Photo credit: South Dakota State University.
Edgar McFadden, the South Dakota State University wheat breeder whose work is credited with helping prevent starvation for more than 25 million people, will be honored Aug. 29 with the dedication of a new sculpture on the SDSU campus.
The public ceremony and reception will celebrate the dedication of “H.O.P.E. a Helix of Resilience: The Life, Journey & Legacy of Edgar S. McFadden,” created by artist Reinaldo Correa of Reinaldo Art Studio.
McFadden graduated from State College, now South Dakota State University, and later became the university’s official plant breeder. After the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut funding for his position in 1920, McFadden mortgaged his farm to continue developing wheat with resistance to rust, a disease that threatened South Dakota farmers.
In 1925, McFadden developed a wheat variety that was resistant to both stem and leaf rust. Although it was not the highest-yielding variety, he named it Hope.
During the following decade, other breeders developed higher-yielding hybrids using Hope while retaining its rust resistance. By the late 1930s, nearly all of California’s wheat fields were estimated to be planted with varieties containing Hope genetics.
Hope has been credited by historians with helping support the Allies’ victory in World War II. Reader’s Digest estimated that the variety prevented starvation for more than 25 million people and saved American farmers $400 million in lost yields.
Many widely planted wheat varieties today continue to contain genetic material from Hope, extending McFadden’s influence more than a century after his work began.
The new sculpture was installed last spring by Correa and SDSU Facilities and Services. Informative placards were added during the summer to detail McFadden’s work and legacy.
The dedication ceremony will begin at 3:30 p.m. between the Edgar S. McFadden Biostress Lab building and the Raven Precision Agriculture Center. The event will be followed by a reception in the SD Corn Gallery inside Raven.
Speakers will include South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, SDSU President Barry Dunn, Jon Kleinjan of the South Dakota Wheat Commission, Jennifer Scharpe of the South Dakota Wheat Growers Association, Correa and Joe Cassady, SD Corn Endowed Dean of the SDSU College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and chair of the McFadden Endowment Board.
The dedication will take place before SDSU’s first home football game, and the event is open to the public.
Source: South Dakota State University, "Sculpture dedication to honor McFadden legacy"