Date posted: March 15, 2006

Prairie Recommending Committee for Oat and Barley

The Prairie Recommending Committee for Oat and Barley evaluates lines based on agronomic, disease and quality performance.

Key action

Finalizing new committee. Last stages of modifications to operating procedures were discussed, as part of the transition of the former Barley and Oat Subcommittee into an independent recommending body, "the Prairie Recommending Committee for Oat and Barley." Under the new procedures, the committee deals directly with the CFIA in recommending candidate cultivars for registration.

Gene bank discussion. The committee heard a presentation and discussed how to better utilize Saskatoon-based Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC), which is Canada's national gene bank. The gene bank is a top world source of barley, oat and wheat germplasm. It facilitates international sharing and provides this raw material to local breeding programs.

Low-phytate interest. Members discussed the key development of the first potential low-phytate barley variety for Canada. There is strong industry interest generated for this new type of barley, which essentially results in manure that contains less phosphorous. The new barley promises significant advantages for both growers and hog producers, providing a higher valued product to sell, which can reduce the impact of hog operations on the environment.

Disease guideline suggestions. The committee heard and discussed suggestions from the disease committee including, 1) that spot blotch be raised to a priority two disease in the western Prairie region, and that differences be noted between net form and spot form of net blotch, 2) that smuts, BYDV, stem rust and crown rust be made priority one diseases across the region, with minimum standards developed. If accepted in future, the changes would dramatically increase disease standards, particularly for the western Prairie.

Recommended lines

BT974. Six-row feed barley. Strong disease resistance overall, with scald the only priority one disease concern not met by this line. Good plumpness, uniformity and straw strength. Hyland Seeds / Agricore United

TRO4378. Two-row feed barley. Brings together a unique combination of a significant improvement in Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance and reasonable spot blotch tolerance, in a package similar to the best feed varieties for plumpness, uniformity and straw strength. Yield potential similar to AC Metcalfe. University of Saskatchewan, Crop Development Centre.

TRO4719. Two-row feed barley. High yield potential and very good kernel weight. Excellent adaptability across Prairies. Western Plant Breeders.

HB379. Two-row low-phytate hulless feed barley. Potentially the first Canadian low-phytate barley, which can reduce manure phosphorous and boost livestock efficiency. Has 75 percent less phytic acid than conventional barley. University of Saskatchewan, Crop Development Centre.

HB813. Two-row hulless waxy barley. Greater plumpness and kernel weight, but hull retention is also greater than CDC Rattan. High beta-glucan and low viscosity. May still have benefit for faster gelling of beta-glucan. Western Plant Breeders.

OT569. Milling oat. Strong package of yield potential, protein, kernel size, and test weight, with substantially better crown rust resistance. Seed Depot.

OT576. Milling oat. Top yielding line in past two years of co-ops - on average, 6 percent above AC Morgan. Targeted for western Prairie production and horse industry use. Agricore United.

OT582. Milling oat. Swedish line with higher yield potential and better lodging resistance than AC Morgan. Moderate resistance to crown rust. Svalof Weibull.

OT3006. Milling oat. Specialized variety designed for an industry partner. Combines very high milling yield with good beta-glucan. University of Saskatchewan, Crop Development Centre.

OT3017. Feed oat. Potential first low-lignan hull, high oil oat for Western Canada. A special whole grain oat with quality and energy equal to barley for livestock feed. University of Saskatchewan, Crop Development Centre.

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