Australia Develops Wheat That Can Be Sold for Grain or Cut for Hay After Frost

Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, has developed a new wheat variety intended to give farmers more choices when frost or heat damages the grain crop. The variety, called Hurdle, can be grown for grain, cut for hay or used for grazing.

CSIRO announced the development on September 15, 2026, after roughly a decade of breeding work. The planned commercial release is through LongReach Plant Breeders, rather than a claim that the variety is already widely adopted.

Why wheat needs a fallback option

A wheat grower usually earns money by harvesting grain. But frost during flowering can damage grain development; a hot finish to the growing season can also reduce output or quality. By the time the damage becomes clear, the farmer may already have paid for seed, fertilizer, land preparation and machinery.

A crop that still has value for livestock feed can provide another path to recover part of those expenses. Cutting wheat for hay is not always possible or profitable, but flexibility matters when the weather makes a grain harvest unattractive.

A response to Western Australian conditions

CSIRO scientist Greg Rebetzke began exploring the idea after speaking with farmers affected by frost around Lake Grace in Western Australia in 2016. Earlier dual-purpose varieties, Bale and Dual, were released in 2021.

The new Hurdle variety builds on that work, with CSIRO reporting higher yield potential and larger grain size compared with the earlier breeding effort. The public announcement did not establish a universal yield increase for every farm or weather condition.

What happens before broad adoption

Hurdle was showcased to growers during a September field event. Wider uptake will depend on commercial seed availability, local agronomic testing, regional market prices for hay and grain, and how the variety performs in different environments.

For farmers, the decision is economic as much as biological. A dual-purpose variety is most useful where livestock-feed buyers exist, suitable harvesting equipment is available and grain failure is a meaningful risk.

Primary source and image rights

Primary source: CSIRO, September 15, 2026, https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/News/2026/September/New-wheat-variety-for-the-west

Image: Original Agrilinkage wheat illustration already stored in its media library; it does not depict the named commercial cultivar.