Rob Graf

Dr. Rob Graf is a retired plant breeder who has served as a science advisor to the ABCSG Board since 2008.

Rob was raised on a mixed-farm in the Humboldt, SK area and received his degrees from the University of Saskatchewan. He started his career as a spring wheat breeder with Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, where he worked for about 12 years.  From there, he and his family moved to Lethbridge, where he led AAFC’s winter wheat breeding efforts in western Canada for 23 years, concentrating on simultaneous improvements in yield and agronomic type, disease and pest resistance, and end-use quality. During hiscareer, he contributed to the development of 30 cultivars, 15 as principal developer. His winter wheat varieties currently account for 95% of prairie acreage.

Dr. Graf continues to have significant impact within thecereal industry in Canada. He is a member of the Prairie Recommending Committee for Wheat, Rye and Triticale, where he served on the executive for 13 years. Rob is the past-chair of the Alberta Regional Variety Advisory Committee (ARVAC),where he was chair from 2011-2021.  He has been a member of the CSGAPlant Breeders Committee since 2011, and has served on the Plant Breeders Rights Advisory Committee since 2015. Although formally retired, he also works part-time as a science advisor for SeedNet, a southern Alberta based pedigreed seed company.

Rob is the author or co-author of about 100peer-reviewed research articles.He has done extensive outreach, presenting at over 280 events over his career. Dr. Graf has been recognized with numerous awards, among the most recent being the 2020 Canadian Plant Breeding and Genetics Award, and the Canadian Society of Agronomy Distinguished Agronomist award in 2022.