A Midwest-based company has licensed a new, herbicide-resistant winter canola variety developed by retired University of Idaho plant breeder Jack Brown and colleagues.

UI’s Office of Technology Transfer registered the new Chinook winter canola as a federal Plant Protected Variety in 2020 and trademarked G2FlexTM, the herbicide-resistance technology in the new variety.

Seed distributor WinField United obtained an exclusive license to market Chinook seed to farmers, the UI College of Agricultural and Life Sciences said.

The new variety, which will be marketed as CROPLAN CP1022WC, incorporates a genetic trait with resistance to several Group 2 herbicides most commonly used with new wheat varieties.

“This high yielding, extremely winter-hardy variety from the University of Idaho’s breeding program looks to gain a lot of market share in 2021,” said Mick Miller, WinField CROPLAN winter canola product manager in Montana. “The growth potential for acres in the north allows great placement of CP1022WC in Montana, North Dakota, Washington, Idaho and Oregon.”

Pacific Northwest Canola Association Executive Director Karen Sowers told Capital Press that canola acreage is increasing in the region, helped by higher prices, an expanding end-use market and accessible processing facilities. The crop offers weed control and many other benefits in rotation with wheat and other crops.

UI said in a press release that wheat growers increasingly use wheat varieties resistant to herbicides that can control grassy weeds that reduce crop yields. Those same Group 2 herbicides limited the use of canola in crop rotations because residual herbicides in the soil damaged its growth.

Like the new wheats, Chinook winter canola uses an herbicide-resistance trait developed through conventional plant breeding methods and does not rely on genetic engineering, so it is not considered a genetically modified organism, Brown said.

The new variety becomes the first winter canola available to farmers with the herbicide resistance trait, Brown said. He led the UI oilseed breeding program for more than two decades before retiring in 2020.

Other winter canola varieties on the market with herbicide resistance are considered GMOs, he said. That means Chinook, which offers high yields and excellent oil qualities, appeals to an important market niche, he said.

“The UI Chinook oilseed variety will open new doors for wheat farmers needing an herbicide-resistant canola in their crop rotation, since it incorporates G2FlexTM technology,” UI Technology Transfer Director Jeremy Tamsen said. “Without the license agreement, Winfield customers would be unable to purchase this new variety through commercial seed retailers.”