Limagrain Cereal Seeds introduces high-yielding spring wheat varieties in the Pacific Northwest

LCS Iron—High Rainfall Performance

LCS Iron is tailored for farmers looking for an irrigated or higher rainfall spring wheat option with very good tolerance to current races of stripe rust. The new variety has a wide area of adaptation—extending from Washington and Oregon down into southern Idaho and even into Montana.

LCS Iron is a solid performer, earning the distinction of the highest-yielding hard red spring wheat in both the University of Idaho (UI) North trial over three years and Washington State University (WSU) trial in the >20 inches of rainfall category over three years. It was also the top-yielding released variety in the 2016 WSU trial (12-16” rainfall).

LCS Luna—Dryland Performance

LCS Luna has shown top-end yield performance in Pacific Northwest trial sites with dry-to-medium rainfall environments. Its exceptional yield is well documented: LCS Luna was the the second highest-yielding hard red spring wheat in the UI North trial over two years, the highest-yielding hard red spring wheat in the WSU trial over three years (<12” rainfall) and the top-yielding variety in the 2015 WSU trial (16-20” rainfall).

LCS Luna has very stiff straw and medium maturity, making it an ideal selection for fields in southeast Washington, northeast Oregon and northwest Idaho.

“Together, LCS Iron and LCS Luna can cover a wide range of production conditions and diverse geographies,” explains Dr. Jim Peterson, LCS Vice President for Research. “The strong demand for the LCS variety Buck Pronto continues, largely because of its high grain protein content. However, LCS Iron and LCS Luna are a major step forward in yield potential and bring entirely new genetics to the LCS spring wheat portfolio.”

Robust Pacific Northwest Portfolio

LCS Iron and LCS Luna join the recent hardy LCS spring wheat releases bred by the University of Idaho (UI).

UI Platinum is a hard white spring wheat adapted to six states in the Pacific Northwest. It has excellent straw strength, shorter height, good test weight and exceptional yield potential—the second highest-yielding hard white spring wheat in the 2016 WSU trial (12-16” rainfall).

“UI Platinum is catching deserved attention from millers in the Pacific Northwest due to its excellent end-use quality characteristics. For the last three years, it has also been consistently at, or near, the top of the yield trials,” says Peterson. “UI Platinum has generally been rated ‘moderately resistant’ to stripe rust. We were pleased to see it held up well to strong disease pressure again this past year.”

UI Stone is a high-yielding, exceptionally disease resistant soft white spring wheat bred for both irrigated and dryland conditions in southern Idaho. It was the highest-yielding soft white spring wheat in the UI South trial over three years and showed exceptional irrigated yield performance in Oregon State University trials. UI Stone also boasts excellent end-use quality.

The ongoing partnership between LCS and UI has resulted in cutting-edge genetics for the Pacific Northwest like UI Platinum and UI Stone. Both parties look forward to further collaborative innovation to benefit local farmers.

About LCS

Limagrain Cereal Seeds (LCS) is a cereal breeding operation dedicated to developing new wheat varieties bred expressly for farmers’ climates, soils and growing conditions. LCS is a division of Group Limagrain, a farmer’s cooperative established in 1965 with cereal breeding programs in every area of the world wheat and barley are widely grown. Through the exchange of elite Group Limagrain germplasm across six continents, LCS gives U.S. farmers access to the best genetics in the world. LCS has more than 75 distinct wheat and barley varieties in the marketplace; research stations in Washington, North Dakota, Indiana and Kansas, and partnerships with more than 25 land grant universities across the United States.