New wheat variety named after K-State coach Bill Snyder

Ryan Newton
·2 min read
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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Kansas farmers will have two new wheat varieties to plant this fall.

One is named after legendary K-State football coach Bill Snyder and is called KS Bill Snyder. Another is named KS Mako.

The Kansas Wheat Alliance licensed the two varieties made by the Kansas State University wheat breeding program. KS Bill Snyder was the result of the long-running breeding program at the K-State Agricultural Research Center at Hays, led by Dr. Guorong Zhang, Kansas State University wheat breeder, and his team. KS Mako is out of the K-State Manhattan breeding program and was developed by K-State wheat breeder Dr. Allan Fritz.

The two varieties of wheat are hard red winter with high yields. Both have a drought tolerance.

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Here are more details about the two wheat types:

KS Bill Snyder is a medium-maturity and medium-short height variety that was #1 in the Southern Regional Performance Nursery (SPRN) in 2022. KS Bill Snyder has a solid disease package with good to intermediate resistance of stripe, leaf and stem rust, along with moderate resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus (Wsm2 gene) and intermediate resistance to Triticum mosaic virus. It is also resistant to soilborne mosaic virus, allowing it to move into central Kansas, where it has shown decent yield potential. KS Bill Snyder, along with its very high yield potential, also has good drought tolerance, high tillering capacity, excellent straw strength and good quality.

KS Mako has very good quality and above-average protein at a given yield level. It carries the Wsm2 gene, giving it some of the best wheat streak mosaic virus resistance for a central Kansas adapted wheat variety. KS Mako is intermediate to moderately susceptible to leaf and stripe rust and susceptible to FHB. It will be a solid companion variety to KS Providence, with quality that should get it on preferred variety lists.

Coach Snyder says he is humbled to be honored with a wheat variety.

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