Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8460 / SEEDWORLD.COM JANUARY 2017 IT SEEMS HYBRID wheat’s time has come. “It’s the new step-change in technology, and if there’s a company to do it first, it’s Syngenta, due to our germplasm pool and the knowledge we have,” says Darcy Pawlik, cereal product manager for Syngenta in North America. “It’s all about making wheat competi- tive with other crops including corn, soybeans and canola. We’ve done a lot of homework, and there’s a great story to tell with hybrid wheat.” Pawlik spoke at a recent Syngenta media summit in North Carolina about hybrid wheat, where Syngenta staff suggested the company will have the product available and on the market for growers in the next several years. It’s that kind of enthusiasm that those in the wheat industry eagerly anticipating a new era in one of the world’s most planted cereal crops. As corn and soy- beans have overtaken wheat in terms of acres in the United States, the industry is thinking of ways to bring wheat back as a major player and give growers the benefits it believes will come with that change. “As time evolves, my expectation is you’ll see the wheat hybrids, with continued investment, become more common and more valuable,” says Stephen Baenziger, professor in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He agrees the 10-year time frame to seeing hybrid wheat hit the market is about right. Baenziger is part of a research program working toward the development of hybrid wheat varieties. Also involved is Amir Ibrahim, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research wheat breeder. Ibrahim has been working on hybrid wheat since 2013, but wheat breeders first began looking at hybridization in wheat more than 50 years ago in the early 1960s. “The price for wheat was so low, and the cost for the hybrid seed was too high at the time. Today we have a better handle on the genes and better prices Experts estimate hybrid wheat will be on the market within 10 years. What can the seed industry and farmers expect? Marc Zienkiewicz Stephen Baenziger is a professor in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and is working on hybrid wheat research. “As time evolves, my expectation is you’ll see the wheat hybrids, with continued investment, become more common and more valuable.” — Stephen Baenziger NEXT-LEVEL WHEAT