Writer: Kathleen Davis Phillips, (979) 845-2872, ka-phillips@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Milton McDaniel, (979) 845-8802
VERNON — A new oat variety with excellent resistance to oat crown rust and stem rust, TAMO 397, is now on the market and available to farmers this year, according to Dale Williams, director of the Texas Foundation Seed Service.
“This new variety offers big advantages over other currently available varieties for South Texas producers,” said Dr. Milton McDaniel, one of the variety’s developers and an oat breeder with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at College Station.
The variety’s development was supported in part by the Quaker Oats Company and was a collaborative effort among McDaniel, Mark Lazar of Amarillo, David Worrall of Vernon, David Marshall of Dallas and Lloyd Nelson of Overton.
“TAMO 397 has the best crown rust resistance of any available variety. It also has a near-immune reaction to oat stem rust, and is the only variety having effective crown rust resistance to show any steam rust resistance,” McDaniel said. “Since both crown rust and stem rust frequently are damaging in the area south of the College Station-Austin line, the new variety has performed particularly well in this area.”
McDaniel said the straw strength of TAMO 397 is excellent, and the variety stands very well despite its tall height. Its height is comparable to the Experiment Station’s TAMO 386 and Coronado varieties, but the straw strength of TAMO 397 is superior. However, McDaniel noted, TAMO 397 is not sufficiently winter-hardy to be fall-planted much north of the College Station-Austin area, although it generally has performed well in the Temple, McGregor and Waco area, it is more likely to suffer winterkill than most other available varieties except Coronado.
TAMO 397 is available from Texas Foundation Seed Service and through some South Texas certified seed dealers. For additional information, contact Williams at (940) 552-6226.
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