Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Kate Light says the early-mid maturity hybrid, DG Buller G, will suit most regions.
Australian farming know-how is behind Dyna-Gro Seed’s newest glyphosate-tolerant hybrid canola line, which has been bred specifically to suit local conditions.
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DG Buller G — a Dyna-Gro canola hybrid with Optimum GLY, an advanced herbicide-tolerant trait technology — went on sale in December, after exceeding yield and disease-resistance expectations during production and trials in Australia over the latest season.
Nutrien Ag Solutions and Dyna-Gro senior canola breeder and research and development manager, Kate Light, said the early-mid maturity hybrid would suit most regions, except low-rainfall zones.
Regions with canola yield ranges of 1.5 tonnes per hectare to 4 tonnes/ha are ideal for the new hybrid.
“It’s a very versatile and adaptable variety. If the season shuts down it will finish off for you, but also it will continue on growing if the season is a good one,” she said.
Ms Light led the development of the line following successful local trials, drawing on her knowledge to select Australian-adapted parent material for the hybrid.
Nutrien’s canola breeding program stretches globally, with colleagues in Saskatoon, Canada, undertaking initial generation of the parent lines and hybrid for DG Buller G under Ms Light’s direction.
The Australian-led approach to each stage of the selection process for the parental and hybrid means that Dyna-Gro has been able to ensure adaption to local conditions.
Following selection, the parent seed was sent to southern Chile for increasing under closed tent production during the 2023-24 summer.
“A new canola hybrid like DG Buller G is literally years in the making. One in 2000 different combinations might become commercially viable,” Ms Light said.
“While DG Buller G was developed by Australians, if it wasn’t for our international teammates we wouldn’t be able to complete all the steps required to ensure we have Australian-adapted hybrids available for Australian farmers.
“The results have been exceptional. Yield, disease resistance, maturity, adaptation — we haven’t had anything that’s worried us.”
DG Buller G is a Dyna-Gro canola hybrid with Optimum GLY, an advanced herbicide-tolerant trait technology.
Performance ratings
DG Buller G and the Optiumum GLY herbicide-tolerant canola hybrids (glyphosate-tolerant) provide canola farmers with greater control and improved flexibility around herbicide spray rates and timing.
“You can spray DG Buller G canola, which contains the Optimum GLY herbicide tolerance trait, with glyphosate products labelled for Optimum GLY hybrids in-crop from emergence through to first flower stage. This extends the application window by 10 to 14 days,” Ms Light said.
DG Buller G is expected to rate R for blackleg resistance and has Group H resistance. An official blackleg rating will confirm these expectations once data becomes available.
Independent yield performance data is pending the release of National Variety Trials (NVT) data to in March.
“The internal yield data we have is extremely pleasing and superior to any of Nutrien Ag Solutions’ existing Dyna-Gro glyphosate-tolerant varieties on the market,” Ms Light said.
Frontier Seeds manager David Thomson directed the hybrid seed production process.
Bolstering supply
Ms Light said there had been a resurgence in interest in hybrid breeding and production methods as a result of the rapid expansion of the canola industry in Australia and the resultant pressure to deliver greater volumes of seed to support growth.
After clearing quarantine, the hybrid seed production process for DG Buller G was undertaken by Wayne and Brodie Williams from Griffith, NSW, under the direction of Frontier Seeds manager David Thomson.
This expertise was critical to quality control and maximising the hybrid seed available at the end of season from the limited supply of the parent lines.
“We started the hybrid production with just 32kg of parent seed and we stretched that as far as we could by using a precision planter to achieve near 100 per cent germination and a plant population of 190,000 per hectare,” Mr Thomson said.
The crop was sown five weeks later than normal in late May to ensure the availability of bees for the critical pollination process and to avoid cross-pollination from any commercial canola varieties in the region.
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