New Oat and Winter Wheat Varieties Released

By Kay Ledbetter,  Texas AgriLife Extension

Two new cultivars have been released by the Texas A&M AgriLife Research small grains breeding team, according to Dr. Amir Ibrahim, small grains breeder and geneticist in the department of soil and crop sciences.

TAM 305 wheat was recently approved for production in the Rolling Plains, South Texas and the Blacklands. (Texas AgriLife Research photo)

The release of TAMO 411 oat variety and TAM 305 hard red winter wheat were approved recently by Dr. Mark Hussey, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences at Texas A&M University.

Ibrahim said TAMO 411 is a dual-purpose winter oat developed by the statewide small grains breeding program under the leadership of Ibrahim, who is in the College Station Center of Excellence, and Dr. Jackie Rudd, an AgriLife Research wheat breeder in the Amarillo Center of Excellence.

TAMO 411 resulted from the cross of TAMO 405 and PlotSpike oats made in 2003, he said. Due to a combination of crown rust resistance and winter hardiness, this line will be suitable for growth in south, central and northeast Texas, as well as adjacent states with similar adaptation requirements.

"This new and improved cultivar combines excellent grain yield, test weight, forage potential, winter hardiness and straw strength to resist lodging," Ibrahim said. "It also has excellent resistance to current races of crown rust in Texas and moderate resistance to current stem rust races prevalent in Texas."

TAMO 411 requires an average of 104 days to maturity and averaged 42 inches in height, while TAMO 405 is slightly earlier at 101 days and shorter at 36 inches, he said. While some taller oats have weak straw and tend to lodge, Ibrahim said TAMO 411 provides the added biomass but does not lose straw strength.

Ibrahim said TAMO 411 has been submitted for Plant Variety Protection. Authorized seed classes of TAMO 411 in the U.S. will be foundation, registered and certified. Breeder and foundation seed of TAMO 411 will be maintained by the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Foundation Seed unit.

TAMO 411 will be available for licensing to competing private entities and some certified seed should be available to producers for planting in fall 2013, he said.

TAM 305 wheat was approved for production in the Rolling Plains, South Texas and the Blacklands, Ibrahim said. These areas suffer losses from leaf and stripe rusts, and "TAM 305 will provide excellent resistance to these diseases."

"Three years of performance testing indicated that TAM 305 is well adapted and will be competitive in these regions," he said.

"We’ve watched TAM 305 come up through the selection process and it should be a great fit for these areas," Rudd said. "Common parents used in the development of TAM 305 include TAM 200, TAM 105, and Century, which is a sibling of Fannin, as well as two different wild grass relatives."

The test weight of TAM 305 was 60 pounds per bushel when averaged over 31 sites, the same as TAM 112, and higher than TAM 401, which averaged 57 pounds per bushel, Ibrahim said.

Forage yield trials involving TAM 305 were conducted in 10 environments during the2009-2010 and 2010-2011 growing seasons. Initial results indicate that this new hard red winter wheat cultivar has good forage production and re-growth potential following clipping, he said.

Also, Ibrahim said, milling and baking quality characteristics of TAM 305 were rated as "very good" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service’s Hard Winter Wheat Quality Laboratory in Manhattan, Kan. Loaf volume was higher than the three check varieties and all other Texas entries evaluated.

TAM 305 also will be available for licensing and,like TAMO 411, should be available to producers for planting in fall 2013, he said.