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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Dairy Forage Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #394995
Research Project: Improving Forage Genetics and Management in Integrated Dairy Systems for Enhanced Productivity, Efficiency and Resilience, and Decreased Environmental Impact

Location: Dairy Forage Research

Title: Registration of 'Cedar Creek' Switchgrass

Author
item CASLER, MICHAEL - Retired ARS Employee
item LEE, DOKYOUNG - University Of Illinois

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/20/2023
Publication Date: 6/23/2023
Citation: Casler, M.D., Lee, D. 2023. Registration of 'Cedar Creek' Switchgrass. Journal of Plant Registrations. 17(3):483-487. https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20294.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20294

Interpretive Summary: Switchgrass is undergoing development as a perennial, profitable, and sustainable biomass crop for conversion of biomass to bioenergy. Increasing biomass yield is a key element of the process to develop new varieties for this purpose. Switchgrass collected from southern regions of the USA is extremely late in flowering, which increases biomass yield, but these collections are also very poor in winter hardiness. Cedar Creek is a new variety of switchgrass, developed from plants collected in Oklahoma and subjected to three generations of intensive selection for survival under harsh winter conditions in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Cedar Creek has excellent winter hardiness, with 96% survival after 4 years in harsh winter conditions. It has biomass yield 20 to 50% higher than conventional varieties. It was released as a new variety by USDA in 2021.

Technical Abstract: 'Cedar Creek' switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) was selected for increased winter survivorship for three generations, using surviving plants from 'Kanlow'. The first two generations were conducted at multiple locations in Wisconsin and the third generation was conducted at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, East Bethel, MN. All Seed production and increases were conducted by either Illinois State University or the University of Illinois. Field evaluations of the third-generation population were conducted at five locations in Wisconsin between 2017 and 2021, located within USDA hardiness zones 3 to 5. Field experiments were planted in both 2016 and 2017. Averaged over the five locations and all trial years, Cedar Creek had 91% ground cover, compared to 96% for Cave-in-Rock, 95% for Shawnee, and 91% for Liberty. Biomass yield of Cedar Creek averaged 12.17 Mg ha-1, 20% higher than Liberty, 30% higher than Cave-in-Rock, 31% higher than Shawnee, and 52% higher than Kanlow. Cedar Creek is a high-biomass lowland-type of switchgrass, the first lowland-type adapted to USDA hardiness zones 3 to 5. Cedar Creek was released to the public by USDA-ARS in 2021.