'Goetze' to Replace 'Foote' in Willamette Valley, Oregon

A new variety of soft white winter wheat named "Goetze" will soon replace "Foote", another winter wheat variety in Williamette Valley, Oregon that has become susceptible to stripe rust. Goetze wheat has superior yield potential, disease resistance, short stature and adaptation to western Oregon production conditions. It was named after Norm Goetze, a former Extension agricultural program leader and associate director of the Oregon State University Extension Service.

Goetze wheat took more than 12 years to develop and is best adapted to the Willamette Valley and areas of Oregon where the wheat variety “Gene” is commonly grown. Goetze has less cold tolerance than Stephens or Tubbs, which is more similar to the variety Gene. Goetze requires little or no vernalization to initiate flowering – factors that increase the risk of winter damage when the variety is grown further north and east. The new Goetze wheat variety is also moderately resistant to Septoria leaf blotch, an important disease of the Willamette Valley.

Read the news article at http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2007/Jul07/newwheat.html.