OKLAHOMAWHEATCOMMISSION

Oklahoma State University’s Divisionof Agricultural Sciences and NaturalResources released three new hard redwinter wheat varieties, Spirit Rider,Smith’s Gold and Lonerider.

“Spirit Rider, Smith’s Gold andLonerider fit a strong wheat breedingtradition at OSU for excellence thatextends straight from the field and intothe bakery,” said Brett Carver, leadresearcher for the OSU WheatImprovement Team, an interdisciplinaryteam of researchers responsible fordeveloping the new varieties.

“Commercial entities already havehanded down that opinion, so we canmove forward knowing the hard redwinter wheat class will be well representedby these three varieties.”

Spirit Rider’s parentage includes OKBullet, which was bred by OSU. Whilecarrying some characteristics of itsparent, Spirit Rider offers improved strawstrength, standability and yield potential.It also has good disease resistance.

A solid dual-purpose variety, Smith’sGold features excellent yield potentialwith strong greenbug and Hessian flyresistance as well as protection againststripe rust earlier in the spring and afterflowering in the adult-plant stages. Itsparentage includes Gallagher, a popularvariety also developed by OSU.

Spirit Rider is best suited to northcentral and northwest portions ofOklahoma, including the Panhandle,while Smith’s Gold will work wellanywhere Gallagher thrives.

“Spirit Rider will probably appeal togrowers with a desire to push the yieldenvelope,” Carver said. “Smith’s Goldcan achieve the in-field excellence thatGallagher can, but more.

“Numerous experimental wheat lineshave been developed with OK Bullet as a

parent,” Carver said, “but Spirit Ridercaptures the beneficial characteristics forwhich OK Bullet was known, but withhigher yield potential.

“Meanwhile, the name Gallagher,named for wrestling coach Edward C.Gallagher, resonates throughout OSU’sathletics facilities, the campus and nowthe state’s wheat fields, as it is currentlythe most popular wheat variety planted inOklahoma.

“The name Smith’s Gold was chosento remind wheat producers this newvariety carries forward the strongtradition set by Gallagher and carriedforward by current coach John Smith,”Carver said.

The third and final variety, Lonerider isa descendant of Duster and Billings, twoother popular OSU-bred varieties. Alongwith exceptional straw strength, otherunique characteristics of this newestvariety include its short stature, very earlyfinish and unusually large kernel size.

“Testimonial to its name, Lonerider ledother entries submitted to the 2016 U.S.Department of Agriculture-AgriculturalResearch Service Southern RegionalPerformance Nursery, after averaginggrain yields across sites stretching fromTexas to South Dakota,” said Carver,“This nursery is a public-privatecooperative featuring the best germplasmfrom wheat breeding programs across theGreat Plains.”

While Lonerider is capable of thrivingthroughout the western half ofOklahoma as well as in neighboringstates, it will perform best in the westernthird of Oklahoma, including thePanhandle.

“Among the varieties released by OSUgoing back to the days of Billings,Lonerider has the capability to go westbetter than any of them. Furthermore,

Lonerider appears well adapted tonorthwest Kansas and to areas well intoNebraska, thus we expect this variety toshow resilience to a wide range ofenvironmental conditions it’s likely toexperience in western Oklahoma,”Carver said.

“Output from the OSU wheatimprovement program is extremely cyclicand the recent bounty is morecoincidental than planned,” Carver said.“Not to mention each of the three newestvarieties offer specific benefits or fitnesscharacteristics.

“We will continue looking for newvarieties that satisfy critical needs,particularly varieties with better thanaverage dough strength or higher proteincontent and beardless varieties that canbe used across the board for forage orgrain,” said Carver, who added the teamalso anticipates exploring new hard whitewheat varieties that extend the sprouttolerance and yielding ability of Stardust,which OSU released in 2016.

Foundation seed for Lonerider isavailable to seed producers who aremembers of Oklahoma Genetics, Inc.Registered and certified seed classes willbe available in 2018.

Spirit Rider, Smith’s Gold andLonerider are the first varieties OSU hasreleased since Stardust, a hard whitewheat variety, in 2016, and Bentley, ahard red winter wheat variety, in 2015.

Wheat is Oklahoma’s largest cash crop,with more than five million acres ofwinter wheat sown annually. Additionally,depending on market conditions, 30 to 50percent of the state’s wheat acres will begrazed by stocker cattle over the wintermonths.

Currently, varieties bred by OSUaccount for about 50 percent of thewheat acres planted in the state. OWC

OSU Releases Three New Wheat Varieties