Australia
April 17, 2015
Dan Vater, AGT, inspecting a 2014 seed crop of Hatchet CL Plus wheat.
Wheat growers throughout the lower rainfall areas of South Australia and Victoria now have access to a new AH quality, fast maturing Clearfield® tolerant variety, with the release of Hatchet CL Plus.
Bred by AGT, Hatchet CL Plus (tested as RAC1843) was developed from a cross between popular low rainfall variety Axe, and a Clearfield® tolerance donor. Its maturity is even faster than its parent Axe, which is considered the fastest maturing variety commonly grown by southern Australian farmers.
SA/Vic marketing and production manager Dan Vater sees Hatchet CL Plus as a unique option, set apart from all other available varieties.
“No other variety combines Clearfield® tolerance with very fast maturity. Hatchet CL Plus is quite a bit quicker than benchmark Clearfield® varieties Grenade CL Plus and Kord CL Plus, so it should have a great fit for those farming in shorter season environments and low rainfall situations. Because it is so fast, it really is best suited to later plantings, to help avoid the risk of frost at flowering time”.
As a weed management tool, Hatchet CL Plus’ maturity gives growers the option of delayed sowing which allows the use of a knockdown herbicide on a pre-sowing flush of weeds, while the Clearfield® tolerance trait embedded in the variety allows for an in-crop application of the group B herbicide Intervix® to control problem weeds such as brome grass, barley grass and wild oats if needed.
While sharing the same adaptation profile, AH quality and stable grain size as Axe, Hatchet CL Plus offers advantages over its parent including higher grain yield in low yield potential situations, imidazolinone (Intervix®) herbicide tolerance, CCN resistance, and improved stem rust resistance.
Booleroo Centre farmer Neil Innes grew a pure seed production crop of Hatchet CL Plus in 2014.
“Axe has always performed well in our environment, and I regard Hatchet CL Plus as being the next evolution of Axe. Last year I only sowed the Hatchet CL Plus in mid-June, which is fairly late, but like Axe, it bounced out of the ground. It was pleasing to see that despite the very dry spring we had with only 65mm of in-crop rainfall, it still yielded around 2t/ha”.
“I think Hatchet CL Plus will suit those looking for another weed management tool, or for growers who are just looking for an Axe replacement. For them, the Clearfield® tolerance is just a nice bonus”.
Seed of Hatchet CL Plus is available for the 2015 season now, through AGT Affiliates.
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