Development

UC-Tehama (tested as UC1280) is a spring six row hulled and smooth awned feed barley developed for late fall planting in marginal (dry farming) environments of the Central Valley and the south-central coastal regions of California.  It has similar yield and higher test weight compared to Ishi. It was released by UC Davis in 2021.

Breeding History and description

The pedigree of UC1280 is UC969//UC969/UC933. UC933 (reg no. CV-304, PI614822) and UC969 (Reg. no. CV‐305, PI 619353) are both six row spring feed barley varieties released in 2001 by the California Agricultural Experiment Station and developed by the late barley breeder, Dr. Lynn Gallagher. UC933 is a variety with medium early maturity for late fall planting in the Central Valley and the south-central coastal regions of California and for spring planting in the intermountain region of northern California (Crop Science 43:437 2003). UC933 was selected from the cross Sma1/Sunbar 401/3/Gus/Kombyne//Sma1 and released primarily for resistance to barley stripe rust, but is moderately susceptible to barley leaf rust.

UC Tehama was tested as UC1280 in the Barley Regional Trials in years 2011, 2012-2016, 2019.

Adaptation

UC Tehama is adapted to marginal unirrigated (dry farmed) land primarily in Yolo, Butte and Tehama counties.  This taller variety performs better than other varieties with consistent high yield, test weight and disease resistance.  It can be prone to lodging under high inputs.

Pest and Disease

Based on observational ratings from the UC Regional Barley Trials throughout different sites and years, UC Tehama shows resistance to several diseases important in California including Barley Stripe Rust (BSR), Barley Leaf Rust (BLR), Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV), Powdery Mildew (PM), Scald, and Net Blotch (NB).

Yield data

UC Tehama performs consistently well for yield, test weight and 1000 kernel weight throughout the California regions in which it was evaluated.  It is similar in yield to Ishi, Tamalpais, UC603 and UC933. UC1280 has higher test weight than Ishi and UC933.