Xerpha seed should be plentiful

Farm and Ranch July 30, 2009 There were nearly 400-thousand pounds of foundation seed of the new Washington State University soft white winter wheat Xerpha put out last fall. A record amount for the Washington State Crop Improvement Association, so growers interested in the new variety should be able to find some for planting this fall. And according to Steve Lyon, senior scientific assistant in WSU’s winter wheat breeding program, Xerpha is widely adapted.

Lyon: “Very adapted. It’s done well in Oregon, Idaho, northern California. I‘ve heard they even sold some seed into Canada. So we will see what happens on how far it will go.”

Of course its done well in Washington.

Lyon: “It’s been a tremendous yielder over the last three years in the Variety Testing Program. It has been the number one yielding wheat in every rainfall zone in state. As far as I know for three years running, that is unprecedented.”

Lyon describes Xerpha’s disease package.

Lyon: “It’s resistant to stripe rust. You will see a little bit of stripe rust on it but Dr. Chen says it has high temperature adult plant resistance. It is highly tolerant to foot rot. Dr. Tim Murray has had it in foot rot inoculated trials and it will suck up a lot of the disease but it doesn’t seem to affect its yield very much. It has very strong straw. Doesn’t tend to lodge to much. Cephalosporium, it is highly tolerant to cephalosporium.”

Xerpha has acceptable milling and baking quality.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

??