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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

WSU announces grass strain that doesn’t need burning

Washington State University has developed a new strain of grass. And no, it’s definitely not for smoking.

In fact, the new Matchless grass is a strain of Kentucky bluegrass that will flourish without the need for farmers to burn their fields, a controversial practice that officials banned in Washington and Oregon and remains highly regulated in Idaho.

The end product was developed with that controversy in mind, but came about a decade too late to save one of its prime growing regions: Idaho’s Rathdrum Prairie.

“It’s unfortunate, because the Rathdrum Prairie area is outstanding for grass seed and other production,” said Michael Neff, professor at the WSU Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. “But this is what happens.”

Smoke and airborne particles from field burning created a never-ending battle over farmers’ best practices and the health hazards for others that the air pollution caused. Neff said Matchless, had it been available at the time, could have changed that dynamic.

“It certainly would have helped them, there is no doubt,” Neff said.

He explained that farmers burn their fields for a number of reasons. Burning the grass after the seeds are harvested keeps the rows apart, eliminates disease and kills harmful insects.

“The key thing about keeping rows apart is that the grass stitches together like a lawn. When that happens, it stops making as many seed heads. That allows you to keep the field in for another year or two.”

Blue grass is a perennial plant, meaning it will regenerate season after season. The longer a crop can stay, the less it will cost farmers because they don’t have to replant it every year, he said.

“That was the driving force for doing this,” Neff said of developing Matchless.

Evergreen dominance

Some 90% of the world’s bluegrass production is grown in Washington, North Idaho and northern Oregon, Neff said. But the bulk of that grass is grown in the Evergreen state.

Neff said he was getting his hair cut last week when he told his barber about how much bluegrass was grown in Washington.

“She was blown away. I love to tell people that I breed grasses for WSU,” he said.

Washington has three main bluegrass growing regions.

“One of the biggest is the Columbia Basin. That’s because we can control the water,” Neff said. “We have the Mediterranean environment with long, hot summer days. When you turn off the water as the seed is maturing, that’s when you get the high-quality seed.”

“It’s also produced around Pullman to north of Spokane. That’s dryland production,” he said. “That is what Matchless is targeted for: dryland.”

Matchless produced a light green blade that is popular for lawns because it can be produced without irrigation. Darker green, more water-dependent varieties typically are used for golf courses, he said.

“The third area where bluegrass is grown is the Skagit Valley,” he said.

Some grass is still grown in North Idaho, but it’s much reduced from the heady days of the industry that once fueled the Jacklin Seed Company, which sold in 1997 to Boise-based Simplot Co.

As for growing new strains, part of the trick comes in spotting small differences in large samples of mostly clone grasses, said Jonathan Schnore, a PhD student in Neff’s lab.

“As a plant breeder, it’s nice to have a clone of the mom for production because it makes the variety very uniform,” Schnore said in a news release. “As a breeder, you’re looking at a field of clones for that one plant that looks different: a needle in a haystack of clones.”

Matchless is owned by WSU and protected in the U.S. with a Plant Variety Protection Certificate, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Two companies, Fusion Seed Company and Clearwater Seed Inc., are working to increase their production of Matchless seeds. Their goal is to include the variety in future seed mixes.

Neff said the challenge to create a new strain was worth the effort. Kentucky bluegrass is very popular for sports fields, golf courses, home lawns and a variety of other uses.

“It provides a gorgeous, uniform color and feels really great to walk or lie down on,” Neff said. “And it’s very resilient to damage, repairing itself quickly.”