AUSTRALIAN cereal breeding company, InterGrain, has launched its latest wheat, RockStar, which is set to hit the ground and perform in 2020 and beyond.

RockStar’s breeder Dr Dan Mullan inspects the new variety at InterGrain’s Inverleigh, Victoria, trial site.(Photo: Louisa Jones Photography)

RockStar will target the mid to late flowering class in Western Australia where it will play off against Magenta and in eastern Australia against LRPB Trojan.

A high yielding wheat that performs across a range of environments, RockStar has recently received Australian Hard (AH) classification in the southern region (SA/Vic) zone and is a potential AH in the Western (WA) and South-East zones (Southern NSW).

InterGrain chief executive officer, Tress Walmsley, said RockStar would be a hit with growers next year in southern wheat growing areas simply because it would give them an opportunity to spread variety risk, while delivering superior yields.

“Smart, profitable wheat growing in 2020 and beyond is all about making sound variety choices to minimise risk and maximise returns and this InterGrain mindset is hard wired into RockStar,” Ms Walmsley said.

“We have a proven track record in breeding and releasing exceptionally high yielding wheats, including Vixen, Devil and new generation Clearfield Plus wheats Chief CL Plus and Sheriff CL Plus. RockStar raises the bar again for its flowering class.”.

Ms Walmsley said RockStar offered an effective disease resistance package, including good yellow spot, powdery mildew and stripe rust resistance and very good stem rust resistance.

Trialled as IGW4341, it is moderate in height and an excellent varietal alternative to Magenta in Western Australia and LRPB Trojan in eastern Australia.

RockStar has good grain size and test weight, comparable to LRPB Trojan. It also has a moderate tillering capacity and a medium coleoptile.

InterGrain wheat breeder Dan Mullan, said growers would welcome RockStar as a mid to late flowering variety to diversify their wheat variety planting portfolio and grasp earlier sowing opportunities.

“RockStar is an exceptionally high yielding variety which has consistently performed across a wide range of environments and sowing dates within the InterGrain and NVT trial programs, highlighting very good yield stability,” he said.

“While RockStar has a medium coleoptile and effective tillering capacity and will hold its own in terms of weed competition, this also means growers should carefully consider appropriate seeding rates to achieve desired plant densities.”

Dr Mullan said RockStar offered a robust disease package, including good powdery mildew (Rp), yellow spot (MRMSp), stem (MRp) and stripe rust (MRMSp) resistance.

RockStar is available for planting in 2020 from Seedclub members and/or resellers.

Source: InterGrain

For more information about RockStar, visit: https://www.intergrain.com/variety/RockStar/ or contact InterGrain Marketing Manager Ashleigh Brooks [email protected] or 0476 020451.