Two winter wheat varieties are showing they have potential to replace the popular CDC Falcon.

Falcon, which accounted for around 73 percent of winter wheat acres in Manitoba this year, is slated to be moved from the Canada Western Red Winter class to the General Purpose class on August 1st, 2013.

Pam de Rocquigny, cereal specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, explains Flourish and Moats both have similar characteristics as Falcon, while still meeting the requirements to stay in the CWRW class.

"They seem to be performing relatively about the same as CDC Falcon. We only have six site years of data, that basically represents the six locations in this past year's MCVET trials, so more caution needs to be exercised when evaluating them," she says.

"These two have been noted to have characteristics of possibly being a replacement for CDC Falcon here in Manitoba. As we get more data, and they're being tested again this year in the MCVET trials, we'll get a better gauge of how they perform under Manitoba conditions," says de Rocquigny.

Both varieties are being marketed by SeCan. They were released to SeCan members this fall, meaning they will be available to producers in the fall of 2013.

The Canadian Grain Commission has said it may delay the move for Falcon if no suitable replacement has been found for Manitoba growers.

"I do believe Winter Cereals Canada is already moving toward extending that period from August 1st, 2013 beyond for CDC Falcon, basically because it is so popular here in Manitoba," says de Rocquigny.

The results from the 2011 MCVET winter wheat trials can be found at your local MAFRI GO office and will be published in the Seed Manitoba guide in December.