Canada: New oilseed and soybean varieties for 2018

Author:  Leeann Minogue

In August the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association surveyed retail companies about their experience with the herbicide dicamba in the 2017 growing season. Of the 124 respondents (including some head offices with several branches), more than 80 per cent said they’d seen dicamba damage in soybean fields adjacent to where soybeans were sprayed, although they claimed label directions were followed.

With the release of soybeans with the XTend trait, beans tolerant to both dicamba and glyphosate, dicamba is back in sprayers again. Even with new, less-volatile formulations of dicamba, there have been many problems with spray drift. Non-tolerant soybeans are particularly susceptible to damage. While dicamba manufacturers are pointing to illegal use and improper application as the source of the problems, legal firms are rounding up claimants for class-action lawsuits. Meanwhile, farmers are struggling to keep their soybean fields clean, and Canadian retailers are responding to demand by offering more new varieties of XTend soybeans.

In canola varieties, new development focus on blackleg and clubroot resistance. There are products that contain more than one resistance gene for each of these diseases. As clubroot extends its reach across the Prairies, these traits will become more and more valuable.

The websites below are only lists of what’s new in seed varieties for 2018. Not-so-recently- released varieties may be a better fit for your farm, or, some of the varieties on this list may be hard to find in your area this spring. To know for sure, turn to your provincial Seed Guide.

These guides are developed mainly by seed growers associations in each province. They’re printed and distributed in January. If you don’t see your guide in your mailbox, find it online.

• Alberta: seed.ab.ca
• Saskatchewan: saskseed.ca
• Manitoba: seedmb.ca

As well as the seed guides, the Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments produce guidebooks that list yield data and trait information for seed varieties. You can find these on provincial websites.

• Alberta: Varieties of Cereal and Oilseed Crops for Alberta
• Saskatchewan: Varieties of Grain Crops
• Manitoba: YieldManitoba

BrettYoung Seeds: 6090 RR is a new DefendR blackleg-rated canola hybrid with industry-leading blackleg performance in a variety with exceptional standability and yield. 6090 RR has a yield index of 104 per cent relative to 45H29/5440 standards and is well adapted to the mid and long canola zones.

Canterra: CS2300 is a new GENRR (Genuity Roundup Ready) canola hybrid with big yields and excellent standability. This new hybrid sets a new standard for yield. It is currently yielding 106 per cent of 75-65 RR in the 2017 western Canadian strip trials that have been reported to-date. R-C to blackleg.

CS2400 is a new early season GENRR hybrid with very good yield potential that delivers unique multigenic blackleg resistance (R-CX). CS2400 is three to four days earlier compared to the CANTERRA hybrid CS2000.

Nexera: 1024 RR is a Roundup Ready hybrid that averaged 54.9 bu/ac in Dow AgroSciences 2016 Advanced Demonstration Trial sites. It offers multi-genic blackleg and clubroot resistance as well as excellent standability and early season vigour.

1026 RR is the newest addition to the Roundup Ready Nexera canola portfolio. It offers multi-genic blackleg and clubroot resistance as well as excellent standability and lodging resistance.

2024 CL is a Clearfield hybrid that averaged 53.2 bu/ac in Dow AgroSciences 2016 Advanced Demonstration Trial sites. It offers multi-genic blackleg resistance and excellent standability. 2024 CL displays pod shatter reduction and can be considered for straight harvest.

2026 CL is the newest addition to the Clearfield Nexera canola portfolio that offers the highest yield potential in this category. It also offers multi-genic blackleg resistance and excellent early season vigour and standability.

Proven Seed: PV 585 GC is a multi-genic clubroot resistant Genuity Roundup Ready canola hybrid from Proven Seed. PV 585 GC has improved agronomics with excellent blackleg resistance and standability. Available exclusively at Crop Production Services.

New soybean varieties

(NOTE: Most of the new soybeans coming to market in 2018 are Roundup Ready 2 soybeans with the Xtend gene. RR2’s are tolerant to both dicamba (Group 4) and glyphosate (Group9).)

BrettYoung Seeds: Nocoma R2 is a new, high-yielding soybean for the very early soybean category, with 000.8 relative maturity. Nocoma R2 as excellent tolerance to white mould in a medium to tall plant that has very good podding height. Nocoma R2 is a photosensitive plant well suited to production in more northerly production zones. Limited quantities will be available in 2018.

Mani R2X is a new Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean with excellent yield, white mould tolerance and soybean cyst nematode resistance. Mani R2X is a 00.4 relative maturity bean making it a great fit in the mid and long soybean zones.It is a medium to tall plant adapted to all soil types and row spacings. Mani R2X is semi-tolerant to iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) and has excellent tolerance to phytophthora root rot (PRR), with the Rps1C gene.

Croplan: RX00797 is in the 00.7 maturity group and 2475 CHU. It is medium height, with branchy and aggressive qualities and prefers wide rows. This soybean cyst nematode variety has good yield potential with an above-average IDC rating and a good disease package.

DEKALB: DKB003-29 (00.3RM or 2375 CHU) is a Roundup Ready 2 Xtend variety well suited to tough, low productivity growing conditions as well as high yield environments. It is a medium-to-tall, branchy variety with resistance to soybean cyst nematode and excellent tolerance to white mould.

DKB006-29 (00.6RM or 2450 CHU), a Roundup Ready 2 Xtend variety, is a medium height, very branchy variety with excellent tolerance to white mould. It contains the Rps 1k phytophthora root rot resistance gene . This variety has excellent standability, making it well suited to highly productive loam soils.

NorthStar Genetics: NSC Riverside RR2X is a new line with the Xtend trait. This variety requires approximately 2475 CHUs to reach maturity or a relative maturity rating of 00.7. This variety consists of tall, aggressive plants that stand well. It has a tremendous yield potential and performs extremely well even in tough, stressful conditions. Limited quantities available for spring 2018.

NSC GreenRidge RR2Y: This new line has resistance to the soybean cyst nematode. It’s a very defensive variety in that it has a very strong disease package. For example, it has stacked RPS (1c & 3a) for excellent phytophthora root rot resistance and has very good ratings to IDC and White Mould. It requires 2500 CHUs to reach maturity or a relative maturity rating of 00.8. Limited quantities available for spring 2018.

SeCan: Foote R2 is a medium-maturing Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield oilseed soybean with an excellent disease package. It is rated at 2400 HU, with a SeCan yield index of 104 per cent. Foote R2 is rated as semi-tolerant to iron chlorosis.

Syngenta: S0009-D6 is an early-maturing Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean variety with excellent yield potential, standability and drought tolerance, along with outstanding sclerotinia white mould tolerance.

S008-N2 is a Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean variety that offers up top-end yields, fast canopy closure and excellent tolerance to IDC.

Secan: CDC Plava flax offers a unique combination of high yield and earlier maturity. Until now any earlier-maturing varieties were lower yielding than CDC Bethune. CDC Plava yields 106 per cent of CDC Bethune (2012 to 2013 Registration Trials), with three cm shorter straw and similar straw strength.

SeedNet: CDC Dorado Yellow Flax is higher yielding in the black and grey soils zones of Western Canada. Significantly higher oil and linolenic acid content with higher meal protein, shorter maturity and higher tkw (thousand kernel weight) than Flanders. It has a good disease package.