Registration of '3434' wheat

Soft red winter (SRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar 3434 (Reg. No. CV-1040, PI 656754) developed and tested as VA03W-434 by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station was released in March 2008. Cultivar 3434 was derived from the three-way cross 'Roane'/'Coker 9835'//VA96W-270. Cultivar 3434 is widely adapted and provides producers and end users with a very short stature, stiff-straw, full-season cultivar that is resistant to powdery mildew [caused by Blumeria graminis (DC.) E.O. Speer], and has high yield potential, good winter hardiness, and good milling and baking quality. In Virginia's official variety trial, cultivar 3434 had an average grain yield (2006-2008) of 5981 kg ha^-1, which was surpassed only by 'USG 3665' (6181 kg ha^-1). In 2007 USDA-ARS uniform southern (39 entries, 19 environments) and uniform eastern (44 entries, 22 environments) SRW wheat nursery trials, cultivar 3434 produced average grain yields of 4455 and 4844 kg ha^-1, respectively, compared with nursery mean yields of 4146 and 4791 kg ha^-1, respectively. When evaluated for quality on an Allis Chalmers Mill, cultivar 3434 had moderately high break flour (314-327 g kg^-1) and straight grade flour (757-762 g kg^-1) yields, and softness equivalent values (70.8-88.0 g 100 g^-1). Flour protein concentration of cultivar 3434 is moderately low (7.57-9.46 g 100 g^-1), and gluten strength (104-110 g 100 g^-1) is intermediate. These quality attributes of cultivar 3434 combined with low flour sucrose solvent retention capacity (85.8-88.5 g 100 g^-1) contribute to its good pastry baking quality (cookie spread diameters of 17.08-18.81 cm).