03/20/06 Growers want access to non-certified seed

Farm and Ranch March 20, 2006 The expected interest in hard red winter wheat to plant this coming fall is such that the Washington Association of Wheat Growers is asking Washington State University to give producers access to seed that can't qualify as certified. Wheat Growers Association officer Jim White says a resolution to that effect was passed by the group's board last week. He says the seed in question is a strain of WSU's Bauermeister and growers would have to sell their production in commercial channels. And what they would be planting wouldn't be certified seed. White: "This will not have that certificate. This is a one time deal. Make sure the paperwork is in order and do what you are supposed to do with this wheat, but it is going to be there for us to have to plant." WSU released the hard red winter variety Bauermeister in 2005 and it is currently undergoing Foundation seed increase. This cousin of Bauermeister as some call it, is from production by farmers who were given advanced material by a breeder to field test. There was no written agreement limiting the use of that production and the growers increased the seed. WSU has since instituted written agreements regarding field testing of advanced lines. The true Bauermeister had to be cleaned up before it was released to get rid of white kernels from its soft white Eltan ancestor. The Wheat Growers see the cousin of Bauermeister as a better alternative for producers because of its milling quality than other hard reds growers may find as they seek to take advantage of the better market price and government support for hard red wheat versus soft white. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.