Overview

Alum is a hard red spring wheat. Alum performs best in the high rainfall regions (>20" precipitation) of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. Alum has a high level of resistance to stripe rust, Hessian fly resistance, above average test weight, average protein content, and very good yield potential. Alum is intended to provide growers in Eastern Washington and North Idaho an improved hard red spring wheat option on soils with low pH and aluminum toxicity. Leading varieties including Buck Pronto, Bullseye, Expresso, Glee, Jefferson, Kelse, and WB Fuzion are very susceptible to high levels of exchangeable aluminum in the soil. Alum is targeted to areas of Columbia, Spokane, and Walla Walla counties, and neighboring areas of N Idaho, that have issues with aluminum toxicity. Broad adaption, solid yield protection, and good agronomic make Alum a viable hard red spring wheat option for these affected areas. Averaged over all rain-fed WSU Variety Testing Trails in 2012-2013, Alum (53 bu/A) yielded less than Glee (56 bu/A) and Scarlet (54 bu/A), equal to Bullseye, and significantly greater than Buck Pronto, Jefferson, and Kelse. Alum has significantly higher test weight than all comparison varieties except Glee and Bullseye. In 2012 USDA-ARS Western Regional Trials, Alum was the highest yielding entry when averaged across the 9 locations. Alum also performed well in 2012 and 2013 N Idaho variety trails.

Data Sheets