Colorado State University has released six new winter wheat varieties for planting by certified seed producers in the fall of 2018. Among these varieties are two conventional hard red varieties, two hard white varieties, one hard red two-gene Clearfield wheat, and one hard red CoAXium wheat. These new wheat varieties have been developed by Scott Haley, CSU’s wheat breeding and genetics program leader.
After a wheat variety is released, ownership is transferred to the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation and marketed under Colorado’s PlainsGold brand name. Proceeds from these new varieties are then re-invested back into the CSU wheat breeding program, the CSU Crops Testing program, and other wheat-related research programs.
Canvas is a hard red winter wheat with excellent yield potential. It is a medium maturity, medium short variety with strong straw strength. It currently carries good stripe and stem rust tolerance. Canvas had good wheat streak mosaic virus tolerance through a gene for resistance to the wheat curl mite. It has excellent test weight and milling/baking characteristics.
Whistler is a hard red winter wheat variety that has excellent yield potential, is late maturing, and is medium tall. However, straw strength is rated at only fair (similar to Byrd). As a result, this variety may be better suited for dryland acres. Stripe and stem rust tolerance is very good, and wheat streak mosaic virus tolerance is very good, again through resistance to the wheat curl mite. While it only has average test weight, its milling and baking qualities are very good.
Byrd CL Plus is a hard red winter wheat that is a two-gene Clearfield version of Byrd. It is higher yielding than Brawl CL Plus and from an agronomic point is similar to the traditional Byrd variety, except for the Clearfield herbicide tolerance trait. This variety is a choice for controlling winter annual grasses such as jointed goatgrass and downy brome and is expected to replace Brawl CL Plus. Clearfield varieties can have Beyond herbicide applied to control annual grasses. Keep in mind, do not apply Beyond to any traditional wheat varieties or the new CoAXium varieties.
Snowmass 2.0 is an exclusive new hard white winter wheat variety grown for Ardent Mills delivery. This variety will have premiums paid for seed quality parameters delivered. Milling and baking qualities are excellent with good test weight. This variety is high yielding, is medium in height, and is medium maturity. Straw strength is very good. Snowmass 2.0 also carries very good stripe rust and wheat streak mosaic virus resistance.
Monarch is a non-exclusive, open-market hard white winter wheat that can be grown at-will. It is high yielding and has excellent straw strength. Monarch also has very good stripe rust and good wheat streak mosaic tolerances. Monarch has excellent straw strength. One quality component is that Monarch has a very low polyphenol oxidase characteristic. This trait reduces browning of baked goods when flour from Monarch is used.
Crescent AX is a new CoAXium hard red winter wheat variety. CoAXium varieties have a two-gene tolerance to Aggressor herbicides. CoAXium is the named wheat production system while Aggressor is the herbicide brand used in this wheat type. The Aggressor herbicide brand provides strong control of winter annual grasses such as downy brome, jointed goat grass and feral rye. This herbicide brand provides excellent grass control in wheat fields, especially for downy brome/cheatgrass and feral rye. Aggressor can only be used on CoAXium wheat varieties.
A third term in this production system is AXigen, which is the patented trait that provides tolerance to Aggressor brand herbicides. This herbicide trait will be employed into future wheat varieties. This herbicide trait will be employed into future wheat varieties. The wheat trait used is a patented non-gmo herbicide tolerance gene.
Crescent AX has a good yield history as an experimental variety. It has strong straw strength and very good wheat streak mosaic virus tolerance, again due to resistance to the wheat curl mite. It is moderately susceptible to stripe rust and has a medium length coleoptile. Compared to Incline AX, is has much better yield and test weight and is much earlier maturing.
These new wheat varieties, along with traditional varieties, will continue to be tested by Colorado State University’s Crops Testing Team for adaptation within Colorado’s ecosystems.
