Aberdeen, Idaho
January 2, 2006
Southern Idaho wheat producers
who have grown hard white wheat in the past will have a new,
higher-yielding variety to try in 2006 when the Idaho
Agricultural Experiment Station releases 'UI Lochsa' in
February.
Developed by
University of Idaho
wheat breeder Ed Souza, 'UI Lochsa' should perform well
under irrigated and rain-fed conditions. It offers both a
higher percentage of protein and greater lodging resistance
than two previous UI hard whites, 'Lolo' and 'Idaho 377s.'
"People who have grown 'Lolo'
or '377s' under irrigation will be pleased with 'UI
Lochsa's' straw strength," Souza says.
Across four years of irrigated
and rain-fed trials in southern Idaho, 'UI Lochsa' averaged
85 bushels in yield and 13.9 percent in protein. Its test
weights were good and it demonstrated moderate resistance to
stripe rust. For the past three years, it has been evaluated
by scientists in Western cooperative research trials as
'IDO597,' and for the past two years it's been included in
Pacific Northwest Extension trials in farmers' fields.
A three-way cross between two
Pacific Northwest hard red spring wheats and an Australian
hard white, 'UI Lochsa' makes bright, good-textured Asian
noodles and high-volume, superior-quality bread loaves,
Souza says. "We're hoping that it will be relatively easy to
market."
Souza doesn't recommend 'UI
Lochsa' for northern Idaho fields, where he says its yield
benefits won't be obvious, but he calls it "a nice wheat to
grow" in southern Idaho.
Producers who would like to
place orders for seed should contact Kathy Stewart-Williams,
coordinator of the Idaho Foundation Seed Program, in January
or early February by calling (208) 423-6655 in Kimberly or
sending e-mail to
williams@kimberly.uidaho.edu. Allocations will be made
in mid-February. Souza cautions that producers interested in
growing hard white wheat for the first time "should
investigate where they are going to market it before they
plant it."
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