06/15/06 A more stripe resistant Tubbs

Farm and Ranch June 15, 2006 Oregon State University's high yielding soft white winter wheat Tubbs has been reselected to improve its resistance to stripe rust. During an interview at a rainy Pendleton Experiment Station Field Day this week, OSU wheat breeder Jim Peterson said this version will be called Tubbs 06. Peterson: "We recognized over the last couple of years we had some variability in the Tubbs variety to resistance to susceptibility. And last year we went out and took out about a third of the variety with the help of the Washington Crop Improvement Association and a breeders seed increase, that had susceptible plants to moderately susceptible plants in it. Then we recomposited all the remaining plants and rows that moderate resistance to fully resistance to the disease. So we think we have a major improvement in the stripe resistance of Tubbs and that will be available to seed growers this fall." Peterson says the new Tubbs will fit in exactly where the old version has. Peterson: "It has been a very broadly adapted variety. It's been a very high yielding variety. It has been topping our yield trials for a number of years now, consistently topping our yield trials. So we expect that acreage of Tubbs will remain similar if not grow with the release and increase of Tubbs 06." Certified seed of Tubbs 06 should be widely available in the fall of 2007. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.