Wheat and Barley Varieties Developed
WGRF has assisted in the development and release of more than 150 new wheat and barley varieties over the past decade and a half, many of which are today seeded to large portions of the cropland in Western Canada.
Links to Variety Performance Data:
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Alberta/British Columbia
In 2011, the top wheat varieties in the Canadian Western Red Spring (CWRS) class were again all WGRF supported varieties: AC Harvest, AC Lillian, AC Unity VB, CDC Go, AC Superb, and AC Kane. All of these varieties were developed by Canadian wheat breeders at Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada in Winnipeg and Swift Current, as well as the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan.
In the Canadian Western Amber Durum (CWAD) category, another WGRF supported variety, AC Strongfield continued its popularity, making up 65 percent of the durum acres grown. A newer WGRF supported variety, CDC Verona, has shown promise,increasing its acres by over five percent since last year. In total, 85 percent of all durum acres grown are WGRF supported varieties.
WGRF supported varieties also topped the list in many of the minor wheat classes, including AC Andrew and AC Sadash in the Canada Western Soft White Spring category. CDC Ptarmigan topped the Canada Western General Purpose class, while Radiant, CDC Buteo, and CDC Falcon were again the most popular varieties in the Canada Western Red Winter class.
In the two-row malting barley category, WGRF supported variety CDC Copeland was again the second most popular variety grown, with 26 percent of the acres planted in 2011. WGRF supported variety AC Newdale remained at five percent and newer variety CDC Meredith gained over three percent of the total acres.