Australia
September 23, 2015
Mike O’Hare, a long time research cooperator with industry, AGT senior wheat breeder and leader of the team that developed Beckom Dr Russell Eastwood, and Dr Steve Jefferies AGT Chief Executive Officer inspecting Beckom at the 2015 Wagga field day.
The new variety Beckom provides southern NSW, Vic and SA wheat growers with a very high and stable yielding AH quality wheat variety.
AGT senior wheat breeder Russell Eastwood believes Beckom’s excellent agronomic characteristics, its high yield potential, its strong disease resistance profile and excellent quality characteristics positions it to be a very popular variety. Beckom was included in both the 2013 and 2014 National Variety Trials network across the south east region. To date Beckom has proven to be the highest yielding main season variety in southern NSW and northern Victoria even surpassing AGT’s popular new APH variety Suntop.
Dr Eastwood highlights that Beckom’s adaptation pattern makes it an ideal fit for growers in medium rainfall areas of southern NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Beckom has a good disease resistance package including CCN resistance, it produces high relative test weights, and offers tolerance to both boron and aluminum toxic soils whilst not being highly susceptible to either pre-harvest sprouting or blackpoint. These features combine to make it a relatively low risk variety that can deliver high returns to growers. .
Beckom is eligible to be received into the AH quality grades in both the south east and southern zones of Australia. While from time to time premiums offered for APH may be large enough for some APH varieties to achieve similar returns, on average we would expect greater average returns from Beckom due to its superior grain yield.
Beckom’s mid-season maturity places it three days later to head than Mace and similar to Suntop so it fits the mid-season planting window.
On acidic low pH soils particularly in association with wet conditions aluminium toxicity is a common limitation, including in the sub soil where it is almost impossible to correct via lime application. Wheat varieties like Beckom with moderate tolerance (MT) have a good capacity to minimise the adverse effects of aluminium toxicity an issue on large areas throughout southern Australia.
Mike O’Hare and his late father Phil between them have hosted wheat variety trials for NSW DPI, GRDC, NVT and AGT continually since the 1950’s, a long period of service to Australian wheat growers. The O’Hare’s property is near Beckom in the south west of NSW. The variety name was chosen to honour and acknowledge the family for their contribution to the Australian wheat industry.
Commercial quantities of Beckom should be available through AGT affiliates and local retailers in 2016. (See AGT web site http: //www. agtbreeding.com.au for affiliate contact details).
Further Information
- James Whiteley, Marketing and Production Manager East: 0419 840 589
- Kerrie Gleeson, Marketing and Production Manager North: 0427 958 259
- Russell Eastwood, Wheat Breeder: 0427 716 632
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