U of M Releases New Spring Wheat Variety “ Oklee ”

Oklee (tested as MN 95002), is the newest spring wheat variety to be released by the University of Minnesota, and the first spring wheat variety released by the U of M since McVey. “It’s probably the earliest maturing variety ever released by the U of M,” says U of M wheat breeder Jim Anderson. “It has 2375 in its pedigree, but appears to have none of the negative characteristics. It tillers better, and we haven’t seen any shattering.”  Minnesota growers should expect Oklee to be a high yielding, high test weight variety. Oklee seed will be grown mostly by seed producers this year, with seed more widely available in 2004.

The tables indicate variety performance results in U of M trials.  For more detailed performance results online, go to www.smallgrains.org . Click on the Prairie Grains link, and see the Nov/Dec 02 issue which reviewed small grains varietal trial results from across the region. 

Table 1. Disease Reactions

			-----------Scab-----------
	Leaf	Other Leaf	Disease	Grain*
Variety	Rust	Diseases	Severity	Soundness
Ingot	MS	MS	MR-MS	2.0
Walworth	MR	MS	MR-MS	2.5
Briggs	MR-MS	MR	MR-MS	2.5
Oklee	MR-MS	MR	MR-MS	2.5
Oxen	MS	MS	MS-S	3.0
MN97803-A	R	MR	MR-MS	3.0
P2375	MS	S	MR-MS	2.5
Reeder	MS	MR-R	MS	3.5
Parshall	MS	MR-R	MR-MS	2.0
Alsen	R	MR-R	MR	2.0
Hanna	MS	MR	MR	2.0
Mercury	MR-MS	MR	S	5.0
Dandy	MR-MS	MR	MS	3.5
Knudson	R	MR-R	MR-MS	3.0
NorPro	MR-MS	MR-R	MS	3.5
Ivan	R	MR-R	MS-S	4.0
Granite	MS	MR	—	—

Table 2. Agronomic Characteristics

Variety	Heading	Ht. In.	Straw Strength	TWT lb/bu	Protein %
Ingot	56	34	m. strong	60.4	14.9
Walworth	56	31	medium	57.6	15.1
Briggs	56	31	m. strong	59.1	15.2
Oklee	56	30	m. strong	59.8	15.1
Oxen	57	30	m. strong	57.1	15.1
MN97803-A	57	32	medium	58.8	15.5
P2375	58	31	medium	58.3	14.8
Reeder	58	31	strong	58.3	14.7
Parshall	58	33	strong	60.2	15.3
Alsen	58	31	strong	59.6	15.9
Hanna	58	33	m. strong	58.8	15.3
Mercury	58	29	strong	57.5	14.7
Dandy	58	31	v. strong	59.5	14.8
Knudson	58	30	m. strong	58.9	14.8
NorPro	58	30	strong	57.8	15.0
Ivan	60	30	v. strong	58.6	14.3
Granite	61	29	v. strong	60.4	15.6

Table 3. Grain Yield (% of Mean)

		State			North			South
Variety	2002	2 yr.	3 yr.	2002	2 yr.	3 yr.	2002	2 yr.	3 yr.
Ingot	95	96	96	90	96	95	98	96	96
Walworth	105	106	107	105	107	103	105	106	110
Oklee	109	105	103	105	108	103	112	103	101
MN97803-A	114	—	—	111	—	—	115	—	—
Oxen	107	108	107	97	101	102	113	112	111
Briggs	102	—	—	106	—	—	100	—	—
Granite	97	—	—	87	—	—	102	—	—
Knudson	105	105	—	104	103	—	106	106	—
P2375	89	97	97	92	100	100	87	96	95
Alsen	94	96	97	106	103	98	87	92	98
Parshall	93	94	94	95	99	98	91	91	92
Reeder	103	107	105	100	107	105	105	106	105
MEAN (Bu/A)	49	53	55	55	54	56	46	54	56

Some notes from Anderson as spring wheat variety selection shapes up for 2003:

• Hanna, an AgriPro variety intended for production in the northern Red River Valley, tends to yield lower than other varieties, but has very good scab tolerance.

• Knudson, another AgriPro variety, has very high yield potential. “If you like Ivan, Knudson should yield even better,” says Anderson.

• Walworth, from SDSU, has proven to be a consistent yielder and has better scab tolerance than Oxen.

• Briggs, new from SDSU, looks very promising, with what appears to be higher protein than Walworth and better leaf rust resistance than Walworth or Oxen. “Seed growers like the look of this one in the field,” says Anderson.

• Keystone, from Western Plant Breeders, has inconsistent yield and poor quality.

• Granite, also from WPB, has very strong straw but is very late.  It’s being positioned by WPB as a variety to grow under intensive wheat management.

• Leaf rust affected Ingot and Oxen last year. “Look for varieties with at least an MR (moderately resistant) rating, and if it is rated MS (moderately susceptible), be prepared to use a fungicide.”

• Alsen from NDSU is one of the most scab tolerant varieties available now, but its yield slipped a bit last year compared to previous years.

• Mercury, from North Star Genetics, has high yield potential but is highly vulnerable to scab, “probably even more susceptible than Norm,” says Anderson.

Anderson is still evaluating biotech wheat, including Roundup-Ready, but not as intensely as a few years ago, because of the controversy over GMOs and the stringent requirements for testing biotech plant material.  “We have to handle the seed like it’s toxic waste,” says Anderson.

The Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station has fact sheets available on a number of spring wheat, barley, and oat varieties. Each fact sheet has detailed information about a variety’s pedigree, agronomic characteristics, seeding rate recommendations, herbicide sensitivities/tolerances, disease responses, and yield/grain quality data. Spring wheat variety fact sheets include Alsen, Gunner, Norpro, Oxen, Reeder, Russ, Walworth, and others. The variety fact sheets can be found on the Minnesota Ag Experiment Station web site, www.maes.umn.edu .  Go to the link “Variety Trials of Selected Minnesota Crops,” then “Crop Resource Pages.” Scroll down to the fact sheets on the links to variety trials for spring wheat, barley, and oats.