Prairie farmers may be able to grow Smart wheat – but not until 2003.
Regardless of when it happens, United Grain Growers, which is involved in the project to develop herbicide-tolerant wheat, decided to announce the project now.
“We wanted to make a little bit of noise about it because we think it’s a good thing for farmers,” said Russell Jeffrey, marketing manager with UGG.
UGG, chemical manufacturer Cyanamid, and Agripro Seeds are collaborating to develop imidazolinone-tolerant wheat. Imidazolinone is the active ingredient in Pursuit, Odyssey and Assert.
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There are no herbicide tolerant wheats available now.
Jeffrey said UGG wanted to get involved with herbicide tolerant wheat because of its success with Smart canola, which has grabbed a good share of the prairie canola seed market.
Agripro will develop and sell American wheat varieties engineered to be tolerant to imidazolinone, while UGG will test and market varieties designed for Canadian prairie conditions.
Jeffrey said his company has built a bank of wheat germplasm through its 10-year-old breeding program. While there’s no guarantee researchers will be able to develop imidazolinone tolerant wheat, UGG is confident.
The company said 2003 is a likely date when farmers will be able to buy the new seed.
