WA agronomist walks look into new research results for AGT wheat, barley and lupin varieties

Agronomists from around the State have had the chance to view crop trials being carried out by Australian Grain Technologies in recent weeks, with some promising results. AGT WA variety support manager Floyd Sullivan said one site, close to the company’s Western Crop Breeding Centre at Northam, was a fantastic spot for trials with the land made available through a partnership with the Candeloro farming family. The site covers nearly 50 hectares which is split into wheat, barley and lupin plots, as well as seed bulk-ups of promising near-to-release breeding lines. It makes up about a third of AGT’s WA trial program. Mr Sullivan said across WA, AGT’s trial program stretches from Yuna to Esperance, with most trial sites sown, managed and harvested by AGT’s Northam-based trial team. This year, AGT have trial sites looking at a mixture of cereals and lupins as part of its breeding program. Some of the varieties on show at the Long Forrest trial site included new wheat variety Tomahawk CL Plus and new lupin variety Rosemont. Of particular interest was the recently released wheat variety Shotgun, being a genuine Scepter replacement with a significant 6 per cent yield advantage. AGT WA variety support manager Alana Hartley said Shotgun had excellent physical grain quality, with improvements in test weight over Calibre, and a similar disease profile as Scepter. Another variety released this spring of interest to WA growers was AGT’s first udon noodle wheat variety called Rottnest, bred in WA. Rottnest is an alternative to Ninja, but offers a yield improvement. Another variety in development by AGT is a biscuit wheat called Lancelin. “It has been over 30 years since biscuit wheat has been grown in any significant amount in WA,” Ms Hartley said. “At this point we are in the market development stage and working with key industry partners and South-East Asian millers to develop demand.” Mr Sullivan said AGT was forging ahead with lupin breeding activities, having taken over WA’s lupin breeding program from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development several years ago. “Rosemont is broadly adapted, with exceptional yields in traditional lupin-growing areas, as well as the non-traditional lupin-growing areas of southern WA,” she said.