ARS GRIN Program?

I have been reading some about the ARS GRIN Program and was curious to know more about it. I have plenty of scions coming this year and I do not wish to exploit the program but I was curious to what it is and although I have read about it some on their site, I am wanting to hear about it in less technical terms I guess. They have several very interesting varieties and I have seen pictures of many of you with their scions.

What qualifies a person for these scions? I clicked on a link and it said page not found for this info. I am just a regular backyard orchardist whom is wanting to learn all I can from here and this topic has piqued my curiosity for sure. I have been touring around their site and it seems to be a bit more techinical than most any site I have been on and I do know it is USDA and US govt. It took me a bit of trial and error but I am able to search and find what I am looking for now.

Would a person such as myself be able to get scions from them (just being an amateur) and what info could or would I have to provide them about growing from these scions.

Any links to this info on here is welcomed as well. I did find info on it but not everything I was curious about. Thanks for reading and as always, any and all input is welcomed :+1:

5 Likes

Itā€™s designed as a sort of mix between a seed bank and a resource for research and breeding. Officially, itā€™s only for research, breeding, education, or introducing varieties to wider commerce. It is not intended for free plant material for the general public (they have a policy of non-competition with retail). They also prioritize restoring rare traditional varieties to regions where they may have been lost (think former war zones). Unofficially, I think the different locations have different policies on how strict they are with that. Also, some people bend the rules by claiming they are doing research. Thatā€™s up to your own moral standards to decide.

Edit: I donā€™t mean to imply about anyone here bending the rules, but Iā€™ve seen it mentioned outright elsewhere.

They will also sometimes make exceptions on the home use thing for certain circumstances. For example, the only red currant I can legally grow in NH is Rondom, and I could not find any US commercial sources for it. The Corvallis office made an exception for me and sent me some cuttings. Since they are focused on research and the peculiarities of doing that, their operating costs are higher than retail outfits, so hobbyist requests can be quite a drain on the system. I personally limit requests to truly rare varieties that I am confident I can propagate and that Iā€™ve exhausted all other avenues for acquisition.

13 Likes

That is what type of explanation I was looking for :+1: It is still very cool that they do this and although it doesnā€™t seem like it is for me. I may reference this for the future if I am looking for a very rare variety that canā€™t be found except through them. Thank you!

4 Likes

I explained to them I planned to do some breeding (which is true), but last year the government shutdown got in the way, and this year I decided I had enough stuff to take care of without making any more requests of them.

3 Likes

Also, as a side note, here are what the acronyms stand for:
ARS = [USDA] Agricultural Research Service
GRIN = Germplasm Resources Information Network (the database that stores info on varieties in the collection)
NCGR = National Clonal Germplasm Repository (actual name of the program)

4 Likes

Thanks for those acronyms :+1:

1 Like

http://fps.ucdavis.edu/treeprice.cfm UC Davis has a separate program where they sell prunus scion wood to the public. Not as many varieities available as ARS-GRIN, but still quite a few. Orders have to be in by Nov. 1st (so itā€™s too late for this year). Minimum order is $25 plus shipping and if a phytosanitary certificate ends up being required for your area you will be charged the actual cost for it, which is probably at least $50. .

They also sell peach, cherry and plum rootstock seed for 10 cents each. Order deadline is August 1 for that.

EDIT (2/4/2020)ā€“> I just got and invoice for the phytosanitary certificate and it was indeed $50 extra.

4 Likes

Neat! Didnā€™t know about that one. Iā€™ll have to file that away.

2 Likes

Consider also over time you will build relationships with other members. Ive had several long term members ask me for scions from trees. @39thparallel for example comes in the spring at times before i prune to get some rare variety of pear or unique apple etcā€¦ i actually do grow pears in Kansas in a region where no commercial pear orchard exist so truly when i grow pears for research literally im researching types we can grow in Kansas and how to go about doing it. I think the research ive done already has most likely helped a huge number of people when planting pear orchards, grafting, selecting rootstock etc. . @39th parallel and i had parts of our orchards on wet ground to a point of standing water at times and drought other times. We could not find a commercial solution to the problem so we went and dug up wild callery pears growing in standing water to use as rootstock. That is truly what the ars grin program is about. Not all great rootstock is compatible with scion wood so i researched interstems to make grafting possible with those hard to graft type of pears. If you need a stick of pear wood just ask someone who lives in your area and in most cases they are happy to share some.

8 Likes

This community has been very friendly and I have been able to get the chance to get some scions already this year in conjuntion with some that I have also ordered :+1: Hoping to be a great year of grafting for me!

5 Likes

I edited my post above to note that I just got an invoice for the phytosanitary certificate from UC Davis for $50. Not thrilled about it, but ā€œit is what it is,ā€ now I know for sure how it works. The scion wood they sent was very good quality.

4 Likes

Yes the state of California inspects plants before they leave the state, a government funded university has no way of bypassing that of course, and the cost always goes to the person requesting the plants/the plant material.

1 Like

They told me you need to pay 0.04 cents every year for each scion plant propagated, is this true for you too?

I have been able to access the system for many years, and I do use it with respect. I would gladly pay fees to offset my requests but they seem unable to set up such a system.

I do sometimes get more commonly available cultivars, but I reason that their material represents the ā€˜typeā€™ best rather than what may have been changed in the handling by commercial sources.

2 Likes

I really like the fact that this is a university handling this not a commercial source that can mess varieties up, they are also supposed to be virus free. My only issue is that in the agreement form they mentioned additional fees for up to 99 years. I may have understood them incorrectly though because different places say different things. Agreement form doesnā€™t match exactly with information said on other pages of their website, and I talked to a manager and they said something else, just not sure which to believe.

This is a new one on me. I havenā€™t requested anything for a couple years, so perhaps they really are looking to create some sort of revenue stream. It sounds rather unfocused so far.

1 Like

It says that this fee is on grapevines but the person I talked to over the phone told me that it was for fruit trees too, although I canā€™t find anything on the website that says that.