Position Description: Seventy percent of world crop production involves crops that belong to the Grass Family (Poaceae, syn. Gramineae). The three major cereals, rice, wheat and corn, provide more than half of all calories consumed by humans. Wheat, maize, barley, oat, triticale and sorghum are grown on 1.8 million acres in California. Increasing world demand for food, feeds for dairy and beef production, and biofuels has emphasized the importance and renewed the focus on these important crops. Grains and stovers are currently fulfilling an important cropping-systems role in absorbing and recycling animal and municipal wastes to help solve problems of nutrient management such as ground water pollution from fertilization practices. These crops are also the principal feedstocks for biofuels, especially corn. Due to their high water-use efficiency, and ability to utilize winter rainfall, wheat, barley and oats will be important to a water-restricted future. The educational and professional background requirements for this position include a PhD in the plant sciences preferably with agronomic experience in the Graminaceous crops and in the design and analyses of field experiments. The internal supporting units for this position include UCCE advisors throughout the state, ANR-
Research and Extension Centers (particularly Desert REC, Intermountain REC and West Side
REC), and the Dept. of Plant Sciences at UC Davis.
Justification: Wheat and corn acreages in California are increasing, and it is likely that in 5-6 years corn will be California’s highest acreage crop. Corn-small grain rotations in the
Central Valley have become dominant in the past decade for feeding California’ nearly 2 million dairy cows and 600,000 beef animals, and for absorbing nutrients (dairy wastes), a major public issue in the Central Valley. More than 25% of the wheat crop in California is green chopped as forage every year. Barley acreage in the United States is shifting to the western states due to devastating epidemics of Fusarium headblight in the Northern Plains states, providing an excellent opportunity for California growers and an excellent connection with food science programs on campus. Many believe that these trends reflect a fundamental shift from a cheap grain world to a world full of demand for cereal staple grains.
This position will provide leadership to coordinate the multiple activities on small grains, corn, sorghum and other grasses used for food and biofuels. Critical current and future issues related to these crops will be addressed by this position, including development of feedstocks for biofuels, farm profitability, cropping systems research, and water quality/waste management. This position also will provide the interface between basic research and breeding between the University of California campuses, UC farm advisors, growers and industry. This Extension Specialist will provide important agronomic expertise to evaluate the implementation of new varieties and technologies under different cropping and management systems and in different growing environments in
California. This position is essential to fully capitalize upon and extend the world-class grain genomics and breeding programs on UC campuses. This position is focused on priorities and needs identified by partners such as California Wheat Commission, California Grain Foundation,
California Association of Wheat Growers, and the California Farm Bureau Foundation. There is strong stakeholder support for this position.
Relevance to the ANR Strategic Vision: This position fulfills the ANR strategic vision in the Plant Sciences particularly in sustainable food production, productive environments and economic success in a global economy. A CE specialist is urgently required to address complex issues of crop productivity, water and nitrogen use efficiency, climate change and its nexus with energy in cereal production in California. This position will lead the implementation of the

discoveries generated by the UCD cereal research programs into California agriculture and renewable energy industry. Graminaceous crops are among the most water-use efficient and will play an increasing role in the sustainability of California agriculture under limited water resources. This position will be critical to the incorporation of new draught-tolerance transgenic
Gramineaceous crops under development. In addition, these crops provide valuable rotations for high-value vegetable crops and are very important for absorption and recycling of dairy wastes.
Initiatives to be addressed: This position will address the ANR initiative to enhance competitive and sustainable food systems by improving the economic viability of California cropping systems. It will harness new knowledge in agronomy, genetics and genomics of
Graminaceous crops to create new opportunities for California agriculture and the renewable energy industry. The position will provide research support required for the incorporation of improved crops with improved nutrition (biofortification), with increased tolerance to drought and suboptimal soil conditions, as well as crops engineered for more efficient renewable energy production. The outcomes of this position include the development of cropping systems that increase productivity and reduce water and fertilizer inputs. This position will support the initiative for a safe and secure food supply by providing scientific information for fertilization and pesticide applications for Graminaceous crops and contribute to initiatives to improve energy security.
Extension: The key extension activities are to develop and disseminate science-based practices to increase the productivity of Graminaceous crops for food, feed grain and silage as well as enhance the potential for renewable energy. The clientele include (1) the wheat, barley, oats, and corn grain industries, (2) the milling and baking industry, (3) and the feed and dairy industry. The position will play a central role in the education of growers and industry stakeholders about the opportunities offered by novel traits incorporated into Graminaceous crops.
Research : This position is an essential interface between the UC Davis outstanding research and breeding programs in this area, which brought over $80 million in grants since 2000 and California’s food, feed, and renewable energy industries. This position will address the central question of how to sustainably increase the productivity of California grain, food, feed, and renewable energy industries while minimizing water and fertilizer inputs. The connection of this position to UCD world-renowned research programs in cereal genomics, genetics and breeding will provide multiple opportunities for collaboration in research and outreach.
Advances in cereal genome sequencing, comparative genomics, and genetic discoveries in the areas of cell wall, nitrogen use efficiency, stress tolerance and cereal grain production provide excellent opportunities for rapid practical applications.
ANR continuum: The proposed extension specialist will provide statewide leadership for UCCE advisors currently working with Graminaceous crops across California. S/he will also be a natural hub for interactions with other extension specialists addressing new programs for food, feed and biofuels production in the state. The extension specialist will provide leadership in interconnecting research programs with farm advisors, UC Experiment Station and UC Research and Extension Centers, and stakeholders from the food, feed and biofuels industries
Support: The Dept. of Plant Sciences, the largest department in CA&ES, will provide administrative support, office space and field and laboratory facilities. The department has excellent equipment required for cutting-edge research to work on statewide issues of grain and cereal production. Plant Sciences currently houses three highly productive faculty with programs focused on genomic and genetic research and breeding of wheat, barley, maize and other

Graminaceous plants and is the central location for the UC Small Grain Breeding programs, all of which will support this position.
Other support: The activities supported by this position have been funded without interruption for two decades by the California Wheat Commission and the California Crop
Improvement Association. Additional support has been provided by the UC Discovery Grant program, USDA-AFRI and CAP projects, National Small Grain Collection, ANR Core Issue
Grants, Small Grains Work Group, National Stripe Rust Initiative, and private and public breeding companies. Significant funding opportunities exist from: 1) USDA-ARS and Gates
Foundation Rust Program; 2) National USDA CAP Programs; 3) water quality and nutrient management projects in corn-small grain rotation in the Central Valley, 4) Corn seed companies developing transgenic improved Graminaceous crops for California and 5) grants for energy production from grain starch and cellulose.
Location: This position will be located in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis, a world-recognized center for research in the genetics of grain crops. It will be closely integrated to the genetic innovation and crop improvement activities where these programs have been credited by California’s small grain industry for major advances in the productivity and end-use quality of those crops.