b'A WINTER WHEAT KING RETIRESRob Graf has left his post as winter wheat breeder for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, leaving a long trail of milestones behind him.Marc ZienkiewiczROB GRAF HADmany mountaintop moments during his career, but the defining one would arguably be his status as one of Canadas top winter wheat breeders. AC Emerson was the first variety of any wheat class in Canada to get a Resistant rating to FHB. AAC Wildfire, registered in 2015, and AAC Coldfront, which recently received registration, represent new yield levels for winter wheat on the Prairies.In 2021, Grafs varieties represented over 85 per cent of the planted acres for milling quality winter wheat in Western Canada.Graf is a truly contemporary breeder, taking into con-sideration both the interests of farmers and the interests of end users, who are looking for winter wheat that has better flour water absorption.In 2019, he won the Canadian Plant Breeding & Genetics Award, sponsored by Germination and Seeds Canada, given to Canadas top plant breeders.He recently retired after 35 years breeding some of Canadas best-known winter wheat varieties, 23 of those years spent at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, Alta. We caught up with him to ask about some of his favourite career moments and what he sees the future holding for winter wheat in Canada.Why did you choose winter wheat to focus your career on?Back when I bred spring wheat, I very much regarded winter wheat as a niche crop that was mostly grown in southern Alberta. As a spring wheat breeder, originally when I was asked to collaborate and put in a winter wheat trial all those years ago, it was just kind of a nuisance. I had to have standing stubble and plan for it, which I didnt have to do with spring wheat. But once I started working on winter wheat, it didnt take very long to understand all the benefits of the crop, and the tremendous breeding potential for Western Canada. 24GERMINATION.CANOVEMBER 2022'