Corvallis, Oregon
July 30, 2007
Scientists in
Oregon State
University's Department of Crop and Soil Science have
developed a new variety of soft white winter wheat named
“Goetze.” Produced in cooperation with USDA-Agricultural
Research Service, Goetze wheat has superior yield potential,
disease resistance, short stature and adaptation to western
Oregon production conditions.
Goetze wheat is a well-suited replacement for “Foote,” a soft
white winter wheat for the Willamette Valley, released in 1998
by OSU, explained Michael Flowers, cereal specialist for the OSU
Extension Service.
"In 2004, a stripe rust race change occurred that made the
previously resistant Foote susceptible," said Flowers. "The loss
of Foote combined with low wheat prices and high grass seed
prices have contributed to the low wheat acreage planted over
the last few years."
Foote soft white wheat was grown on almost 40,000 acres in the
Willamette Valley in 2004 and made up about 93 percent of the
region's acreage planted to wheat. By 2006, only 1,400 acres of
Foote were planted, only 6.7 percent of the 21,000 total acres
of wheat planted in the Willamette Valley.
"We hope that the introduction of Goetze, along with higher
wheat prices will reverse the trend and we will start to see an
increase in wheat acres in the Willamette Valley," said Flowers.
Breeders named this new soft white wheat 'Goetze" in honor of
the leadership and contributions of Norm Goetze to the Oregon
wheat industry. Goetze had a 40-year history with the OSU
Extension Service, beginning in 1959 as an as Extension farm
crops specialist. He later served as Extension agricultural
program leader and associate director of the OSU Extension
Service before his retirement in 1989. He also worked in
international agriculture in Turkey, Jordan, Sudan and other
countries.
After retirement, Goetze was active in several agricultural
organizations related to the wheat industry. He is a past
president of the Oregon Wheat Growers League and a past chair of
the Oregon Wheat Commission.
Goetze wheat took more than 12 years to develop and is best
adapted to the Willamette Valley and areas of Oregon where the
wheat variety “Gene” is commonly grown. Goetze has less cold
tolerance than Stephens or Tubbs, more similar to the variety
Gene. Goetze requires little or no vernalization to initiate
flowering – factors that increase the risk of winter damage when
the variety is grown further north and east. Vulnerability of
Goetze to cold temperatures was confirmed in 2005 WSU variety
trials, as significant winter damage was observed in north
central Washington test sites.
OSU and USDA wheat researchers determined that the new Goetze
wheat variety (experimental designation ORH010920) is moderately
resistant to Septoria leaf blotch, an important disease of the
Willamette Valley.
"For a wheat variety to be successful in the valley it needs to
have both stripe rust and septoria resistance," said Flowers.
"Therefore, we all have high hopes for Goetze because it has
both good septoria and stripe rust resistance, combined with
high yield potential."
Evaluated through the Pacific Northwest Wheat Quality Council in
2006, Goetze is considered to have acceptable milling and baking
quality for the soft white market class, similar in quality to
Stephens and Tubbs.
Foundation seed will be available in the fall of 2007, said
Flowers. It will be another year before commercial production is
possible. Goetze is being submitted for open release with Plant
Variety Protection, but without the Title 5 option – meaning
that common seed sales are allowed for this variety. Seed has
been deposited in the USDA National Small Grains Collection,
Aberdeen, Idaho. It was selected from Hybritech germplasm,
donated to OSU by Monsanto.
About the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences: The college
contributes in many ways to the economic and environmental
sustainability of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The
college's faculty are leaders in agriculture and food systems,
natural resources management, life sciences and rural economic
development research. |
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