Hard Winter Wheat Launched In US

Two hard winter wheat varieties have been released by the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture.

NuEast, a hard red winter wheat, and Appalachian White, a hard white winter wheat, have been bred and developed for production in the eastern United States by David Marshall, an ARS plant pathologist and geneticist.

In field tests, NuEast had a higher grain yield than the check varieties over four years of testing, showing moderate reaction to powdery mildew. However it was more resistant than some check varieties.

Hard wheat traditionally has not found much success in the eastern United States because humidity increases the incidence of disease in the field.

Appalachian White had higher yield than the only other variety that could be considered acceptable when grown under eastern US weather conditions. Appalachian White also showed a higher level of resistance to powdery mildew, stripe rust, leaf rust and Hessian fly.