Manhattan, Kansas, USA
August 8, 2012
When it comes to planting wheat this season, farmers will have a new choice from the Kansas Wheat Alliance, plus the assurance of several new varieties that should come from the Kansas State University wheat breeding program in coming years.
Denali is the new variety offered by Kansas Wheat Alliance. Targeted for farms in northwest Kansas, Denali was actually developed by Colorado State University and licensed through the Kansas Wheat Alliance. It features very good yield potential, has high test weights and features excellent resistance to stripe rust. It has good mill and bake quality. Its parents are Tam 111 and Hatcher, says Daryl Strouts, president of the Kansas Wheat Alliance. As a new variety, it will have limited availability this fall.
Kansas State University released the variety 1863, which will be available to registered seed growers this fall. 1863 – so named because of the university’s sesquicentennial in 2013 – has similar yield potential to Everest. However, it possesses quality characteristics that are far superior to Everest, which was one of the state’s most popular varieties in 2012. 1863 is best-suited for north central Kansas, Strouts says.
K-State has also chosen to “increase” several varieties in its Manhattan and Hays wheat breeding programs. Essentially, varieties scheduled for increase will undergo another year of agronomic and quality evaluation. If they pass muster, they could be slated for release to certified seed growers next fall.
From Hays, the experimental line KSO 9h19 is a one-gene Clearfield variety ideally adapted to western Kansas. The variety features very good yield and good quality characteristics.
The experimental line KS10-HW781 is a hard white wheat that features excellent yield and sprouting tolerance. Its future is dependent upon its quality characteristics.
From the Manhattan program, four lines are on small-scale increase, which means it will take two years to produce enough seed to release to certified seed growers, according to wheat breeder Allan Fritz.
Two varieties are sister crosses between Aspen, Everest and a Pioneer wheat line that had shown susceptibility to stem rust. In two years of testing, these varieties show yield potential greater than Everest and feature resistance to barley yellow dwarf and intermediate resistance to head scab. Fritz says both varieties have resistance to leaf rust and have better stripe rust resistance to Everest.
The highlight of the variety KS 03-0887 is a durable form of stripe and leaf rust from the International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement. It is an upright plant type that looks thin, but has good tiller numbers to create very good yield potential. It performs very well under high management conditions.
Finally, Fritz is increasing the variety KS 03-1009k-4. A cross between the University of Missouri’s Truman, Jagalene, and Overley, the variety has shown excellent yield potential throughout the state. It is susceptible to leaf rust and will require management by farmers. Head scab resistance is intermediate; it has very good quality, Fritz says.
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