07/07/08 New Oregon hard red winter wheat a fit for intermediate of highrainfall areas

Farm and Ranch July 7, 2008 Oregon State University wheat breeder Jim Peterson says a new hard red winter wheat from his breeding program has been named Norwest 553. Peterson: "We chose that name for the combination of Nickerson-Oregon on the front end of the name because it is a collaborative development with the Nickerson Company out of the European Union, France and England, and this is a co-development and we actually co-own the variety. It was limited foundation release last fall and there will be certified and registered stocks available somewhat this fall." Peterson says Norwest 553 is basically a French wheat but it has the quality attributes that make it a good fit for the U.S. hard red winter market class. Peterson: "And that is really the reason we released it. We wanted something that was good fit for medium to high rainfall conditions as a hard red winter when you want to take advantage of those market opportunities. Very good disease resistance variety. Not something a Horse Heaven Hills hard red winter, don't think that. But something for medium high rainfall areas." Norwest 553 is a semi-exclusive release. Peterson: "We released it into essentially the same Clearfield program umbrella because of the collaboration with a private company there is the expectation of return on the investment and this partnership." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.