Aquila spring barley is the latest addition to the list of wheat and barley varieties developed by the Small Grains Breeding Program at Utah State University. The new variety is a six-rowed spring feed barley with an early heading date and a test weight equal or superior to that of other widely grown cultivars.

Aquila traces its ancestry to crossbreeding that began in 1992. After subsequent years of genetic improvements, later generations were planted and tested on the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station's Centennial Plots where researchers have conducted crop experiments since 1901 and at other sites in the state. It is recommended for growing under irrigation in the Intermountain region.

Small grains geneticist Dominique Roche, assistant professor in USU's plants, soils and biometeorology department says Aquila is named after the genus of several species of eagles, including the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos L.), which are found in mountainous regions, steppes and high deserts of most of North America.

After years of breeding selection and increasing the amount of seed, Aquila was subjected to Western Regional Irrigated Spring Barley Nursery tests for three years and grown for four consecutive years on 15 sites throughout Utah. The results of those tests show Aquila's yield was not statistically different from that of widely grown Steptoe or Baronesse barley, but its test weight was significantly higher than that of Steptoe and similar to Baronesse's. On average, Aquila's heading date was one day and six days earlier than those of Steptoe and Baronesse, respectively, and for two of three test years it was the earliest heading variety in a field of 39 breeding lines.

Lodging - the tendency of plants to lean severely or lie flat on the ground - can be a problem in small grains, but Aquila's stiff straw resists lodging. In field trials only 9% of Aquila plants lodged as compared with 34% of Baronesse and 36% of Steptoe. In terms of average protein content, Aquila (12.3 %) tends to be slightly lower than that of Baronesse (13.5 %) but slightly higher than that of Steptoe (11.1%). Preliminary tests show Aquila is susceptible to barley stripe rust, but resistant to barley loose smut and covered smut. Aquila foundation seed was produced at the UAES Cache Junction Farm and certified seed will be available to growers in the spring of 2005.