08/09/07 A hard red winter wheat from OSU

Farm and Ranch August 9, 2007 Oregon State University wheat breeder Jim Peterson has a hard red winter wheat on seed increase and destined for release this fall. The variety does not yet have a name but is numbered ORN00553. Peterson says it contains genetic material from a collaboration he has with Nickerson International Research, a European company. Peterson: "It does have excellent quality. A very good fit for the hard red winter wheat market class. It is a short French type, high yielding, highly productive and a good maturity fit for this area. So we think it is going to be a good alternative for those looking for a hard red winter wheat in the medium to high rainfall areas of Oregon and Washington." Or on irrigated acres in northeast Oregon and southeast Washington as well. In Oregon and Washington variety trials in 2005 and 2006 ORN00553 averaged 82 bushels an acre as compared to 75.5 for Paladin and 72.8 for Bauermeister. Grain protein was similar to Paladin and slightly higher than Bauermeister or Boundary. The variety is resistant to current races of stripe rust, has an intermediate response to straw breaker footrot and has shown moderate levels of resistance to cephalosporium stripe. The hard red winter wheat 553 will be licensed to eligible seed companies and will be PVP'ed. Foundation seed will be available this fall through the Washington State Crop Improvement Association. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.