Registration of ‘Sockeye CL+’ soft white winter wheat

Soft white winter (SWW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the main market class produced in Washington State. With consistent production of winter wheat, winter annual weeds have been a constant concern of producers. For over 20 years, growers have used the Clearfield Production System to control grassy weeds in commercial production. The persistent use of group 2 (amino acid/acetolactate synthase inhibitors) Beyond (brand) herbicide (imazamox) tolerant wheat has resulted in many soils with residual herbicide contamination. The objective of this research was to develop a two-gene, Beyond-tolerant SWW cultivar that could be used in the Clearfield Production System. ‘Sockeye CL+’ (Reg. no. CV-1215, PI 699243) is a SWW wheat cultivar developed and released in March 2020 by the Agricultural Research Center of Washington State University. Sockeye CL+ was tested under the experimental designations MAS11295-1-1-0-4 and WA8306 CL+, assigned through progressive generations of advancement. This cultivar is a two-gene Beyond tolerant semi-dwarf cultivar broadly adapted across the wheat production regions of Washington. Sockeye CL+ has improved resistance to the stripe rust pathogen (caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici Erikss.), tolerance to snow mold, improved end-use quality, and maintains high grain yield across production regions as compared to other commercially available herbicide tolerant cultivars. Sockeye CL+ has intermediate plant height with mid-season maturity and has high grain volume weight. This line has maintained high grain yield across multiple years and locations of testing in Washington. The end-use quality properties of Sockeye CL+ meet both domestic and export market standards.