There’s a new queen of prairie wheat.
Lillian, introduced in 2006, was the most popular wheat among prairie farmers in 2007, accounting for 14.8 percent of seeded area, according to the Canadian Wheat Board’s variety survey.
Second on the list was the venerable AC Barrie, at 13.8 percent, followed by last year’s No. 1, the high yielding Superb, at 12.8 percent.
“I really am very, very surprised,” said Ron DePauw, a wheat breeder at Agriculture Canada’s Swift Current research centre, who helped develop Lillian, in collaboration with colleagues there and in Winnipeg.
Read Also
Stacking Canada up on gene editing livestock
Canada may want to gauge how Argentina and other countries have approached gene editing in livestock and what that has meant for local innovation.
That’s not only because Lillian is so new to the scene, but also because it’s a solid stemmed variety developed to reduce damage from sawflies.
“This is the first time a solid stemmed wheat has ever become the most prevalent variety,” said DePauw.
Farmers helped fund the development of Lillian through the checkoff to the Western Grains Research Foundation.
DePauw said two factors account for Lillian’s quick rise:
- Wheat stem sawfly has become a problem across a wide swath of the Prairies, ranging from Lethbridge and Wainwright, Alta., in the west to Saskatoon and Moosomin, Sask., in the east.
- Lillian is not just a niche variety with sawfly resistance.
“It’s got a lot of things going for it,” said DePauw.
It compares favourably with AC Barrie, with a five percent yield advantage and similar protein content and time to maturity. It also has resistance to new races of leaf rust and some resistance to stripe rust.
Almost as surprising to DePauw as Lillian’s rapid ascent is the fact that AC Barrie, which he introduced in 1994, remains among the most popular varieties, due to its outstanding overall agronomic package.
“Before I retire I’d like to develop a variety to knock Barrie off the block,” he said with a laugh.
At one time AC Barrie accounted for half of prairie wheat acreage, as did earlier varieties like Neepawa and Katepwa, but industry officials say it’s unlikely any variety will ever achieve that dominance again.
Breeders are now focusing on creating spring wheat varieties that will do well in certain regions and under certain conditions.
Newer varieties bred for specific growing conditions are being adopted quickly by farmers in response to very specific needs, said CWB agronomist Mike Grenier.
For example, while Lillian may be the overall queen of prairie wheat, her reign doesn’t extend into Manitoba, where there were no acres seeded to Lillian in 2007.
There is no significant wheat stem sawfly problem in Manitoba. The big issue for Manitoba farmers is fusarium head blight, to which Lillian is susceptible. AC Barrie, which displays some resistance to the blight, was No. 1 with 34 percent of Manitoba’s seeded area.
In Alberta, the top variety with 23.2 percent, was Harvest, popular for its sprouting resistance. Lillian was next at 17.9 percent.
In Saskatchewan, where sawfly has been a persistent problem, Lillian was No. 1 at 19.2 percent.
All of which leaves one question: who is Lillian named after?
DePauw said two factors went into the name.
He likes the sound of the letter L, hence the varieties Leader, Lancer, Laura and Lovitt.
Lillian was the daughter of L.B. Thomson, superintendent of the Dominion Experimental Station at Swift Current from 1935 to 1948, then director of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration. She married plant scientist D. Stuart McBean, who did research into solid stemmed wheat at the station.
The variety survey also showed:
- Among durum varieties, Strongfield was No. 1 at 41.5 percent, up from 18.5. It bumped AC Avonlea into second place at 22.7 percent, down from 39.9.
- CDC Falcon was the top winter wheat, although it slipped to 28.5 percent from 32.7. Next was CDC Buteo at 23.6 percent, up from 13.2.
- The top two row malting barley remained AC Metcalfe at 59.1 percent, while the top six row variety was Legacy at 49 percent. Two row varieties accounted for 82.3 of total area.
- Feed barley accounted for 37.6 percent of seeded area, led by Xena with 54.9 percent of two row and AC Ranger with 23.7 percent of six row.
The complete survey can be found at www.cwb.ca.
