Subscribe on iTunes | Android | Stitcher | SoundCloud | Spotify | RSS feed
Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:
Contact Information:
Contact Bob via cell phone (preferred) at (509) 336-5194 or via email at bob.brueggeman@wsu.edu.
What is a podcast?
For those of you who are newer to the medium, a podcast is like a pre-recorded radio show. In the same way that you turn on a talk radio show, you have to turn on a podcast. The major difference is that while our cars are equipped to find radio frequencies, they are not built to accommodate direct access to podcasts. On your smartphone or computer with internet access (since the files tend to be on the larger side), you can discover podcast shows of any kind, in any field, on any topic.
Listed above are some of the most used podcast hosts. iTunes and the iTunes Podcast app are preinstalled on your iPhone and are the simplest tools to use. You simply search for “WSU Wheat Beat Podcast” in the search bar, hit “subscribe” and the download arrow, and listen whenever it’s convenient for you.
If you use an Android or use another type of smartphone, you will need to find a different podcasting app because those devices don’t come with a preinstalled app like Apple. If you don’t know which podcast app you’d like, simply hit the “Android” link above and it will show you to several Android podcast apps for you to choose from.
After you download an episode, you can listen without using data any time of day. Our goal is to post a new podcast every other Monday. Your podcast app should automatically load our new episodes and download them for you (on WiFi), hands-free if you choose that in the app settings.
If you have further questions about what a podcast is, which app is best for you or need more assistance with getting started with podcasts, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Episode Transcription:
Drew Lyon: Hello. Welcome to the WSU Wheat Beat podcast. I’m your host, Drew Lyon, and I want to thank you for joining me as we explore the world of small grains production and research at Washington State University. In each episode, I speak with researchers WSU and the USDA-ARS to provide you with insights into the latest research on wheat and barley production. If you enjoy the WSU Wheat Beat podcast do us a favor and subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app and leave us a review while you’re there so others can find the show too.
[ Music ]
Drew Lyon: My guest today is Dr. Robert Brueggeman. Bob is a career barley researcher which started as an undergraduate at WSU in 1997. He continued working in barley research at WSU while earning an MS in Crop Science in 2004 and PhD in 2009. He then moved to North Dakota State University as the Barley Pathologist Geneticist where he spent ten years. His focus was utilizing genetics and genomics technologies for breeding applications. This experience allowed him to come home to WSU, as he is now the new WSU Barley Breeder and the Robert A. Nylund Endowed Chair and Barley Research in Education. Hello, Bob.
Bob Brueggeman: Hello, Drew.
Drew Lyon: So, from Washington to North Dakota and back again. What appealed to you about this position at Washington State University?
Bob Brueggeman: Well, Drew, I’d have to say it’d be an understatement to say since I left WSU, it’s been a dream to come back and be able to work in the barley industry and work toward developing better barley varieties at Washington State. So, you know, as we’ve seen the barley acreage dropping in the state and other places in the U.S., it started to begin to be a concern that they wouldn’t open up a position here. So, I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue and be able to come back to WSU or finish out my career at North Dakota.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, this was always something you had your eye on, this position at Washington State?
Bob Brueggeman: Oh, absolutely.
Drew Lyon: Okay. Okay. So, talk about a little bit about barley. Why barley? The acres are going down. Of course, if you’re a beer drinker, you’d like to see them go up, but in general, it’s not an increasing acreage. Why have you been working in barley and what excites you about continuing to work in barley here in Washington?
Bob Brueggeman: Well, I’ve been working in barley for 22 years, so I’m pretty passionate about the crop. And, obviously, like you said, I do enjoy the fruits of my labor [laughter] and so, you know, barley is a great crop to work with. In the research side of things, it’s a model crop for other cereals like wheat and we have great genetic tools. So, I’ve been very fortunate to be able to work on the basic research side of things for, you know, 22 years. And, as I get older, it’s kind of my passion to be able to start translating all the things we’ve done in gene discovery, genomics and genetics to the field and, you know, the development of better varieties on the craft malting side, craft distilling, the food varieties. It’s a great opportunity for us to, you know, begin to develop those types of barley varieties so that we can have a better, you know, end use in the state and hopefully get those acreages up.
Drew Lyon: Okay. There are multiple uses for barley. A lot of it’s feed.
Bob Brueggeman: Yeah.
Drew Lyon: There’s also the human food that’s got some nutritional benefits there and some work could be done there and then the barley for the beer, for the malting process. So, you’re going to be working in all those different areas and if so, where you going to focus?
Bob Brueggeman:Well, as we move forward, the focus of my program will be on the malting side of things, as well as the food barley.
Drew Lyon: Okay.
Bob Brueggeman: We’ll continue to work, you know, on the feed and bringing up yield for the feed but, I mean, as far as the feed barley goes, we’ve been seeing those acreages go down, so I think that the big opportunity is going to be in these very craft type of barleys where we’re starting to look at malting profiles, taste profiles for the craft distillery, as well as for the craft beer industry. And then, with the nutritional value of barley, we already know that it’s a very nice grain with high nutritional value, high beta glucan, things that have very good health benefits, nutritional value, but there’s a lot of opportunity for us to enhance that. I’m looking into barley germ plasm across the world and finding genes and characteristics that will allow us to enhance these nutritional values.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, started here in 1997, you’ve kind of worked with barley for quite a period of time, how’s that prepared you, what skills are you bringing and experiences are you bringing to WSU?
Bob Brueggeman: Well, like I said, I’ve done a lot of work on the basic research side and gene discovery, genomics and genetics. And so, it was through the tools that we developed and I had the opportunity to leave here and go work at NDSU for ten years as the Barley Pathologist, Molecular Geneticist where I was able to start up a program and develop a really nice program there, research program that allowed me to secure funding through like the National Science Foundation and through USDA, USDA-NIFA Program, which is really nice. Because of the model system barley and the work that we can do with it, it allows us to really leverage the funding that we get through, say for example, the Grain Commissions and be able to move things forward more rapidly as far as utilizing these new technologies to apply to breeding.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, bringing some of that real basic science to more of the applied role of releasing varieties that growers can grow and get benefit from.
Bob Brueggeman: Absolutely.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, five years from now, ten years from now, what are we going to see, what do you hope you’ll bring as far as new varieties, what kinds of traits or – how do you see bringing value to the barley industry, I guess, through your breeding efforts?
Bob Brueggeman: Well, I would definitely like to be able to see new releases coming out that are directed toward the craft malting industry. And so, for that, it doesn’t have the same specs that we look at for the adjunct malt, for example, the American Malting Barley Association has pretty specific specs to be able to get a variety accepted.
Drew Lyon: Oh, okay. So, for the crafting malting industry, you might see a lot of little niche varieties that may not gain a lot of acres, but there’ll be lots of different types of things to fill. Because I could see different craft malters wanting different characteristics to set their beer or their malt apart from somebody else.
Bob Brueggeman: Yeah, and that’s one of the things that makes it so that you don’t have a really distinct target.
Drew Lyon: Okay.
Bob Brueggeman: So, with the AMBA specs, you know exactly what they want.
Drew Lyon: Okay.
Bob Brueggeman: But when you start talking about taste profiles, like you know all of us enjoy a different type of beverage.
Drew Lyon: Mhm.
Bob Brueggeman: And so, it makes it a little more difficult for us to be able to have a target so that were specifically looking for a certain taste profile. So, with that being said, we need to start looking at is there certain varieties, heritage varieties or varieties that are available, elite barley varieties that have a specific characteristic that the craft malt industry’s really looking for. That way, once we have that target, then we can start going after those taste profiles, but then it also allows us to be able to hold those in place and then start adding on the agronomic characteristics like yield and the important things to the producers.
Drew Lyon: Okay. I know, as a weed scientist, one of the things I really like about barley is it’s a very competitive crop with weeds and you can usually plant it just a little bit later than you can a spring wheat and still not hurt your yield. If you delay seeding of spring wheat too much, you really get hammered on yield, whereas barley seems to be a little more resilient to some of those things. So, it’s a crop from a cropping system standpoint I like to see, so I wish you good success in getting those barley acres up by bringing good malting varieties that people can use. If people want to get in touch with you, what’s the best way for them to do that?
Bob Brueggeman:The best way to get in touch with me is just directly call me on my cellphone or email me.
Derw Lyon: Okay. And, your email address is?
Bob Brueggeman: Bob.brueggeman@wsu.edu.
Drew Lyon: And, how do you spell Brueggeman?
Bob Brueggeman: B-R-U-E-G-G-E-M-A-N.
Drew Lyon: All right. And, we’ll be sure to get that in our show notes, as well as your – if you’re willing to put your cellphone number on there, we’ll put your cellphone number so people can give you a call.
Bob Brueggeman: Absolutely.
Drew Lyon: Okay.
Bob Brueggeman: Thank you, Drew.
Drew Lyon: Thanks, Bob.
[ Music ]
Drew Lyon: Thanks for joining us and listening to the WSU Wheat Beat podcast. If you like what you hear don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. If you have questions or topics, you’d like to hear on future episodes please email me at drew.lyon — that’s lyon@wsu.edu –(drew.lyon@wsu.edu). You can find us online at smallgrains.wsu.edu and on Facebook and Twitter @WSUSmallGrains. The WSU Wheat Beat podcast is a production of CAHNRS Communications and the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University. I’m Drew Lyon, we’ll see you next time.