Edgar S. McFadden

The idea came from a field in 1911, when McFadden watched stem rust cut a wheat crop expected to yield forty bushels an acre down to five while a patch of Yaroslav emmer beside it stood untouched. Over the July Fourth weekend of 1916 he crossed that emmer with Marquis, the leading bread wheat of the day, and named the line Hope. Magazines of the 1940s credited it with sparing some 25 million people from hunger. He tried to refuse almost every award; in 1947 Reader's Digest called him the Burbank of the wheat fields.

What the plaque says

The farmers and farm organizations of Day County herewith seek to perpetuate the memory of and appreciation for one of Day County's farmers, agronomist and plant pathologist: Edgar S. McFadden The son of humble Christian parents was born February 3, 1891 in Webster Township Day County South Dakota. Here through his intelligent and untiring effort, under providential guidance without regard for personal gain, he produced a parent wheatstock now used by plantbreeders the world over, which parent wheat gave birth to and is the foundation of all rust and disease resistant wheats. Thus he provided a bounteous harvest for his fellow farmers while to a hungry world he gave bread. Dedicated Oct. 16, 1947 Died Jan. 5, 1956

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Sisseton Historic State Park — 22 mi
  A stone fort on the Coteau des Prairies built to watch the Dakota after 1862, renamed for the Sisseton who scouted for it, restored by the WPA and saved again by a boy who grew up loving it.
• Joseph N. Nicollet Tower and Interpretive Center — 30 mi
  A tower on the edge of the Coteau des Prairies honoring the French mapmaker who drew this country in 1838 and 1839 and kept the Dakota names on the map.

More markers nearby

• The Fight at Webster — steps away
• WWII Plane Crash Holds Memories — steps away
• Sigurd Anderson — steps away
• Webster — steps away