New Winter Wheat Available

Winter wheat growers of North Dakota and Montana now have a new variety to add to their list of selections. The new variety is named Decade. It was developed by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and released jointly with North Dakota last fall. The Williams County Agricultural Improvement Association received a small allocation of foundation seed which was purchased by Leon Helstad, Williston. Helstad has grown this allocation under contract to the Association and North Dakota State University Experiment Station. He recently harvested his allocation and is in the process of conditioning the seed. It is expected the seed will meet the registered grade requirements of the State Seed Department.

Decade is white-chaffed and was selected from a composite of three closely related F1 populations. It is a very high yielding winter hardy variety that is well adapted to western North Dakota and eastern Montana according to Phil Bruckner and Jim Berg, Montana State University winter wheat breeders. Other features include a medium to high test weight, early maturity, reduced height, medium to high grain protein and excellent milling and baking quality. It is resistant to stem rust, but susceptible to stripe rust. In comparison to CDC Falcon, Decade is equivalent to yield potential and winter survival, improved test weight, earlier maturity, higher grain protein content and superior milling characteristics.

When compared to the popular variety, Jerry, it appears to have a slight advantage in grain protein test weight and maturity, but a definite advantage in lodging resistance. Jerry does express more resistance to leaf rust. Other features such as winter hardiness, height, and resistance to stem rust and foliar diseases are quite similar.

Wheat Show Planning

Have you heard a good speaker or a topic that should be incorporated into the 2012 Wheat Show? If so, I invite you to share such ideas with the committee who is now planning next February’s education program.

The Wheat Show Committee strives to: 1) provide information offering significant profit opportunities, 2) challenge the thought process of those involved in all levels of food production, 3) encourage positive thinking, and 4) provide relevant information relating to public policy issues.

 

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