The world of spring cereals may never be the same in Eastern Canada, especially in the next few years. In the past 12 months, two new positions have been filled within the public breeding sector, with new breaders at the University of Guelph and at Agriculture and Agri-Food’s Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (AAFC-ECORC) in Ottawa.
Although both positions will focus on developing winter wheat varieties, they’ll be screening materials of their own, along with those from colleagues and other contacts.
Coupled with this is the Grain Farmers of Ontario’s expansion to include oats and barley. Thanks to the research opportunities that will come from its grower checkoffs, the future is looking brighter for spring cereals and their growers.
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It’s against that back drop that Country Guide presents its last instalment on new seed choices, this time featuring three companies with a total of 10 new varieties — seven oat, two barley and one wheat.
As always, be sure to ask your seed company representatives or retailers for more information on these and other varieties as you plan your planting schedule for your coming spring.
C&M Seeds
AAC Oaklin is a new, high-yielding white oat with great milling quality. This variety features great standability and excellent bushel weight. It also has excellent tolerance to crown rust, making it a strong choice for growers in 2016.
Elite Seeds*
SS Blomidon is an apically awnletted hard red spring wheat variety suitable for milling or feed. An outstanding yielder (OCCC 2015 index summary: 110-108-103), it stands well and has very good stripe rust and mildew tolerance.
Kara and Akina are spring oat varieties that show their inherent agronomic and yield capabilities, not only in Ontario (OCCC 2015 index summary: Kara 128-111-120; Akina 137-113-122) but also across Quebec, the Maritimes and even the Prairies. Both stand well and possess strong crown rust tolerance and good overall disease packages. Both have very high beta glucan content.
Boroe is a spring barley adapted specifically to northern Ontario capturing the advantage of longer day-lengths. Boroe performed very well in OCCC trials (2015 index summary: Area V-111), with large kernels, higher test weight and good standability.
*Available in Ontario through the Agromart network.
SeCan
These SeCan oat varieties were all developed by Dr. Weikai Yan at Agriculture & Agri-food Canada’s Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (AAFC-ECORC), located in Ottawa.
AAC Bullet is a white-hulled milling oat with very strong straw and better-than-average resistance to crown rust. Its yields consistently top performance trials in Areas II and III.
AAC Nicolas is a new white-hulled oat variety offering outstanding lodging resistance and yield potential, widely adapted across Ontario and Quebec.
AAC Roskens is a tan-hulled oat variety with good lodging resistance, good yield potential, and resistance to crown rust. This variety is ideal for mixed grain as it matures early relative to other oat varieties in Areas II and III.
AAC Almonte is a high-yielding oat variety that is well suited for rust-prone regions. This tan-hulled variety not only offers excellent resistance to crown rust, but also has desirable milling oat characteristics, including high beta glucan, lower oil, and higher protein content.
AAC Mirabel is a new six-row barley with great yield potential in eastern and northern Ontario. This variety provides barley producers with very strong straw and a good profile in disease resistance.
