Hon Ken Baston MLC — New wheat set to enhance WA grains profitability

A new high-performing wheat variety was launched today by Agriculture and Food Minister Ken Baston.

Mr Baston said Impress CL Plus was set to be widely adopted by Western Australian wheat growers, particularly in the northern Wheatbelt.

“Impress CL Plus is an early to mid-maturing Australian Premium White variety that has demonstrated excellent yields. It comes with a robust disease package, with good resistance to yellow spot,” he said.

“This variety, based on the well-known variety Wyalkatchem and being a two gene imidazolinone tolerant wheat, provides growers with a broader suite of weed control options.”

The new variety is the first Clearfield® Plus wheat to be released by InterGrain since it was formed in 2007.

The Department of Agriculture and Food is the major shareholder in the plant breeding company, alongside the Grains Research and Development Corporation, and Monsanto.

The Minister said Impress CL Plus had already been bulked up and seed was available for purchase for the 2015 season.

“The Government is committed to supporting initiatives like this, to improve the productivity and long-term profitability of the Western Australian grains industry,” he said.

“The development of new varieties provides a major advancement, which will have far reaching benefits to growers, industry and the State’s economy.”

More detail on the new variety will be available at the 2015 WA Agribusiness Crop Updates at Crown Perth on February 24-25, hosted by the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Grains Research and Development Corporation.