CANTERRA SEEDS recently announced that much anticipated launch of AC™ Emerson will occur in the fall of 2014, when Certified seed supplies are sufficient for a broad-scale introduction. The CWRW milling wheat has quickly gained notoriety as the first wheat of any class to be rated resistant to fusarium head blight (FHB), and is expected to be a game changer product for areas with high FHB pressure.

Despite its ‘game changer’ label, it is imperative that growers understand that AC™ Emerson’s R rating does not equal immunity to FHB. If disease pressure is high, yield loss due to FHB can still occur.

To demonstrate this point, please look to the chart below.

AC™ Emerson showed a consistent improved reaction to FHB in the co-operative registration trials, hence the R rating, but note that the variety did show some level of FHB infection each year.

FHB Reaction of Emerson, Western Winter Wheat Co-operative Registration TrialsVariety

Visual Rating Index = % incidence x % severity / 100, Response: R = Resistant, MR = Moderately Resistant, MS = Moderately Susceptible, S = Susceptible

It is still very important to use more than one management practice to control against FHB: crop rotation, fungicide, tillage and variety selection will all help to mitigate the effects of the disease.

Harvest results for AC™ Emerson have been very good this year, and seed growers have commented on the excellent quality and high yields. Setting the launch date for 2014 will allow us to significantly ramp up seed supplies. We don’t want to disappoint anyone because they can’t access seed in the launch year!