FUTURE HARVEST
Wheat varieties released to farmers
STILLWATER — Farmers have four new hard red winter wheat varieties to consider planting this fall.
The Oklahoma State University Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources’ Oklahoma Agricultural Experimental Station has released Showdown, Green Hammer, Baker’s Ann and Skydance, officials have announced.
Seed for all four varieties will be available in limited quantities this fall and will be more widely distributed in 2019 to current members of Oklahoma Genetics Inc., a farmer nonprofit that distributes pedigreed seed to producers in Oklahoma and surrounding states.
OSU-bred varieties account for about 50 percent of the wheat acres planted in Oklahoma,
officials said. And wheat remains Oklahoma’s largest cash crop, even while production has dropped in recent years.
Officials have said that 4.4 million acres were sown a year ago for the 2018 harvest.
Typically, the university’s wheat improvement team develops one or more new varieties every year to be released, with nine (including this year’s four) that have come out since 2015.
But Brett Carver, who joined OSU in 1985 to begin a research and teaching career in quantitative genetics and wheat development
and assumed leadership of the university’s wheat improvement team in 1998, said this year’s release sets a record for the program.
Carver said a release of four new varieties reflects the breeding program’s maturity and its ability to use many of its products in a multitude of ways, both in the field and beyond the mill.
“We could not do that 20 years ago, simply because we didn’t have the genetic foundation, or what I call the ‘genetic spunk,’ to stretch beyond the conventional thought process of growing winter wheat in Oklahoma,” Carver said.
“It no longer is just about yield and quality. Our objectives are multilayered now,” he added, saying potential markets for end uses also are considered.
“I feel like our breeding program is quite competitive in the field when it comes to yielding ability and all those things farmers look for agronomically in the crop,” Carver said.
“Where I would like to see this program excel even more than what it has already ... is in quality, where not only farmers are reaching out for these varieties, but also our milling and baking industries.”
This year’s new varieties are:
• Showdown, which has high yield potential and is resistant to the Hessian fly. The university team expects it to perform well across the
state, as it thrives in a broad range of environmental conditions.
• Green Hammer, which offers a strong yield potential, high protein content and excellent test weights. The university team said it shows strong resistance to leaf rust and stripe rust, common diseases that affect many varieties of Oklahoma wheat. The team expects it to grow best in the southwest, central and northern parts of Oklahoma.
“Green Hammer has perhaps the best combination of resistance to these two diseases altogether at this level of protein and test weight, compared to any other offering from this program and possibly many others,” Carver said. “It looks like it is going to be quite durable.”
• Baker’s Ann, which brings with it a high yield potential that is attractive to millers and bakers. It too has a strong resistance to disease, especially stripe rust. The team expects it will grow best in the Panhandle and northern Oklahoma, although it also can be grown in other areas of the state.
“Not since Ruby Lee have we observed this level of baking performance, and Baker’s Ann may just be one step above that,” Carver said.
• Skydance, which the team has said is already being used in an artisan flour for an out-of-state commercial operation. Team members said it can be grown organically and that it can be used in both bread and tortilla products. They said the variety grows best in southwestern Oklahoma, and also expect it will do well in central parts of the state.