Technical Bulletin: Pintail

Pintail is higher yielding than CDC Falcon and has similar yields to Ptarmigan. It has high levels of winter survival, as its genetic background contains well adapted, winter hardy Canadian winter wheat varieties such as NORSTAR and NORWIN. Pintail also has good resistance to stripe rust and good lodging resistance.

Strengths

• High grain yield - 104% of the general purpose checks over 3 years of testing.
• Particularly well adapted to the Parkland region (Area 2).
• Very good winter hardiness.
• Resistant to stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis).
• Moderate height.
• Good lodging resistance.
• Awnless spike which lends itself to improved silage palatability.

• Moderate resistance to leaf spots and powdery mildew.
• Intermediate resistance to stem and leaf rust (Puccinia graminis and P. triticina).
• Test weight within the range of the general purpose checks.

• Susceptible to Fusarium Head Blight (Fusarium graminearum).
• Susceptible to common bunt (Tilletia tritici and T. laevis) equal to general purpose checks.

Table 1. Grain yield (t/ha) by area* in the Western Winter Wheat Cooperative Registration Trial, 2008 – 2010.
	2 year mean yield (t/ha)						3 year mean yield (t/ha)
Entry	Area 1	Area 2	Area 3	Area 4	Mean†		Area 1	Area 2	Area 3	Area 4	Mean†
Pintail	5.97	5.5	4.3	6.28	5.78		6.22	5.35	4.3	6.2	5.88
General Purpose check
CDC Harrier	5.98	5.11	4.53	6.24	5.71		6.13	5.03	4.53	6.18	5.79
CDC Falcon	5.81	4.98	3.62	5.7	5.34		6.09	4.97	3.62	5.75	5.56
CDC Ptarmigan	6.53	4.95	3.96	6.44	5.86		-	-	-	-	-
Red Winter check
CDC Osprey	5.83	5.31	4.28	6.02	5.61		5.95	5.08	4.28	5.9	5.63
AC Bellatrix	5.39	5.39	4.17	5.87	5.42		5.65	5.21	4.17	5.87	5.51
Radiant	5.75	4.89	3.85	5.42	5.24		6.14	4.87	3.85	5.5	5.5
CDC Buteo	5.58	5.04	4.18	5.9	5.41		-	-	-	-	-
CWGP check Mean	6.1	5.01	4.04	6.13	5.64		6.11	5	4.08	5.97	5.68
CWRW check Mean	5.64	5.16	4.12	5.8	5.42		5.91	5.05	4.1	5.76	5.55
LSD	0.75	0.83	0.53	0.56	0.37		0.51	0.6	0.51	0.49	0.29
Location - years	6	4	5	6	18		10	5	2	8	25
*Area 1 – Southern Alberta, including Lethbridge irrigated and dry, Warner, and Vauxhall. Area 2 – Parkland sites, including Lacombe, Olds, and Beaverlodge. Area 3 – Semi-arid prairie sites, including Swift Current. Area 4 – Rust area sites, including Saskatoon, Indian Head, Brandon and Carman. †All means are weighted by the number of location-years.

Table 2.  Seed characteristics of Pintail compared to check cultivars in the Western Winter Wheat Cooperation Registration Trial (2008 – 2010).
	Test Weight (kg/hl)			Seed Weight (mg)			Grain Protein (%)
Entry	2 Yr. Mean	3 Yr. Mean		2 Yr. Mean	3 Yr. Mean		2 Yr. Mean	3 Yr. Mean
Pintail	75.8	76.2		29.5	29.3		10.4	10.5
General Purpose check
CDC Harrier	76.2	76.6		32.5	32.2		10.7	10.8
CDC Falcon	77.5	78.1		31	30.7		11.5	11.4
CDC Ptarmigan	74.9	-		35.1	-		9.9	-
Red Winter check
CDC Osprey	77.3	77.9		31.6	31.2		11.6	11.7
AC Bellatrix	78.6	79		35.6	35.4		12.2	12.4
Radiant	78.2	78.6		35.2	35.2		11.7	11.8
CDC Buteo	79.6	-		33.6	-		11.8	-
CWGP check Mean	76.2	77.3		32.9	31.4		10.7	11.1
CWRW check Mean	78.4	78.5		34	33.9		11.8	12
LSD	0.5	0.5		1	0.9		0.3	0.4
Location - years	19	26		19	26		17	24
All means are weighted by the number of location-years.

Table 3.  Agronomic characteristics in the Western Winter Wheat Cooperative Registration Trial, 2008 – 2010.
	Survival (%)			Maturity (d)			Height (cm)			Lodging (1-9)
Entry	2 Yr. Mean	3 Yr. Mean		2 Yr. Mean	3 Yr. Mean		2 Yr. Mean	3 Yr. Mean		2 Yr. Mean	3 Yr. Mean
Pintail	87	90		220.2	220.1		91	90		3	3.2
General Purpose check
CDC Harrier	84	87		219.9	219.4		99	97		2.9	3.2
CDC Falcon	80	84		216.7	216.1		77	77		2.2	2.6
CDC Ptarmigan	77	-		219.4	-		98	-		3.2	-
Red Winter check
CDC Osprey	82	85		218.2	217.5		97	96		3.2	3.6
AC Bellatrix	79	84		220.4	219.8		96	95		2.24.0	4.2
Radiant	80	83		221.8	221.1		94	92		3.32.2	2.4
CDC Buteo	82	-		219.5	-		95	-		3.3	-
CWGP check Mean	80	86		218.7	217.7		91	87		2.8	2.9
CWRW check Mean	81	84		220	219.5		95	94		3.2	3.4
LSD	6	5		1.2	1.1		2	2		0.6	0.6
Location - years	15	20		14	18		17	23		10	13
Lodging score 1-9, 9 being up to 100%.