Australia: Australian Grain Technologies releases two new barley varieties

Australian Grain Technologies has announced the release of two new barley varieties and five new wheat varieties in time for the 2025-26 season, Grain Central reported on October 21.

“This spring we have released our very first Clearfield barley variety, called Bigfoot CL, and are proud to launch our first udon noodle-quality wheat variety called Rottnest,” AGT head of variety support and marketing Dan Vater said.

“Bigfoot CL is closely related to the varieties that offer good early vigour such as Compass and Commodus CL; however, Bigfoot CL has reduced overall height and we have observed less lodging than other Compass-style varieties”.

“Bigfoot CL has impressed with its yield potential, particularly in low to medium-rainfall environments, and has very good physical grain quality.”

AGT is also releasing its second CoAXium barley, PegasusAX.

“PegasusAX is a great complement to its stablemate Titan AX, being closely related to the Hindmarsh-style varieties like LaTrobe and Spartacus CL, and therefore offering a shorter, more compact plant type than Titan AX, and less prone to lodging.

“The CoAXium system is starting to gain traction out there with growers who are looking for another option for controlling grass weeds in crop.”

“By using Aggressor herbicide rather than products suited to the Clearfield system, growers don’t have to worry about residue carryover in the soil.”

AGT started breeding varieties suited to udon noodle production in 2018 in a program based at Northam in Western Australia, where udon varieties make up around 1o percent of the state’s total wheat crop.

“Rottnest is our first variety out of this dedicated breeding program, offering exceptional yields, outclassing market leader Ninja by almost 8pc in AGT trials”.

Shotgun has joined AGT’s offering of milling-wheat varieties and, being derived from Scepter, it may be viewed as its replacement.

“Shotgun has been a standout performer in our breeding program, and builds upon a famous lineage of varieties: Wyalkatchem; Mace, and Scepter.

“Shotgun is very well suited to WA, South Australia, Victoria and into southern New South Wales, and has set a new yield benchmark across the majority of regions within those states.

“We see Shotgun as an excellent alternative to not only Scepter, but Calibre, Vixen, Rockstar, Matador and Ballista, among other main-season wheat varieties”.

In southern NSW, Beckom wheat has been a main-season staple since its release in 2015, offering a robust disease-resistance package, wide adaptation across hostile soils, and consistently high yields.

Also added to the AGT wheat offering is Ironbark, which builds upon the success of its parent, Beckom.

“Ironbark has inherited several of the major traits that have made Beckom such a popular variety, including a compact plant canopy, and a similar maturity, and it carries aluminium and boron-tolerance genes.

“However, Ironbark offers a number of improvements over Beckom, including higher yields, larger grain size, and improved stripe and leaf-rust resistance.”

Suited to the high-rainfall zones of Victoria is the new wheat variety, Avoca, which Mr Vater said has been released in recognition of the growing need for slower-maturing milling-wheat varieties suited to higher-rainfall environments.

It offers growers more marketing flexibility at harvest relative to the standard red or feed-grained wheat varieties grown in areas like Victoria’s Western District.

“Avoca is a slow-maturing spring wheat with an AH quality classification, offering high yield potential in high-rainfall or longer-season situations, with an excellent disease-resistance package, which is critical in its target environments.”

Offered as direct replacement for popular dual-purpose Illabo winter wheat is Brighton, which offers mixed farmers a reliable variety to sow early, and to help fill the autumn feed gap if needed.

“Brighton is poised to offer even more productivity than Illabo, with improvements in yield and physical grain quality.

“Brighton should find a home throughout southern NSW where Illabo has been widely grown, and where it has an APH quality classification.

“We have also seen Illabo used as an early sowing option in WA, and can see a fit for Brighton there too as an AH-quality variety.”

Seed of new AGT varieties is now available through the AGT Affiliate network and local retailers.

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