Syngenta AgriPro is offering one new variety, SY Grit, as certified seed this fall, and supplies should be good, says Greg McCormack, account manager for the Plains.

“It did very well this year, and there should be a good supply, but people who really want it need to let their seed salesman know as soon as possible. It is, after all, a brand-new release, and we expect demand to be pretty strong,” McCormack says.

One of the parents of SY Grit is Post Rock, a variety known for doing well in all kinds of conditions.

“We expect SY Grit will be the same kind of workhorse-type variety as Post Rock,” McCormack says. “It has good straw strength, drought tolerance, a good disease package, including barley yellow dwarf resistance and medium early maturity.”

He says the straw strength of Grit will hold up under intensive management and irrigation for maximum yields.

“It has the best straw strength in our program,” he says. “It will be standing at harvest when a lot of other varieties have lodged.”

Two earlier varieties, SY Monument and SY Wolf, both did really well this year and will continue to be a good choice for growers planting in 2017, he says.

SY Monument is a consistent, good performer, McCormack says, and SY Wolf is “just not going away.”

Wolf is easy to grow, stands up, has good resistance, yields well, is winter-hardy and does well enough in all conditions that it is a good choice for at least some of anyone’s wheat acres, he says.

McCormack says he is pleased to see that more and more wheat growers are aiming for optimum performance of the good genetics available in wheat varieties by buying certified seed and using more intensive management, especially the application of fungicides.

New in 2018
Syngenta AgriPro has two new varieties that will move to certified seed for planting in 2018, McCormack says.

SY Benefit, a new Clearfield variety, has good resistance to fusarium head blight, making it a good choice following corn. It also has good stripe rust resistance.

The other new variety is Bob Dole, a variety with good disease resistance, fusarium head blight resistance and good baking quality.

Both SY Benefit and Bob Dole are in foundation seed production this year, and more information will be available on those varieties next spring.

One final note from Syngenta is on hybrid wheat work. “We’re still on track for 2020,” McCormack says.