There is much interest in fostering cropping practices that reduce pesticide use and enhance soil conservation. A long‐standing practice that addresses these objectives is companion crop establishment of small‐seeded forage legumes. Little information is available regarding current producer practices in companion cropping. A survey was conducted in 1990 of a select sample of Minnesota forage producers to evaluate how they use companion crops, to assess their perceptions of current constraints in companion cropping, and to assess their receptiveness to use of dwarf stature small grains as companion crops. Of 351 survey respondents, 298 (85%) reported that they used companion crops. Oat (Avena sativa L.) was the companion crop of choice for 87% of those respondents, whereas spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were selected by 22% and 8%, respectively. Soil protection ranked as the most important reason for using a companion crop. Production of grain, straw, or additional herbage was important for some, but less important for many others. Use of companion crops to suppress weeds was assigned intermediate importance by most respondents. The oat cultivar ‘Starter’ was most frequently selected for companion cropping and is distinctive for its short stature and early maturity. The overall average oat companion crop seeding rate reported was 71 lb/acre, but was somewhat higher if the end‐use goal was production of grain or straw. Average seeding rate for barley was 82 lb/acre. Lodging was identified as a particularly important constraint in current companion crop systems and respondents identified shorter stature and earlier maturity as characters needed in future companion crop cultivars. Half of the respondents reacted favorably to the prospect of using a dwarf small grain as a companion crop in order to reduce lodging potential as well as lessen competition with the forage legume. Future research should be directed at evaluating dwarf genotypes for use in companion crop systems.

Abbreviations: QTL, quantitative trait locus; SSR, simple sequence repeat.

‘Quest’ (Reg No. CV‐348, PI 663183) is a spring, six‐rowed, malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) released by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in January 2010 on the basis of its improved resistance to Fusarium head blight [FHB; caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe; teleomorph Gibberella zeae (Schwein) Petch]. Quest was developed over three breeding cycles of selection for yield, malting quality, and FHB resistance. Disease resistance traces to the Midwest cultivar MNBrite and the two‐rowed accession from China Zhedar1. Quest has about half the level of disease and about 40% less of the associated mycotoxin, deoxynivalenol, compared to the historically important cultivar in the region ‘Robust’. Quest is similar in yield to the current dominant varieties in the region and was approved as a malting variety by the American Malting Barley Association.

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe [(teleomorph Giberella Zeae (Schwein.)], has been a major disease problem of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in the U.S. Midwest since 1993. It can make a potentially profitable barley crop unusable for malting, and substantially reduce its value as a feed grain. The main cause of economic loss in malting barley is the presence of deoxynivalenol (DON) or vomitoxin, a mycotoxin produced by the fungus. The objective of this research was to investigate the inheritance of resistance to FHB by the estimation of heritability through components of variance in multiple environments. Four populations resulting from crosses between putative resistant and susceptible parents were evaluated in inoculated and mist irrigated nurseries at three locations in Minnesota from 1995 to 1997 and China in 1997. On the basis of multiple environment data, estimates of heritability for FHB ranged from 0.48 to 0.76. Heritability estimates from individual environments for FHB ranged from low to high; these estimates were likely inflated by genotype × environment (G × E) interaction. Resistance levels approximating that of the resistant parent were recovered in most populations and one transgressive resistant line was found in Population 3. Transgressive segregates toward susceptibility were found in Populations 2, 3, and 4 for FHB. The heritability estimates were somewhat encouraging, as they indicated that moderate genetic gain can be expected when selecting for FHB resistance in a breeding program. However, a strong message was conveyed in the variable response of the parents and the ever present G × E interaction that FHB resistance breeding represents an unusually large challenge.

‘Rasmusson’ (Reg. No. CV‐345, PI 658495) is a spring, six‐rowed, malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) released by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in January 2008. It was named after Donald Rasmusson, who worked as a barley breeder at the University of Minnesota from 1958 to 2000. Rasmusson has the pedigree M95/‘Lacey’ and is the product of advanced cycle breeding derived from crosses among elite breeding lines within the University of Minnesota breeding program. Rasmusson was released based on its superior yield performance across the Upper Midwest of the United States and surrounding regions in Canada and favorable malting quality, in particular, high malt extract. Rasmusson is resistant to spot blotch [caused by Cochliobolus sativus (Ito and Kuribayashi) Drechs. ex Dastur] and the prevalent races of stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis Pers.: Pers. f. sp. tritici Erikss. & E. Henn).