- New wheat variety developed by InterGrain set to be a star performer.
- McGowan Government’s investment in WA cereal breeder supporting chart-topping success.
A new high yielding wheat is set to become a headline act in 2020, with today’s Western Australian launch of the newly classified Australian Hard variety, RockStar.
RockStar is set to be a hit with growers, providing a robust, flexible variety option to reduce the impact of seasonal variability on spring crops and generate profitable yields.
The new release was produced by Western Australian cereal breeding company, InterGrain, which is co-owned by the State Government and the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
WA’s talented grains scientists are recognised as industry leaders in research, development and innovation, supported by the McGowan Government’s investments in state-of-the-art facilities, field trials and strong relationships with industry, academia and customers.
Asian customers are big fans of Australian Hard wheat, which is used as a blend in baked products and noodles, and can attract a premium, depending on market and seasonal conditions.
Comments attributed to Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
“RockStar has the potential to become a major part of cropping rotations in WA, providing a high yielding solution to managing spring variability, with earlier sowing opportunities and mid-late flowering characteristics.
“This variety has been developed from WA’s biggest selling wheat variety, Mace, and could provide a real boost to growers’ crop productivity and profitability.
“RockStar is backed by InterGrain’s out-there marketing strategy, where the variety is presented as a hard rock guitarist pitching the tagline ‘the AH wheat that rocks ’til late’ – riffing on its Australian Hard classification and its late season flowering.
“InterGrain is emerging as a rising star in the Australian plant breeding industry, establishing a strong reputation as a leading supplier of high performance wheat and barley varieties for all Australian environments.
“The McGowan Government put a halt to the previous government’s plan to sell off InterGrain to Eastern States interests – and that decision is paying off today, alongside our significant investment in grains research and development to keep WA on the world stage as a premium grain supplier.”
Source: https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2019/10/New-wheat-variety-to-rock-the-grainbelt.aspx
