Winter Wheat

From food to feed: The right variety for everyone. From high protein wheat with premium quality to high-starch feed wheat - SAATEN-UNION offers suitable varieties for all types of use and locations.
Today's high and stable yields in winter wheat are to a great extend the consequence of breeding progress. But even the best varieties can only fully exploit their genetic potential if they are grown in the climatic region or location that is suitable for them and if they are optimally managed in terms of plant cultivation.
In order to bring the breeding progress to farmers as quickly as possible, SAATEN-UNION GmbH works together with its shareholders and partners using the most modern and innovative breeding methods and laboratory techniques. Here, however, the company relies not only on the latest breeding methods, but also on a sophisticated internal testing system with locations all over Europe. This is because all potential varieties must prove their performance in the field with all their characteristics in order to be approved by official plant variety offices. Although this is already tested over several years in the official VCU (Value for cultivation and use) trials, SAATEN-UNION's internal tests go even further: Here, questions are examined on varieties not yet introduced to the market, which the official variety office system does not test.
Winter wheat is put through its paces particularly intensively in production technical trials. This is because wheat is regionally limited in its adaptability and reacts strongly to different environmental conditions, which place different demands on the resistance package of the variety. The trials are accompanied by intensive documentation and evaluation throughout the entire growing season and are continuously optimized. These trials provide valuable yield and quality data and indications of the optimal production technique for the respective varieties – the basis for optimal advice and cultivation recommendations.

Winter wheat breeding at SAATEN-UNION is based on a broad foundation: in addition to the breeding programmes of our shareholders Strube, WvB Eckendorf and Nordsaat, which focus on Central Europe, there are other programmes for markets with special requirements. ASUR Plant Breeding and WvB Eckendorf are breeding specifically for the French market. Elsoms Wheat, another breeding cooperation in the group, is developing tailor-made varieties for Great Britain. In addition, there is another cooperation in Russia, the German Seed Alliance, which is developing particularly early and winter-hardy varieties especially for this continental region.

Over the past years SAATEN-UNION and its breeders have achieved several noteworthy milestones: The first wheat variety with officially confirmed higher N-efficiency, first value-tested alternating wheat variety, first German hybrid wheat variety, leading European variety MULAN, outstanding baking quality with GENIUS ("20,000 rolls more"): Furthers famous varieties: Ares, Astron, Kraka, Orestis, Batis, Borenos, Thasos, Hybnos 1, Tommi, MULAN, GENIUS, TOBAK, ELIXER, CHEVIGNON.


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