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a Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences Dep., Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA 24061
b Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Warsaw, VA 22572
c USDA-ARS National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility, Aberdeen, ID 83210
d USDA-ARS Soft Wheat Quality Lab, Wooster, OH 44691
e USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Lab, St. Paul, MN 55108
f USDA-ARS, Dep. of Entomology, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, IN 47907
g USDA-ARS, Plant Science Research Unit, Raleigh, NC 27695
* Corresponding author (cgriffey{at}vt.edu)
‘McCormick’ (Reg. no. CV-959, PI 632691) is a soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) developed and released May 2002 by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. McCormick wheat was named in tribute of Robert Hall of Walnut Grove in Rockbridge County, VA, and his sons, including Cyrus Hall McCormick, William Sanderson McCormick, and Leander James McCormick. Their inventing, perfecting, manufacturing, and marketing of the mechanical grain reaper ushered in the era of modern agriculture and wrought one of the greatest advancements in agricultural history. McCormick wheat is broadly adapted and has performed well over most of the soft red winter wheat production region. In addition to high grain yield and volume weight, McCormick provides the wheat industry with a good pastry-quality cultivar that has resistance to most disease and insect pests prevalent in the region.
McCormick was derived from the cross VA92-51-39/AL870365. The parentage of VA92-51-39 is IN71761A4-31-5-48//VA71-54-147 (CItr 17449)/‘McNair 1813’ (CItr 15289). Wheat line IN71761A4-31-5-48 was developed by Purdue University and has the pedigree ‘Benhur’ (CItr 14054)/3/‘Arthur’ (CItr 14425)/‘Knox’ (CItr12798) type line/4/‘Beau’ (CItr17420)* 2/3/Arthur*2//‘Riley’ (CItr 13702)/‘Bulgaria 88’ (PI 94407). The Knox type line has gene H5 for Hessian fly [Mayetiola destructor (Say)] resistance. The parental line AL870365 was derived from the cross ‘Coker 747’ (CItr 17923)*2/‘Amigo’ (PI 578213) by the Coker Breeding Program now a part of Syngenta and was selected as a parent from the 1990–1991 USDA-ARS Uniform Eastern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nursery. McCormick possesses the 1AL.1RS translocation derived from AL870365, which inherited it from Amigo (Sebesta et al., 1995). The cross from which McCormick originated was made in spring 1992, and the F1 generation was grown in the field at Warsaw, VA, as a single 1.2-m headrow in 1993 to produce F2 seed. The population was advanced from the F2 to F4 generation using a modified bulk breeding method. Wheat spikes were selected from the population in each segregating generation (F2–F3) on the basis of disease resistance, early maturity, short straw, and desirable head shape and size. Selected spikes were threshed in bulk, and the seed was planted in a 20.8-m2 block in the fall of each year. Spikes selected from the F4 bulk were threshed individually and planted in separate 1.2-m headrows at Warsaw, VA. McCormick was derived as a bulk of one of these F5:6 headrows selected in 1997 on the basis of earliness of head emergence, short plant height, and resistance to powdery mildew [caused by Erisyphe graminis DC. f. sp. tritici Ém. Marchal; syn. Blumeria graminis (DC) E.O. Speer] and leaf rust (caused by Puccinia triticina Eriks.). Before its release, McCormick was evaluated as VA98W-591 in Virginia's official variety trials and throughout the soft red winter wheat region in the USDA-ARS Uniform Southern and Uniform Eastern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nurseries in 2001 and 2002.
Coleoptiles of McCormick are red. Juvenile plants exhibit a prostrate growth habit. Plant color at boot stage is green and a waxy bloom is present on the stem and flag leaf sheath. Plants grown in greenhouse have yellow anther color, while those grown under field conditions often have reddish-purple anther color. Straw color is reddish purple at physiological maturity. Spikes are tapering, middense, and awnleted. Glumes are short and midwide, and have rounded shoulders with acute beaks. Kernels are red, soft, and ovate with a narrow and shallow crease, rounded cheeks, and a short non-collared brush. The phenol reaction is brown.
Head emergence of McCormick is 1 to 3 d later than ‘AGS 2000’ and 1 to 2 d earlier than ‘Roane’. Average plant height of McCormick (79 cm) is similar to that of ‘Coker 9835’ and 5–8 cm shorter than AGS 2000. On the basis of Belgian lodging (Szoke et al., 1979) scale (0.2–10), average straw strength of McCormick is good (0.9) and better than that of ‘Coker 9663’ (2.2). On the basis of data (9 yr-locations) from 2001 and 2002 Uniform Eastern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nurseries, average winter survival of McCormick (73%) is similar to that of ‘AgriPro Foster’ (72%) and Roane (72%).
In Virginia's State Variety Trials conducted under a conventional tillage regime from 2000 through 2002 (15–18 yr-locations), average grain yield of McCormick (5690 kg ha–1) was similar (P 
0.05) to those of the highest yielding commercial cultivars Pioneer Brand 26R24, Sisson, Tribute, and USG 3209. In Virginia's No-till Variety Trial, conducted at Warsaw, VA, to evaluate performance of wheat genotypes drilled into shredded maize stubble, McCormick had a 3-yr average grain yield (6335 kg ha–1) similar (P 0.05) to those of the top-yielding cultivars Pioneer Brand 26R24, Sisson, SS 520, and Tribute. McCormick has high grain volume weight (768 kg m–3), which is similar to that of Tribute (772 kg m–3) and significantly (P 
0.05) higher than those of Pioneer Brand 26R24, Sisson, SS 520, and USG 3209 (737–746 kg m–3).
McCormick was evaluated for 2 yr (20–22 locations per year) in the Uniform Southern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nursery. McCormick (5125 kg ha–1) ranked first among 43 entries for grain yield in the 2001 nursery compared with the highest yielding check cultivar AGS 2000 (4905 kg ha–1) which ranked fourth. In the 2002 nursery, McCormick (4145 kg ha–1) ranked third among 40 entries for grain yield compared with AGS 2000 (4085 kg ha–1) which ranked fourth. McCormick ranked sixth for grain volume weight (761 kg m–3) in 2001 and fifth (750 kg m–3) in 2002. During the same period, McCormick was evaluated (19–24 locations per year) in the Uniform Eastern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nursery. McCormick (5595 kg ha–1) ranked second among 44 entries for grain yield in 2001 compared with the highest yielding check cultivar Roane (5570 kg ha–1) which ranked third. In the 2002 nursery, McCormick (5155 kg ha–1) ranked seventh among 44 entries for grain yield compared with Roane (4930 kg ha–1) which ranked 16th. McCormick ranked fifth for grain volume weight (773 kg m–3) in 2001 and third (765 kg m–3) in 2002.
McCormick has been evaluated for reaction (0 = no visible symptoms to 9 = severe infection) to most disease and insect pests prevalent in the soft red winter wheat production regions in the 2001 and 2002 Uniform Southern and Uniform Eastern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nurseries. McCormick is resistant (score = 0.4, n = 28 environments) to powdery mildew. McCormick possesses the Pm17 gene from Amigo in addition to other non-identified genes on the basis of seedling tests conducted in 2001 by USDA-ARS Plant Science Research Unit in Raleigh, NC, in which McCormick expressed resistance to 24 of 30 isolates of Erisyphe graminis DC. f. sp. tritici. Reaction of McCormick to leaf rust has varied from resistant (score = 0) to moderately susceptible (score = 6) with an average score of 1.3 over 37 environments. McCormick is resistant (score = 0.5) to stem rust (cause by Puccinia graminis Pers.:Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. & E. Henn.). Assessments of seedling reaction of McCormick to differential races of Puccinia triticina and Puccinia graminis, conducted by the USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory in St. Paul, MN, indicate that McCormick possesses gene Lr24 conferring resistance to leaf rust and genes Sr6, Sr17, and Sr24 conferring resistance to stem rust. McCormick has been resistant (score = 1.1, n = 8) to predominant races of Puccinia striiformis Westend., prevalent in the Mississippi Delta and Great Plains regions, but is susceptible (score = 8) to stripe rust in the Pacific Northwest. McCormick is resistant to Wheat soil borne mosaic virus (score = 1.7, n = 6) and Wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (score = 1.6, n = 4). It is moderately resistant (score = 3.7, n = 14) to Barley yellow dwarf virus. McCormick is moderately resistant to leaf blotch caused by Septoria tritici Roberge in Desmaz. (score = 2.5, n = 15) and glume blotch caused by Stagonospora nodorum (Berk.) Castellani & E.G. Germano (score = 3.4, n = 5). It is moderately susceptible (score = 5.5, n = 2) to tan spot caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Died.) Drechs. McCormick is moderately resistant to Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe on the basis of disease assessments made in the 2001 Uniform Southern and Uniform Northern Soft Red Winter Wheat FHB Screening Nurseries at 13 locations. In the Uniform Southern FHB Nursery, FHB Index (1–100), Scabby Seed (%), and Deoxynivalenol (DON, in micrograms per gram) values for McCormick (12, 23%, and 6.0 µg g–1) were similar to those of the resistant check cultivar Ernie (7, 18%, 6.6 µg g–1). In the Northern Uniform Scab Nursery, McCormick (17, 9.7%, and 7.4 µg g–1) and Ernie (19, 17%, 7.9 µg g–1) also had similar values for these three FHB assessment parameters. Seedlings of McCormick are susceptible to Hessian fly biotypes GP, B, C, D, E, and L on the basis of tests conducted in a growth chamber by USDA-ARS at West Lafayette, IN.
On the basis of Allis-Chalmers milling and quality evaluations conducted in 2002 by the USDA-ARS Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory in Wooster, OH, milling and baking quality of McCormick is most similar to that of Sisson. Grain of McCormick had values of 775 g kg–1 for straight grade flour yield, 8.9% for endosperm separation index, 59% for alkaline water retention capacity, 30.3% for break flour recovery, and 17.8 cm for cookie spread diameter. In comparison, grain of Sisson had values of 777 g kg–1 for straight grade flour yield, 9.9% for endosperm separation index, 58.1% for alkaline water retention capacity, 29.7% for break flour recovery, and 17.8 cm for cookie spread diameter. Flour protein concentration of McCormick (8.29%) is higher than that of Sisson (7.9%), and on the basis of Lactic Acid Retention Capacity, glutenin strength of McCormick (120%) is stronger than that of Sisson (94%). Milling and baking quality of McCormick also was evaluated in tests coordinated by the Wheat Quality Council in 2001.
Initial Breeder seed of McCormick was developed in 2000 via removal of visual variants from a 0.05-ha F8 purification block and provided to the Foundation Seed Farm of Virginia Crop Improvement Association (VCIA). In fall 2001 grain from 136 F9 headrows, selected on the basis of homogeneity and trueness of type and harvested individually, was planted in 10.6 m2 plots. Grain from 97 of these plots was harvested in bulk to form a purer source of McCormick Breeder seed and was provided to the VCIA Foundation Seed Farm during fall 2002. Authorized seed classes of McCormick are Breeder, Foundation, and Certified. McCormick is protected under the amended U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act of 1994 (Certificate no. 200300115). The Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences and the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Blacksburg, VA, will maintain Breeder seed. Requests for availability of Foundation seed should be directed to Bruce Beahm, Manager, Foundation Seed Farm, Mt. Holly, VA 22524.
NOTES
Accepted for publication July 31, 2004.
REFERENCES
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