NICKERSON direct

	Technical and Marketing Guide

CASSIUS is a soft endospermed winter wheat with a very high yield and nabim Group 3 potential. It has excellent resistance to yellow and brown rusts as well as good standing ability. Cassius is likely to be suitable for the biscuit, distilling, animal feed and export markets.

PEDIGREE
Claire x (NSL WW24 x Wizard)

VERY HIGH YIELD POTENTIAL (% mean of treated controls)
	Treated Yield	Untreated Yield
CASSIUS	105	87
Claire	99	76
Robigus	101	73
Alchemy	103	83

Cassius has shown an excellent yield potential in fungicide treated and untreated trials.

STRAW CHARACTERS
	CASSIUS	Claire	Robigus	Alchemy
Straw Height (cm) Untreated	88	91	90	(96)
Lodging % (no PGR)	1	1	1	(1)
Lodging % (with PGR)	1	1	2	(2)
Maturity (days +/- Claire, + = Late)	+1	0	+2	(2)

( ) = Limited Data

Cassius has medium length straw and has shown very little lodging in trials. It is earlier to mature than Robigus and Alchemy.

GRAIN QUALITY
	CASSIUS	Claire	Robigus	Alchemy
nabim Group	3*	3	3	4
Endosperm Texture	Soft	Soft	Soft	Soft
Protein Content (%)	11.4	12.0	11.6	(11.4)
Hagberg Falling Number	215	288	249	(273)
Specific Weight (kg/hl)	76.0	77.6	77.2	(77.5)

( ) = Limited Data * = Potential

Cassius is a soft textured wheat with nabim Group 3 potential, a good specific weight and Hagberg Falling Number.

DISEASE RESISTANCE
	CASSIUS	Claire	Robigus	Alchemy
Mildew	7	4	6	7
Yellow Rust	9	9	3	9
Brown Rust	9	5	6	4
Septoria tritici	6	6	7	6
Eyespot	(4)	6	5	6

( ) = Limited Data

Cassius has a very good disease resistance profile with excellent resistance to both yellow and brown rust, and is similar to Alchemy for Septoria Tritici.

MARKET OPTIONS

CASSIUS is ideally suited for the animal feed, biscuit, distilling and export markets. In preliminary testing it has shown good dough extensibility and water absorption for biscuit flour and given positive results from distilling tests.

SOWING DATE

Preliminary observations from 2007 suggest Cassius has slow primordial development in the spring (similar to Alchemy) which, combined with its good standing ability, make it potentially suitable for early sowing in the autumn, Cassius is currently being evaluated in early September sown trials.

The latest safe sowing date for Cassius is the end of January.

Data from the HGCA Recommended Lists database, full data at www.hgca.com

On the 1-9 scales, high figures indicate that a variety shows the character to a high degree.

Nickerson-Advanta Ltd Rothwell, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN7 6DT Tel: 01472 371471