Limagrain Cereal Seeds Announces New Wheat Varieties in Three Regions
Fort Collins, Colo (PRWEB) October 10, 2013 -- LCS Wizard brings predictability to Central Plains wheat growers.
One of the biggest challenges for wheat growers in the Central Plains is that growing conditions can vary dramatically from year to year. Drought, heat, and disease can decimate crops while wind and rain can lodge wheat varieties with inferior straw strength.
Enter LCS Wizard.
“This variety has great characteristics,” says Marla Barnett, Limagrain Cereal Seeds’ Central Plains wheat breeder, “it has class-leading straw strength, stable yields under varying growing conditions and best of all—its yields are more than six bushels per acre higher than the most popular wheat variety in our region.”
Barnett first met LCS Wizard in 2008 while doing post-doc work at Virginia Tech. Her first test plots showed excellent promise—stable yield results over broad and diverse environments. “I was impressed,” she remembers.
A medium maturing, medium short variety, LCS Wizard is Hessian Fly resistant and tolerant to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus.
“And with LCS Wizard, growers can fertilize at high rates—its straw strength is excellent,” Barnett added.
“It performed well in all 18 Kansas test locations and under various management methods, in both irrigated or dryland settings. LCS Wizard has shown its value over time, geography and weather conditions.”
Technical data on LCS Wizard can be found at: http://www.limagraincerealseeds.com/products/hard-red-winter-wheat/lcs-lch08-80
LCS Colonia—German performance in PNW Wheat
One of the advantages Limagrain Cereal Seeds brings to American farmers is access to varieties that have proven themselves in other parts of the world. LCS Wizard is a German Hard Red Winter Wheat (HRWW) variety tested over the past two years by Pacific Northwest (PNW) wheat breeder Jean-Bruno Beaufumé.
“We’ve seen very good results,” Beaufumé said. “LCS Colonia is the top yielder and broadly adapted to our region.”
A medium height, medium maturity variety with good winter-hardiness, LCS Colonia has the advantage of “no northern limitation.”
“With a combination of good pest/disease resistance and good dryland performance, we believe this HRWW variety will impress growers across the PNW,” he said. “LCS Colonia has shown excellent test weight as well.”
And because Limagrain Cereal Seeds has access to international seed stock, there will be plenty of seed to offer PNW growers so they can take advantage of LCS Colonia right away, he added.
Technical data on LCS Colonia can be found at: http://www.limagraincerealseeds.com/products/hard-red-winter-wheat/lcs-colonia
UI Stone—a new market from University of Idaho
UI Stone is another variety being launched this year in the PNW. A Soft White Spring Wheat from the University of Idaho, UI Stone is “a milestone in the evolving relationship between Limagrain Cereal Seeds and the University of Idaho,” according to Frank Curtis, LCS Executive VP and COO.
“The University has shown its confidence in us with the go-ahead to market UI Stone, one of its wholly owned varieties,” he said.
UI Stone has shown the best Fusarium Head Blight resistance of anything in its market class, said Curtis. “In addition, it has a remarkable level of yield stability throughout the region.”
UI Stone registered seed is available for 2014 spring planting.
Technical data on UI Stone can be found at: http://www.limagraincerealseeds.com/products/soft-white-winter-wheat/ui-stone
Brand new genetics shift paradigm for Northern Plains Growers
Iguacu (ee-gwa-soo). This South American wheat variety has the potential to be the catalyst for a paradigm shift for North American spring wheat growers.
“This is not your Dad’s (or Grandfather’s) wheat,” according to Dr. Blake Cooper, LCS’ Hard Red Spring Wheat breeder.
For one thing, LCS Iguacu represents brand new genetics to US growers, Cooper said. “This is a direct result of exchanges set in motion by Dr. Bob Romig of Trigen, one of the wheat research programs Limagrain Cereal Seeds purchased when we entered the US market in 2010. Bob’s foresight has resulted in the successful LCS Albany and LCS Powerplay varieties, which have direct lineage to South American genetics.”
What’s different about these South American seed stocks?
“With intensive management practices, LCS Iguacu has the potential to have both extremely high yields and good protein—in the 14% zone—resulting in high profits for yield and protein premiums for growers,” Cooper says.
Growers who are willing to use intensive management practices can maximize their earning potential with this new release. “By adding 20-30 pounds of extra nitrogen at planting time, along with phosphorus and foliar feeds late, growers have the ability to dramatically increase the ROI on their wheat crop,” he added.
LCS Iguacu also has a tremendous disease resistance package led by excellent resistance to Fusarium Head Blight and good overall resistance to foliar diseases prominent in the Northern Plains.
Technical data on LCS Iguacu can be found at: http://limagraincerealseeds.com/products/hard-red-spring-wheat/lcs-iguacu
Group Limagrain was founded in France in 1942. The farmer-owned company has 7,000 employees and is the largest seed company in the European Union. Fort Collins, Colorado serves as the North American headquarters of Limagrain Cereal Seeds, the newest subsidiary of Group Limagrain. LCS has regional research stations in Washington, Indiana, Minnesota and Kansas. For more information, visit http://www.limagraincerealseeds.com.
Zach Gaines, Limagrain Cereal Seeds, http://www.limagraincerealseeds.com, +1 (970)402-2934, [email protected]
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