Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112Winter Wheat www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta 40 SEEDING winter wheat seems like an easy sell: it avoids seed- ing problems during late, wet springs and is ready for harvest about three weeks before spring wheat; it spreads the workload and diversifies risk. Add to that yields of up to 25 per cent more than its spring-seeded counterpart, and you’ve got a potential higher rate of return. While seeded acres of winter wheat have been static over the past few years, there is still a lot of room for production increases. Over the next five years, new varieties are being introduced to address production concerns and increased yield. “There’s a lot for producers to look forward to over the next few years,” says Robert Graf, research scientist, winter wheat breeding with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Leth- bridge, Alta. “Each province has winter wheat varieties that have worked well for their specific needs. In Alberta that has histori- cally been Radiant. It is the standard against which we measure the potential of a new variety, and our breeding efforts in recent years have resulted in some possible successors.” Graf says there are no changes to winter wheat production practices expected with these varieties – what worked with previ- ous varieties will work with these, but he suggests producers shouldn’t scrimp on inputs. “Winter wheat has tremendous yield potential, but requires good fertility and agronomic manage- ment for it to be attained.” He says each of these latest offerings come with advantages for different growing areas across Alberta. CDC Chase This latest variety became available for the first time in the fall of 2016. CDC Chase is the result of breeding efforts by Brian Fowler of the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre. “This variety has fair survivability and also has a two to three per cent yield advantage over Radiant,” says Graf. “What sets it apart is its very strong rust package, which is similar to Moats. It has resistance to stripe rust, leaf rust and stem rust. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of stripe rust in Alberta and this would help address those concerns.” CDC Chase is not as strong strawed as some varieties, so while it is fine under dryland conditions, Graf says there are better options for those who grow the crop under irrigation. This variety has about one-half a percentage more protein than Radiant. TheContinuingEvolution ofWinterWheat New varieties offer increased yields. Robert Graf says AAC Icefield is the only hard white winter wheat variety in Western Canada. Photo by Hamid Naeem