Oat Newsletter Announcement

The Oat Newsletter is intended for informal communication among oat workers. Persons involved in any aspect of the oat industry and research, including production and breeding, pathology, biotechnology, and milling and processing, are invited to submit information about their programs in the Oat Newsletter.

Contributions for Volume 51 may be submitted at any time, but should be submitted no later than July 1, 2007. The editor encourages you to submit your article(s) several weeks earlier than the deadline date, if you can do so. Contributions to the Oat Newsletter must conform to the following guidelines:

a.        Prepare articles in English. Maximum length should not exceed 6 pages, single-spaced.

b.      Articles should be prepared in PC Microsoft Word, PC WordPerfect, or ASCII file format. Do not number pages. Articles should be titled as follows:

STATE OR COUNTRY

Title

Author(s)

Affiliation(s) and Full Address(es)

And/or E-mail Address(es)

(Begin Text)

             Photographs or images saved in .jpg or .gif format may be submitted with your  articles.

c. Manuscripts should be carefully proofed. Manuscripts considered unsuitable for

       inclusion will be returned to the author(s) for revision and resubmission for a   

       future volume.

d.  An electronic version of the article should be submitted by mail or e-mail to:

Dr. Jean-Luc Jannink, Editor, Oat Newsletter

Department of Agronomy

Iowa State University

Ames, IA 50011-1010, USA

Phone: 515 294-4153 / Fax: 515 294-6505

A Statement of Purpose of the Organization of the American Oat Workers Conference

This statement, approved by the members of the American Oat Workers Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 22, 1994, shall serve to delineate the purpose and organizational structure of an American Oat Workers Conference. This Conference shall be made up of scientists and other workers actively engaged in the improvement, management, and utilization of oats. These requirements being met, active participation in the Conference constitutes membership, and all attending members at a particular meeting of the Conference shall have voice and vote in all matters properly brought before the Conference during a regular business meeting to be held during each meeting of the Conference. The Conference shall meet at a time, generally every four years, and at a location to be selected by vote of the attending membership at the previous meeting of the Conference. The Executive Committee, described below, shall have the authority to call emergency meetings of the Conference as necessary.
 
The purpose of the, American Oat Workers Conference shall be to advance oat improvement and culture in the North America and the World by providing a vehicle for:

• The dissemination of information on current research.
• The discussion of regional and continental problems of oat improvement and integration of applicable research.
• Encouraging the exchange and preservation of germplasm.
• Standardization of data recording and terminology.
• Planning regional and continental performance nurseries as appropriate.
• Preliminary announcements of planned cultivar releases.

Action on other matters that may properly come before the Conference.
 

Organization

 
American Oat Workers Conference Committee
 
The American Oat Workers Conference shall be under the general leadership of an American Oat Workers Conference Committee composed of official representatives of the various regions and countries and of a general Executive Committee. Members of the Executive Committee shall be the Chairman, Chair-Elect, Past Chairman, and Secretary of the American Oat Workers Conference and the Editor of the Oat Newsletter, and they need not be official representatives of the American Oat Workers Conference Committee. The Executive Committee shall appoint a nominating committee for a slate of officers for the offices of Chairman and Secretary of the Conference. The Chairman-elect and Secretary shall be elected by the membership of the Conference during the regular business meeting to be held each time the Conference meets. The term of office shall be four years and the Chairman, Chairman-elect and Secretary will assume their duties immediately after adjournment of the Conference wherein elected. The Chairman-elect will automatically become the Chairman for the ensuing four year period. These officers may serve consecutive terms if properly elected by the Conference. The Editor of the Oat Newsletter shall be appointed by the Executive Committee. The Editor of the Oat Newsletter may serve consecutive terms. It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Committee to appoint an Acting Editor of the Oat Newsletter should that position be vacated between regular Conference meetings. The Past Chairman, Secretary, and Editor of the Newsletter shall be non-voting members of the American Oat Workers Conference unless they are also serving as representatives on the American Oat Workers Conference Committee. The Chairman shall be a voting member of the latter Committee and shall preside over all business meetings of the Committee and of the American Oat Workers Conference.
 
The American Oat Workers Conference shall be made up of official representatives from the various countries and regions as follows:
 

Where the representative cannot attend an official conference, he may designate an alternate.  In addition to the above minimum representation, three representatives shall be elected at large by the Conference during the regular meeting once every four years. Also, the elected chairman of the Conference shall be a member of the Committee. Thus, the total voting membership of the committee shall not exceed 14. Representatives from the various regions shall be selected by one of the following methods:

• U.S.A. regional representatives normally shall be elected by the appropriate Regional Committee. In the event no such committee exists, the Secretary of the Conference shall contact oat workers within the region by mail once every four years and solicit nominations for a representative and subsequently conduct an election by mail ballot. The individual receiving the most votes shall serve as representative.

• Canadian regional representatives shall be elected by: Western: the Barley and Oat Subcommittee of the Prairie Regional Registration Committee for Grain; Eastern: the Eastern Expert Committee on Cereals and Oilseeds. These groups will have the option of electing the third representative to fill the designated Federal position or of requesting Federal representation; whichever is more appropriate.

• The representative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shall be the national technical advisor for oat improvement.

• The Mexican representative shall be designated by the appropriate government official or organization.

Standing Committees
 
There shall be Standing Committees of the American Oat Workers Conference as follows:

1. Committee on Nomenclature and Cataloguing of Oat Genes

This Committee shall consist of three Conference members appointed by the Chairman of the American Oat Workers Conference. It shall serve to assign symbols and catalog new genes governing characters in oats. Such genes will be listed and described in the Oat Newsletter on an annual basis. The Committee will also be responsible for considering periodical updating and revision of the original publication on the subject, which was entitled "A Standardized System of Nomenclature for Genes Governing Characters of Oats". There shall be no limit of office of committee members.
 
2. Nomination Committee for Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement Award.
 
This Committee shall consist of three Conference members appointed by the Chairman of the American Oat Workers Conference and shall include at least two members who have served on the American Oat Workers Conference Committee. Their term of office shall be from date of appointment until the end of the following Conference meeting. 
 

Oat Newsletter

 
The American Oat Workers Conference shall sponsor an Oat Newsletter to be published on an annual basis for the purpose of dissemination of information on current oat research and research needs. Members of the Conference are encouraged to submit information about their current research programs in response to an annual request to be made by the Editor of the Oat Newsletter. The Newsletter shall also serve as a vehicle of publication for the minutes of the business meetings of the Conference and of the American Oat Workers Conference Committee as well as for Committee Reports and other Conference notes. Abstracts of papers presented at meetings of the Conference also shall be published in the appropriate issues of the Newsletter.
 
Contributions from countries outside the Conference will be accepted for inclusion in the Newsletter, and should be encouraged so as to promote the dissemination of oat research information and news.
 
The Oat Newsletter shall be distributed to all members of the Conference and upon request, to other interested oat and cereal crops workers outside the American Oat Workers Conference. The American Oat Association in conjunction with the Editor of the Newsletter shall maintain a mailing list for this purpose and publish it in each Oat Newsletter. An Oat Newsletter Editorial Committee of four (three researchers and one industry rep) is to be appointed by the AOWC Chair.
 

Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement Award

 
The American Oat Workers Conference shall confer the "Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement Award" upon persons in recognition of their outstanding research contributions and/or meritorious service toward making oats a successful agricultural species. The recipient(s) of this award shall be nominated by the Committee previously described as having this charge, and they shall be elected for the award by a majority vote of the American Oat Workers Conference Committee. No restriction shall be placed upon whom may receive the award. However, as a general guide, the award should be presented to persons who have devoted a significant portion of their professional career and a significant number of years working with oats through research, extension, or other professional activities, The number of recipients should not be limited, but in general, not more than one to three persons would be recognized at one Conference meeting.
 
The Award shall be conferred at a regular meeting of the American Oat Workers Conference. Manifestation of the award shall be denoted by the presentation of a suitable plaque or certificate to the recipient. A brief (not to exceed two typewritten pages) statement about the recipient and a photograph of the recipient shall be printed in the first volume of the Oat Newsletter after the presentation.
 
Jennifer Mitchell-Fetch, chair of the awards committee that included Fred Kolb and Bruce Roskens, reported that the following had been selected by vote of the AOWC Committee as 2006 recipients of the AOWC Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement Award: Ronald Barnett, David Hoffman, Solomon Kibite, Art McElroy, Stephen Molnar, and David Peterson. Biographical write-ups detailing their contributions are presented elsewhere in the Newsletter.

Oat Germplasm Committee

The crop germplasm committees provide "sound information and authoritative recommendations" to the National Plant Germplasm System of USDA regarding acquisition, conservation, and use of germplasm. Current members of the Oat Germplasm Committee include Michael McMullen, chair, Harold Bockelman (ex-officio), Don Obert, Jean-Luc Jannink, Paul Murphy, Greg Shaner, Doug Doehlert, Deon Stuthman, Marty Carson, Kay Simmons (ex-officio), and Ken Richards (ex-officio Canadian representative). This committee will meet directly following the AOWC business meeting with information published elsewhere in the Oat Newsletter.

Future Site Selection and Nominating Committee

Brian Rossnagel, chair of the committee with Deon Stuthman, Rick Schwein, and Trevor Pizzey as members, moved acceptance of the invitation by Steve Harrison to host the 2010 AOWC meeting at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It will likely be in mid April. The motion was seconded and unanimously passed. The University of Saskatoon has made a tentative offer to host the 2014 AOWC meeting.

The nominating Committee put forth the following slate for the 2006-2010 AOWC Committee:

Chairman           Steve Harrison
Chair-Elect        Brian Rossnagel
Past Chairman      Paul Murphy
Secretary          Michael Bonman
Ed. Oat Newsletter Jean-Luc Jannink
Northeast USA      Mark Sorrells
North Central USA  Deon Stuthman
Western USA        Donald Obert
Southern           Ben Edge
USDA-ARS           Kay Simmons
East Canada        Art McElroy
Western Canada     James Chong
AAFC Canada        Jeff Stewart ?  to be confirmed
Mexico             Jose Salmeron
Member-at-large    Steve Shirtliffe
Member-at-large    Dave Marshall
Member-at-large    Trevor Pizzey
Industry           Bruce Roskens

Executive Committee

    Chair            Paul Murphy

                        Crop Science, North Carolina State University

                        Box 7629, 840 Method Road, Unit 3

                         Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

                         e-mail: njpm@unity.nscu.edu

    Past Chair    Fred Kolb

                        Crop Sciences, University of Illinois

                        1102 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61821, USA

                        e-mail: f-kolb@uiuc.edu

    Chair-elect   (Vacant)

    Secretary      Howard Rines

                        Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics

                        University of Minnesota

                        411 Borlaug Hall, 1991 Buford Circle

                        St. Paul, MN 55108, USA

                        e-mail: Rines001@maroon.tc.umn.edu

  Oat Newsletter Editorial Committee (2002 - 2006)

  Editor             David L. Hoffman

                        USDA-ARS

                        1691 South 2700 West

                        Aberdeen, ID 83210 USA

                        e-mail: dhoffman@uidaho.edu

  Past Editor      James Chong

                         Cereal Research Centre

                         Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada

                         195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, MB Canada  R3T 3T2

                          e-mail: jchong@em.agr.ca

  Editor-elect      (Dave Hoffman)

 Members-at-Large      Stephen Harrison

                                     Department of Agronomy

                                     104 M.B. Sturgis Hall

                                     Louisiana State University

                                     Baton Rouge, LA  USA

                                     e-mail:  sharrison@agctr.lsu.edu

                                     David Marshall

                                     USDA-ARS

                                     Dept. of Plant Pathology

                                     Box 7616, NCSU

                                     Raleigh, NC 27965-7616

                                     e-mail:  david_marshall@ncsu.edu

                                     Trevor Pizzey 

                                     Can-Oat Milling

                                     P.O. Box 520

                                     Portage, MB Canada  R1N 3W1

                                     e-mail:  trevor.pizzey@can-oat.com

Regional and other representatives

  Eastern Canada        Art McElroy

                                   K. W. Neatby Building

                                   Agric. & Agri-Food Canada

                                   Ottawa, ON Canada  K1A 0C6

                                   e-mail: mcelroyar@em.agr.ca

     Western Canada        James Chong

                                      Cereal Research Centre

                                      Agric. & Agri-Food Canada

                                      195 Dafoe Road

                                      Winnipeg, MB Canada  R3T 3T2

                                   e-mail: jchong@em.agr.ca

 Agric.& Agri-             Ken Campbell

 Food Canada             Research Coordination

                                   Agric. and Agri-Food Canada

                                   Ottawa, ON  Canada

  North Central USA   Deon Stuthman

                                   Agronomy and Plant Genetics

                                   Univ. of Minnesota

                                   411 Hayes Hall

                                   St. Paul, MN   55108

                                   e-mail:  stuth001@umn.edu

Northeastern USA       Mark Sorrells

                                    Plant Breeding Dept.

                                    413 Bradfield Hall

                                    Cornell University

                                    Ithaca, NY  14853

                                    e-mail:  mes12@cornell.edu

Western USA              David Hoffman

                                       USDA-ARS

                                       1691 South 2700 West

                                       Aberdeen, ID 83210 USA

                                    e-mail: dhoffman@uidaho.edu

 USDA-ARS               Kay Simmons

                                    USDA-ARS-NPS

                                    Beltsville, MD USA

    Mexico                      Jose Salmeron

                                   APDO

                                   Cuahtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico

    Industry                      Bruce Roskens

                                       The Quaker Oats Company

                                       Chicago, IL  USA

III.    REPORTS

USA

IDAHO

National Small Grains Collection Activities

H.E. Bockelman

USDA-ARS National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility

1691 S. 2700 W., Aberdeen, ID 83210