New wheat varieties hold a lot of promise for producers

Last month, four new lines from the wheat breeding program at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada Swift Current were recommended for registration during the Prairie Grain Development Committee Meetings.

Wheat Breeder Dr. Richard Cuthbert says there's one high-yielding Canada Prairie Spring Red variety with a strong disease package that includes stripe rust resistance that shows a lot of potential for growers in Alberta.

The other three lines are Canada Western Red Spring two of which are not non-midge tolerant.

He says they have excellent disease package resistance to all priority one diseases, as well as loose smut, including a moderate resistance to FHB and five per cent higher yielding than AAC Brandon with equal grain protein. 

The last variety is a very high-yielding CWRS with midge resistance, which has resistance to all the priority one diseases again, as well as moderate resistance to FHB.