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AgriPro Wheat Releases “Freyr” New spring wheat variety billed as “The scab fighter that yields” By Tracy Sayler AgriPro Wheat has released a new spring wheat variety for seed increase: “Freyr,” which the largest commercial wheat seed developer in North America is billing as “the scab fighter that yields.” “I feel good about the release of this variety in areas where scab (Fusarium head blight) has been a problem,” says Joe Smith, AgriPro Wheat’s spring wheat breeder. “I hear from farmers that they like the scab protection Alsen gives them, but don’t like the 10 to 15 bushel sacrifice in yield. Freyr is comparable to Alsen for scab tolerance, but has higher yield potential.” Keeping with its tradition of naming its varieties with Nordic themes, Freyr (pronounced Fray-er) is Norse for “god of weather.” Its genetic background includes Dahlen, Sonya, Vance, and Sumai 3, a Chinese source of scab resistance. Alsen was released by North Dakota State University in 2000, and is designated as being moderately-resistant to scab. Alsen was the most grown spring wheat variety in N.D. in 2003, particularly in the northern half of the state. Smith says Freyr yields similar to Knudson and Norpro, with better standability than all S.D. varieties, as well as Hanna, Reeder, and Parshall. It has intermediate height; taller than Knudson but not as tall as Gunner and Hanna. Freyr has medium-early maturity, very high test weight, very good protection to foliar diseases, and leaf rust resistance slightly better than Alsen, and better than many other popular varieties. Freyr seed will be increased by grower-associates of AgriPro Wheat in 2004, and will be generally available for producers to purchase as certified seed in 2005. AgriPro Wheat will have a new Clearfield™ hard red spring wheat variety available in limited seed quantities in 2004, for production consideration in western N.D. and Montana. Smith says the variety is a tool to help clean up problem grassy fields, and exhibits very good tolerance to imazamox. The variety has good yield with high protein, but is susceptible to leaf rust; that’s why its production is best in drier wheat-growing areas. Seed supply will be dependent upon winter grow-out production in Arizona this winter. AgriPro Wheat will release another Clearfield variety in 2005 with wider production adaptation, very good yield potential and very good leaf rust protection. Smith says 2003 was a near ideal wheat-growing year in the Northern Plains, with cool temperatures and good early moisture. There was more ergot than usual, however, and foliar disease and bacterial infections were common. Lodging was also a problem; as Smith puts it: “It was a good year to test for standability.” Generally, full-season varieties had an advantage in 2003 compared to the previous year, where it seemed that early-maturing varieties performed better. “We generally saw great performance from high yield potential varieties,” says Smith. “Scab infections at a few sites had only a slight effect on the overall yield rankings.” AgriPro Wheat will focus its market attention in 2004 on three of its newest varieties, Norpro, Hanna, and Knudson. Norpro is balanced for yield potential and protein, has medium maturity, very good leaf rust and foliar disease protection. Smith says Norpro is “great for intensive wheat management.” Hanna is being billed as a replacement for Gunner, but with improved agronomics and broader adaptation. It is a standard height, medium-early maturity variety with very high test weight, high protein, and pre-harvest sprout tolerance. It has fair foliar disease tolerance, is moderately resistant to leaf rust, and has very good tolerance to scab. Knudson is a tall semi-dwarf, with medium-early maturity, high yield potential, very good leaf rust and foliar disease protection, and very good tolerance to scab, with strong straw strength and broad adaptation. Smith points out that protein premiums bounced back in 2003, and should be factored into the income potential when selecting varieties. Smith compares the three-year performance of leading private and public spring wheat varieties by economic return in the table on page 27, using the 10-year average premium for wheat protein, which is 36 cents for 15% protein. 2001-03 Over Year Summary Ranked by Economic Return -- AgriPro Data
2 Heading: 1= early; Height: 1 = short; Lodging: 1 = no lodging; Foliar disease: 1 = no disease 3 Economic return per bu. calculated using Sept. local cash grain price of $3.25 for 14% protein and 10 year avg. MGE protein premium/discounts and typical test weight discounts. * Experimental |
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