The biggest keep getting bigger, as western Canadian farmers continue to adopt the most popular wheat varieties, the CWB’s 2010-11 Variety Survey shows.
“This was not a year of big change,” said Mike Grenier, CWB agronomist. “For the most part, farmers stuck with the tried-and-true varieties, and we saw increased adoption of last year’s most-seeded varieties.”
The two leading Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) varieties, Lillian and Harvest, each saw their percentage of seeded acres grow this year. Lillian has been the most popular variety for four years, due to its resistance to sawfly damage and its high yield potential. Meanwhile, the recent variety Kane grew to third place, well back of Lillian and Harvest, while older varieties such as AC Barrie, Superb and McKenzie continued to decline. CWRS is by far the leading class of wheat grown in Western Canada, accounting for 74 per cent of all wheat seeding.
The CWB conducts the survey each summer to determine how variety trends align with customer requirements for milling, baking and brewing, and to assist farmers with variety selection. Grenier noted that survey results are affected by the millions of acres that went unseeded across the Prairies. More than 6,700 farmers across the Prairies participated in this year’s survey. Detailed survey results, down to the crop district level, are posted online at www.cwb.ca/variety.
For durum, Strongfield remains the leading variety by far, but saw its overall usage shrink slightly (from 63 per cent of all durum acres to 60 per cent), due to slight declines in Alberta.
For two-row malting barley, AC Metcalfe continues to be the leading variety by a wide margin. In six-row, Legacy grew to become the leading variety, while Tradition declined by nearly half to fall into second place. Stellar ND, a new variety, captured 12 per cent of acres.
