Heritage Wheat Varieties

Heritage wheat in Canada

Red Fife wheat was the first named variety of wheat developed in Canada. Plant breeders continue to use heritage wheat varieties to develop new varieties. Farmers are also growing heritage wheat varieties as part of the 100 Mile Diet and 'eat local' and Slow Food movements.

Canadian heritage wheat varieties

Canadian Heritage Wheats with year recognized formally; parentage, where developed and remarks
* Red Fife, 1885, seed sent to Mr. David Fife in Peterborough, taken from a ship in the Glasgow port originating from Danzig. A friend of his sent him seed from Glasgow in 1842. Good yielder, high quality; excellent milling wheat. Grown across Canada from 1860-1900. The industry standard wheat.
* Ladoga, 1888, a land race from Russia. Early, parent of Preston and Stanley.
* Hard Red Calcutta,1890, a land race from India. Parent of Marquis, never grown commercially in Canada.
* Stanley, 1895, Ladoga x Red Fife, developed by Agriculture Canada, Ottawa. Sib of Preston, never widely grown.
* Preston, 1895, Ladoga x Red Fife, developed by Agriculture Canada, Ottawa. Parent of Garnet.
* Bishop. 1904.Bred by Charles Saunders at the Central Exp. Farm, Ottawa. Ladoga x Gehun.
* Marquis, 1910, Red Fife x Hard Red Calcutta, developed by Agriculture Canada, Ottawa. William Saunders made the cross at Agassiz in 1892. Dr. Charles Saunders selected at Ottawa, using chewing test for quality.
* Kitchener, 1911. Head selections from Marquis. Agriculture Canada. Seager Wheeler made selections, but it was never as good as Marquis.
* Prelude, 1913, Downey Gehun x Fraser, Agriculture Canada. Very early, low yielding.
* Ruby, 1920, Downy Riga x Red Fife. Ag. Canada. 7-10 days earlier than Marquis, shatters.
* Garnet, 1925. Preston x Riga. Ag. Canada. Early, matures under cool conditions.
* Red Bobs 222, 1926. Selected from Early Triumph, which was selected from Australian variety Bobs. University of Alberta. Early, rust susceptible, was grown mainly in Alberta.
* Reward, 1928. Marquis x Prelude. Agriculture Canada. Early, good quality.
* Early Red Fife, 1932. Marquis x Kanred. University of Alberta. 3 days earlier than Red Fife.
* Canus, 1935. Marquis x Kanred. University of Alberta. Root rot and smut resistant.
* Thatcher, 1935. Marquillo x (marquis x Kanred) Marquillo=Marquis x lumillo (Durum). University of Manitoba. First of series of rust resistant varieties. Widely adapted, good quality. 70% of Canadian wheat acreage in 1953.
* Rescue, 1946. Apex x S-615 (solid stem type from Portugal via North America). C.D.A. Ottawa. Solid stem for sawfly resistance.
* Saunders, 1947. (Hope x Reward) x Thatcher. Agriculture Canada. Released early on basis of extensive testing in Peace River area.
* Chinook, 1952. S-615 x Thatcher. Ag. Canada. Resistant to sawfly.
* Selkirk, 1953. (McMurachy x Exchange) x Redman 3. Agriculture Canada. Resistant to stem rust 15B.
* Canthatch, 1959. Kenya Farmer x Thatcher. Agriculture Canada. Thatcher type resistant to stem rust races 15B, 11.
* Cypress, 1962. Rescue x Chinook (Chinook S-615 x Thatcher). Agriculture Canada. Sold stem sawfly resistant.
* Park, 1963. (Mida x Cadet) x Thatcher. Agriculture Canada. Early, better seed quality than Saunders.
* Manitou, 1965. ((Frontana x Thatcher) x (Kenya Farmer x Thatchers) x Red Egyptian x Thatcher). Agriculture Canada. More rust resistance.
* Lemhi 62, 1968. Federation x Cicklon. USDA. Soft white spring.
* Neepawa, 1969. Similar to Manitou. Agriculture Canada. Earlier and higher yielding than Thatcher.
* Pictic 62, 1969. Yaktana 54 x (Norin 10 x Brever) Mexico. Mexico. First utility wheat licensed in Canada.
* Glenlea, 1972. Manitou x R1. Agriculture Canada. Similar to Manitou in resistance and yield.
* Napayo, 1972. Manitou x R1. Agriculture Canada. Similar to Manitou.
* Springfield, 1972. Mostly Mexico. Idaho. A soft white strong straw type for irrigated areas.
* Canuck, 1974. Canthatch x Mida x Cadet x Rescue. Agriculture Canada. Replacement for Cypress (sawfly resistant)
* Sinton, 1975. Thatcher x Lee x Kenya Farmer. Agriculture Canada. Equal to Neepawa in yield.
* Norquay. (Lerma Rojo x Sonora 64) x Justin. University of Manitoba. Utility type.