Agri Innovations
Westbred Works to Develop Wheat Varieties with Emphasis on Strong Yield Potential
Thu, 12 May 2016 16:57:44 CDT
There are several commercial seed companies that are competing with the Land Grant breeding programs in the southern plains winter wheat marketplace. In this arena, Monsanto's Westbred is working to position itself with varieties that have tremendous yield potential as a key part of their genetics package. John Fenderson, the Regional Commercial Manager for the Southern Plains region for Westbred, is really excited about the direction of the offerings for farmers in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas that he serves.
Fenderson talked with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays- telling him that Westbred has heard from top end wheat producers about what they want in a wheat variety- and it is all about high yield potential.
Fenderson says one variety that will have a subtantial amount of seed this fall is WB4458. Fenderson says this variety was released two years ago- and will offer farmers strong yield potential, excellent test weights and large seed size.
In his conversation with Hays, he raved about a variety that will be available to farmers to grow for production in the fall of 2017 a variety Westbred has named WB4303. Fenderson smiled and called this variety a "game changer when it comes to high yields." Both WB4458 and WB4303 are being grown in the Wheat Variety Plot at the Lahoma Research Station- and Fenderson encourages producers that are able to stop and take a look at them to do so.
Fenderson and Hays also talked about where Monsanto and Westbred want to be in the next few years in the wheat seed business- and Fenderson says it will be all about meeting the needs of the wheat industry. He indicated that some in the wheat industry assumed that Monsanto would be moving towards a GMO wheat after they acquired Westbred in 2009- but that that may or may not happen, given the challenges of getting consumer acceptance on a biotech wheat in the next few years.
You can listen to Ron and John talk wheat by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below. And, you can learn more about the varieties that Westbred has available in the Southern Plains for wheat producers by clicking here.
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