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“Your chance of finding a
successful cross is low: maybe
one in 1,000 or one in 10,000.”
– Dean Spaner
HOMEGROWNVARIETIES A TRUE ALBERTAADVANTAGE
After a dozen years of
research, University of Alberta wheat
breeder Dean Spaner, PhD, has scored
two major wins for prairie wheat produc-
ers. For now, they are known as BW947
and PT765, two newly registered Cana-
dian Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat
cultivars notable for their combination of
high-yield, early-maturation, good protein
and improved disease tolerance. When they
become available to commercial producers
two to three years from now, these two
cultivars may become known as something
else entirely.
“Game changers,” said Brian Beres, chair
of the Prairie Grain Development Com-
mittee responsible for testing, evaluating
and recommending wheat, rye and triticale
candidate cultivars for registration. “I think
that’s what they’ll be known as. If you’re
talking CWRS, there are probably less than
a handful of varieties you can successfully
grow in Alberta’s parkland, and none of
them available to date are so all-inclusive.”
The challenge for wheat breeders is the
inverse relationship between maturity
and yield. Typically, the higher the yield,
the more growing degree days a variety
requires to reach maturity, explained Beres.
As such, varieties bred to successfully grow
in Alberta’s cooler, shorter-season parkland
have, until now, been characterized by
lower yields.
“That problem has been a tough nut to
crack,” said Beres. “But what Spaner has
provided are two early-maturing variet-
ies that have maintained both yield and
protein levels. You can’t overstate the value
and importance of that, especially since
there are more arable acres in the Peace
River region than in all of Manitoba.”
In addition to the maturation and yield
benefits, Spaner’s varieties also offer
above-average disease tolerance to the most
serious disease issues affecting the park-
land region. Both BW947 and PT765 have
good resistance to stripe rust, and PT765
offers improved tolerance for fusarium head
blight.
“Getting the yield and early-maturity
benefits is one thing. But if a breeder really
wants to complicate the research, they’ll try
to package in disease resistance, too. Span-
er was able to pull all of those attributes
together, which is a real shot in the arm for
Alberta producers,” said Beres.
Wheat’s "GameChangers"
By Madeleine Baerg
Both BW947 and PT765 were originally
crossed in 2005 from parents selected from
trials grown in 2003, and then field-tested
in 52 environments between 2007 and
2012. The chance of either achieving this
was amazingly low. In fact, these two
are the first U of A-developed varieties of
CWRS approved for release since 1998, and
are among the five varieties successfully
released by the university since its breeding
program began in 1915.
“Every year we make about 100 crosses
that you start yield-testing six generations
later. It’s a rather time-consuming process,”
explained Spaner. “It’s about stacking the
odds and following a scientific method
of advancement. But ultimately, you are
playing a numbers game. Your chance of
finding a successful cross is low: maybe one
in 1,000 or one in 10,000.”
Spaner is hopeful for another breeding
success is in the near future, and continues
to work on developing new varieties of
CWRS, Canadian Prairie Spring Wheat and
general-purpose wheat. He was quick to
By the Numbers
1
– company planning to
commercialize BW947:
Canterra Seeds
2–3
– estimated number of years
until BW947 and PT765 are avail-
able commercially
5
– varieties of CWRS have been
developed at the University of Al-
berta (including BW947 & PT765)
since its breeding program
began in 1915
13
– years Dean Spaner has been
breeding wheat
16
– years since the last release of
a CWRS variety fromU of A
52
– number of field-test environ-
ments BW947 and PT765 were
tested in between 2007 and 2012
2005
– the year BW947 and
PT765 were initially crossed
point out his success was only possible due
to the support of the agriculture industry.
“The development of wheat varieties,
especially at a university, involves long-term
funding commitment. I am very grateful
to the Alberta Crop Industry Development
Fund and the Western Grains Research
Foundation funded by the check-off sup-
ported by all wheat growers. And the pro-
gram looks forward to long-term collabora-
tion with the Alberta Wheat Commission.”
Both varieties have passed registration
and are now well en route to commer-
cialization. Canterra has purchased plant
breeder’s rights to BW947 and is currently
building up the seed bank by growing a
one-hectare plot of the variety. PT765 was
grown by four Alberta seed growers in
2013, and Spaner is currently working with
them to commercialize the variety.
Winter
2014
grainswest.com
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