Furlong

Oat

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'CDC Dancer', 'AC Assiniboia' and 'Ronald'

Summary: 'Furlong' has a shorter flag leaf than the reference varieties. The pubescence of the stem above and below the upper culm node is more dense for 'Furlong' than 'CDC Dancer' and 'Ronald'. 'Furlong' produces a taller plant than 'Ronald'. The lemmas are longer for 'Furlong' than for 'CDC Dancer' and 'Ronald'. 'Furlong' has a heavier thousand kernel weight than the reference varieties and slightly longer kernels than the reference varieties. 'Furlong' has better resistance to crown rust (Puccinia coronata races CR 13, 181, 185, 192, 223, 225) and barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) than 'CDC Dancer'. 'Furlong' is more susceptible to BYDV than 'Ronald'.

Description:

'Furlong' is a hulled spring oat variety. The seedlings have a green coleoptile and short hypocotyls. Juvenile growth habit is erect, with medium tillering capacity and medium pubescence of the lower leaf sheath. The lower leaf blades have very slight pubescence. The leaves at booting stage are medium green with medium glaucosity and there is no pubescence of the leaf margins. Leaf ligules are present with an intermediate flag leaf attitude and weak glaucosity of the sheath. The stem segment immediately above and below the upper culm node has strong pubescence. The culm is medium in thickness and yellowish white in colour at maturity.

The panicle of 'Furlong' is symmetrical in shape, lax in density, medium in size and intermediate in length and width. The branches are medium in length, semi-erect to horizontal in position, and the lower whorl of branches is attached at the first node. The rachis is straight with no secondary rachis node present. The angle between the rachis and dominant side branch is more than 45 degrees. There are a few short length hairs or spines on the lower panicle node. The rachilla has weak pubescence with a second floret which is medium in length and width. At maturity, the rachilla has medium depth grooves. Spikelet separation is by fracture and floret separation is by heterofracture. Spikelet attitude is semi-nodding with an average number of 2 or less florets per spikelet.

The glumes of 'Furlong' are white to yellow in colour, mid-wide and mid-long. The lemma is medium in length with a medium pointed tip and is white to yellow in colour at maturity. The lateral and dorsal surfaces of the lemma are glabrous with no glaucosity at the green stage. Lemma awns are frequent and bent in shape. There is a medium overlap of the lemma on the palea. The length of the palea of 'Furlong' reaches half way up the lemma.

The kernels show mixed fluorescence under ultraviolet lights. The kernels are light brown to dark brown in colour and plump with no basal hairs. The caryopsis is pubescent. The brush hairs are mid-long. There are two grains per spikelet. The scutellum is small to medium in size with a pointed tip.

'Furlong' is resistant to crown rust (Puccinia coronata) races CR13, CR181, CR185, CR192, CR223 and CR225, resistant to black loose smut (Ustilago avenae) races A13, A60 and A617, moderately susceptible to stem rust (Puccinia graminis f.sp. avenae) races NA8, NA16, NA25, NA27, NA28, NA55 but susceptible to NA67, resistant to covered smut (Ustilago kolleri) and moderately resistant to red leaf barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV). 'Furlong' has good lodging resistance, and is sensitive to day length.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Furlong' was developed by a modified pedigree method. The cross is W93069 x AC Assiniboia, where W93069=W86226(Pg 16) x Robert, and W86226=Dumont*4 x 83GH130, and AC Assiniboia=Pc68 x 7*Robert. The cross was made in the fall of 1994. F1 plants were grown in the growth chamber during the winter of 1995. A bulk F2 was grown in the 1995 Rust/Smut nursery at Glenlea, Manitoba. The seed was harvested from these plants, bulked and sized, where the most uniform seed were sent to the winter nursery in New Zealand in 1995-1996. In the winter nursery, F3 panicles were selected from a space planted nursery. Selection for oat crown rust resistance to the presence of Pc38, Pc39, and Pc68 gene combination, and BYDV tolerance was possible in this nursery. 338 F4 head rows were screened in the 1996 Glenlea Rust/Smut nursery. Disease resistant, agronomically desirable rows were selected. F5 rows were grown in the 1996-1997 winter nursery in New Zealand. Concurrently, F5 plants were screened, using known tester races, in the greenhouse at Winnipeg to verify the New Zealand rust readings. Whole oat sub-samples from these lines were tested for hull, protein, and oil percent utilizing NIR technology. Panicles from desirable, disease resistant plants were selected in New Zealand, and rows from those panicles were planted in the 1997 Glenlea F6 Rust/Smut nursery. The F7 plants were screened for crown and stem rust in the 1997-1998 winter greenhouse and for BYDV tolerance in the 1997-1998 New Zealand winter nursery. OT2009 was tested for one year in the 1999 Rust area test, and two years in the Western Cooperative Oat test in 2000-2001. An isolation of 110 panicle plots of three foot rows was grown in Glenlea in 2000. Uniform rows were selected to provide the seed source for breeder seed.

Tests & Trials: The tests and trial for 'Furlong' were conducted in Glenlea, Manitoba in 2001 and 2002, and consisted of randomized complete block design with 4 replications. Plot size was 3.25 square meters.

Comparison tables for 'Furlong' with reference varieties 'CDC Dancer', 'AC Assiniboia' and 'Ronald'

Flag leaf length (mm)

Plant height (cm)

Kernel weight (grams per 1000 kernels)