Australia
September 11, 2025

Leading field crop variety breeder Australian Grain Technologies (AGT) have released two new wheat varieties designed to give WA growers more choice, flexibility and performance: AGT-Carnac and AGT-Hamelin.

Developed at AGT’s Western Crop Breeding Centre in Northam, both varieties were officially launched at the Liebe Group Spring Field Day on Thursday 11th September in front of a highly engaged and enthusiastic crowd.

Following the success of AGT’s first udon noodle wheat variety Rottnest, AGT-Carnac arrives as its complementary partner – built for the tougher end of the udon wheat growing spectrum. With elite yield potential in low to medium yielding environments, AGT-Carnac has delivered more than 6% higher yields than Zen in sub two tonne per hectare NVT trials.

Like Rottnest, AGT-Carnac has an ANW quality classification and yellow spot resistance, but also offers improved grain size and higher test weights.

AGT udon wheat breeder Dr. Usman Ijaz said AGT-Carnac provides growers with a clear upgrade over currently grown varieties.

“Growers who’ve relied on Zen for a few years now have a better option. AGT-Carnac performs where some other varieties start to struggle, delivering high relative yields when conditions tighten”.
 

AGT breeders Dion Bennett and Usman Ijaz.
 

With a mid-slow maturity, AGT-Hamelin is well suited to both early and main season sowings, providing a strong alternative to Rockstar, Denison and Catapult across WA. AGT-Hamelin has an AH quality classification, coupled with very high test weights, low screenings, excellent sprouting tolerance and a good disease resistance package.

Dr. Dion Bennett, AGT’s Northam based wheat breeder, said AGT-Hamelin was developed with modern farming systems in mind.

“Farmers are sowing earlier than ever to cover bigger programs, whether it’s into early moisture, or dry” Dr. Bennett said.

“Hamelin should give growers confidence because it maintains high yield across a wide range of germination dates better than the current options in Rockstar, Denison and Catapult, whilst offering a high level of disease resistance and grain quality”.

Seed of AGT-Carnac and AGT-Hamelin is available now through AGT Affiliates and local retailers.