Pullman, Washington
July 17, 2007
Spring and winter wheat varieties
developed by Washington State
University (WSU) scientists top the list of those grown in
the state, according to statistics recently released by the
Washington Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Spring wheat is estimated at 450,000 acres, and winter wheat is
estimated at 1.8 million acres, according to the report. The
four most widely grown winter wheat varieties in the state
include the soft white common varieties of Eltan and Madsen, a
soft white club variety named Bruehl and Bauermeister a hard red
variety. WSU released all four varieties; Stephen Jones, WSU
winter wheat breeder, developed and released Bruehl and
Bauermeister.
Spring wheat varieties developed at WSU also gained ground.
Louise, a soft white common spring wheat variety, surpassed
Alpowa as the spring wheat acreage leader in the state. Eden, a
spring club from WSU, ranked forth in the soft white spring
variety in commercial production, and Scarlet, Hollis and Tara
2002 collectively accounted for nearly 20 percent of the hard
red spring wheat acreage. Kim Kidwell, WSU spring wheat breeder,
developed and released all of those, except Alpowa.
“This 2007 acreage data is very promising,” said Dan Bernardo,
dean of the WSU College of Agricultural, Human and Natural
Resource Sciences. “WSU varieties are gaining market share in
all major classes, and new varieties with improved genetics are
replacing older varieties. I am particularly impressed with the
rapid increase of acreage in Stephen Jones’ Bauermeister
variety. With another promising variety in the pipeline in
Xerpha, WSU winter wheat varieties should continue to gain
market share into the future.”
Jones noted that old wheat varieties, such as Tubbs, are losing
acreage at about 25 percent per year and are being replaced by
the new ones, “just as it is supposed to work,” he said.
Kidwell said, “I’m thrilled that our new lines are doing so well
in commercial production.”
At least four new varieties with a variety of improved
characteristics are scheduled to be released by WSU in spring
2008. They include:
- Xerpha, a soft
white winter wheat, developed by Jones that has topped
statewide yield trials for the past two years
- Washington 7975, a
hard red winter variety, developed by Jones, Kidwell and Kim
Campbell, a USDA-Agricultural Research Service scientist
based at WSU. It is a tall, late-maturing variety with
excellent yield potential, end-use quality and high grain
protein content
- Washington 8008, a
soft white spring wheat developed by Kidwell with adult
plant resistance to stripe rust, Hessian fly resistance and
high yield potential in high rainfall areas
- Washington 7954, a
high yielding hard red spring wheat developed by Kidwell,
that has exceptionally high grain protein content targeted
for production in intermediate to high rainfall zones.
More information about WSU’s wheat
variety testing program is available at
http://variety.wsu.edu/. |
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