Project Grant 20226701437174

This $500,000 Project Grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) will support the development of improved forage barley varieties at Montana State University through 2027. The university will conduct classical barley breeding and varietal testing to release publicly available, higher-yielding and higher-digestibility forage barley cultivars that reduce operational costs for livestock producers in the Northern Great Plains region. Specifically, the grant will fund the varietal testing needed to publicly release forage barley lines with plant and animal production system efficiencies, including reduced water use, increased salt tolerance, and avoidance of negative impacts from high temperatures on forage quality. If successful, newly developed spring or winter forage barley varieties could support livestock, forage, and seed production across the agricultural system in the Great Plains.