AGT head of science and business development Tristan Coram and barley breeder Paul Telfer examine the new Titan AX barley at Roseworthy, South Australia. Photo: AGT

AUSTRALIAN Grain Technologies (AGT) has announced the release of Titan AX, the world’s first herbicide-tolerant barley variety bred as part of the CoAXium production system.

AGT head of science and business development Tristan Coram said the company was proud to bring this technology to Australian growers.

“We are especially happy that Australian barley growers will be the first in the world to take advantage of the benefits of CoAXium barley with Titan AX ,” Dr Coram said.

In May, AGT announced a partnership with Albaugh LLC and Sipcam Australia to launch the CoAXium Barley Production System, involving Aggressor herbicide and tolerant barley varieties.

The system offers growers a new tool for control of tough annual grass weeds including brome grass, barley grass, wild oats, susceptible ryegrass, and ALS (Group 2) resistant weeds.

The system provides more crop rotation freedom due to lack of soil residue, offering an alternative to Clearfield technology.

Aggressor herbicide applied according to the label will not result in residues in barley grain, thus no market access issues have been identified.

AGT testing of this technology, discovered over a decade ago, has demonstrated excellent crop safety and performance across a range of environments.

AGT barley breeder Paul Telfer said Titan AX was agronomically similar to Compass, and was particularly suited to low-to-medium rainfall zones, and Mallee-style environments where early vigour and longer straw were preferred, and lodging was less of an issue.

“However, our data suggests that Titan AX performs consistently well across a range of growing conditions and therefore should be a suitable option for all growers that see value in tolerance to Aggressor herbicide.”

Titan AX is being released as a feed variety, but AGT expects to nominate it for malting evaluation next year.

Titan AX is now available through AGT Affiliates and local retailers for the 2023 season.

Source: AGT