansas State University Dept of Plant Pathology
    • Dr. Allan Fritz, Kansas State University Dept of Agronomy
  • 3:00 PM: Coffee Break
  • 3:30 PM: “Designing a hybrid wheat program in the public sector”
    • Dr. Amir Ibrahim, Texas A&M University
    • Dr. Katherine Frels, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • 4:00 PM: “Using next-gen sequencing to finding out what viruses we are really facing in the wheat field”
    • Dr. John Fellers, USDA-ARS HWWGRU
  • 4:30 PM: Flash and Dash (Coordinated by Dr. Shuyu Liu, Texas A&M and Dr. Mary Guttieri, USDA-ARS)
  • 5:00 PM: Poster Session (Coordinated by Dr. Shuyu Liu, Texas A&M and Dr. Mary Guttieri, USDA-ARS)
  • 6:00 PM: Adjourn
Wednesday, April 26 (click to expand)

Hard Winter Wheat Workers Workshop

  • 6:30 AM – 8:00AM: Breakfast
  • 8:15 AM: Welcome, Announcements and Awards
  • 8:30 AM: “Mixograph Replacement”
    • Andrew Green, North Dakota State University
  • 9:00 AM: “Options for replacing the Perkin Elmer/Perten Single Kernel Characterization System in breeding and agronomy applications”
    • Dan Brabec, USDA-ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, KS
  • 9:30 AM: Panel discussion
    • Integrating Diversity: Dr. Jackie Rudd, Texas A&M University
    • Resiliency: Dr. Sunish Sehgal, South Dakota State University
  • 10:30 AM: Break                                                 
  • 10:45 AM: Hard Winter Wheat Improvement Committee Meeting (Chaired by Dr. Amir Ibrahim, Texas A&M)
  • 11:45 AM: Depart for McGregor, TX, lunch provided for attendees
  • 2:00 PM: Winter Wheat Breeders’ Field – McGregor, TX and Adjourn
  • 4:00 PM: Depart for Hotel