PLANT breeder BASF, already well known in the Australian breeding sector for its canola lines, has officially named its first Aussie wheat variety.
BASF and its commercial partner Seednet announced this week that growers will have access to the new variety, Ascot, as of next year.
It was developed at BASF's wheat and oilseed breeding centre at Longerenong, near Horsham in Victoria.
The milling wheat is currently undergoing quality classification.
At present it has APW classification but breeders are hopeful that with further testing that may even push into the Australian Hard (AH) bracket.
It is designed for growing in high rainfall zones (HRZs).
Trials were conducted by Australian Grain and Forage (AGF) Seeds at Smeaton in Victoria's Central Highlands region and officials expect the variety will do well in other similar cold, wet environments, such as NSW's southern slopes and South Australia's south-eastern region.
Yields for the variety were excellent in trials and BASF and Seednet are hopeful of good uptake.
Seednet national manager Simon Crane said the variety had showed best potential in long season or irrigated scenarios.
"It is certainly capable of yielding really well in the right environment," Mr Crane said.
BASF is planning for Ascot to be just the first of many lines to come out of its Longerenong facility.
Rob Hall, seeds and traits business head Asia Pacific, BASF said several new lines would hit the market in coming years.
"We look forward to producing a range of exciting wheat varieties in the next few years," Mr Hall said.
BASF is already well established as an Australian breeder of canola seed, with several ground-breaking hybrid varieties with innovative traits such as PodGuard and TruFlex under the InVigor brand.