Research and Breeding
Here is information and some links to the types of research and breeding activities that GA-TACF supports.
Mother Trees
Chapter members spend hours searching the mountains and hillsides of Georgia for American chestnut root sprouts that can be placed into our breeding program. One of the Chapter’s first pure American chestnut trees was found on Springer Mountain by Thomas Fowler and placed in the breeding program during the Chapter’s first breeding season. Since then many other trees have been located with the “Klaus” tree near Warm Springs bringing attention world wide as the most southern tree in the piedmont area.
Without the help of volunteers identifying new trees, our breeding program would come to a halt. Each “mother tree” can only be used to cross with one type of resistant pollen from TACF’s Meadowview Research Farm to produce about 100 backcross trees. This is usually accomplished within 2 years. The more trees we find, the more diverse the gene pool will become.
Orchards
Once nuts are harvested from the resulting backcrosses a suitable orchard must be located to plant them. Berry College was the first to offer a site that would house over 200 trees. The University of Georgia’s Mountain Research and Education Center in Blairsville became our second backcross orchard. Since then we have received many offers for orchard sites that are now in the testing stage. We test for soil suitability, predator protection and overall tree care to determine the best locations for advanced backcross trees. If you are interested in hosting a backcross or demonstration orchard, please contact us at gro.fca@retpahcag.
Georgia Chapter Menu
Georgia Facebook
We want to thank all of the volunteers who helped us this pollination season which is now complete! We were able to bag and pollinate 10 different trees (a record for or us) plus we collected pollen from a number of other trees. This work is crucial for our Best X Best (or RGS) chestnut disease resistance breeding program. Altogether, over the past three weeks, we have had 20 different volunteers plus several more who volunteered but had their shifts cancelled due to weather. We thank all of you! GA-TACF is an all-volunteer organization except for a few interns that are obligated to certain orchard sites (Flint, Hurricane Creek).
Our next major volunteer efforts will start in mid-September when we will harvest and shuck burs and tabulate our harvest. Please stay tuned for announcements about these opportunities! Click here to register to volunteer with us or to sign the volunteer waiver form if you have not already done so: theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=99170
Here are a few more photos of our final two days when we were assisted by Berry College students who are working in Dr. Adrienne Ernst's lab this summer.
The American Chestnut Foundation
Berry College
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Great photos...wish I were there to help with this....I got experience operating one of those boon lifts last year!
Here is a short YouTube video showing how we process catkins and store pollen for chestnut breeding purposes. Pollens processed like this are being used in this summer's Best X Best breeding program.
We are still looking for assistance from chapter volunteers for this program!
Volunteers need not have experience; essential safety and pollination training will be provided at the start of each shift. Our next dates will be Tuesday June 9 and Wednesday June 10 (9 am - noon, and 1 - 5 pm shifts). We can only pollinate when it is not raining, but despite the chance of rain on those days we need to make an attempt at it. Our fallback "rain delay" date will be Thursday June 11. Harvest will take place in September and October when we again will need volunteer help.
If you have not already registered to volunteer with GA-TACF, please do so here: theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=99170
After you have registered, please sign up for pollination shifts here: theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=113887
I hope you will be able to help!
The American Chestnut Foundation Berry College
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Great video, Martin! Interesting and informative!
GA-TACF friends, members, and supporters:
We are approaching the end of this season's controlled pollination work for our chestnut breeding program, centered at Berry College and a nearby orchard site. At this point we have bagged and pollinated six trees and are looking to pollinate four more. We are again hoping for assistance from chapter volunteers - a good number have helped so far this summer!
Volunteers need not have experience; essential safety and pollination training will be provided at the start of each shift. Our next dates will be Tuesday June 9 and Wednesday June 10 (9 am - noon, and 1 - 5 pm shifts). We can only pollinate when it is not raining, but despite the chance of rain on those days we need to make an attempt at it. Fallback "rain delay" date will be Thursday June 11. Harvest will take place in September and October when we again will need volunteer help.
If you have not already registered to volunteer with GA-TACF, please do so here: theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=99170
After you have registered, please sign up for pollination shifts here: theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=113887
I hope you will be able to help! As I have said in several recent posts, GA-TACF is an all-volunteer organization so there is no "us" without "you"!!
The American Chestnut Foundation Berry College
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Latest News
GA-TACF Annual Meeting May 2, 2026
The Georgia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation GA-TACF will hold its annual meeting on May 2, starting at 9:30 AM at Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center in Buford, GA. The meeting is open to both chapter members and the general public. Although we...
GA-TACF’s 2nd Annual Chestnutoberfest!
It's that time of year again! Chestnut harvest is just wrapping up in Georgia and our next fun event is Chestnutoberfest on October 25 at River Remedy Brewing, Rome. 1-7 pm (note the brewery's new location). Hope you can join us to have some fun and learn about what...
GA-TACF’s Annual Meeting April 12 2025
The American Chestnut Foundation Georgia Chapter (GA-TACF) Notice of Annual Meeting GA-TACF will hold its annual meeting on April 12, 2025, starting at 10:00 AM at Kennesaw State University (see directions below). Chapter members are invited and encouraged to attend,...