CDC SPEEDY, a 2-rowed hulless barley developed at the Crop Development Centre, was registered for sale in Canada in December, 1999. CDC Speedy is a 2-row hulless variety with very early maturity similar to that of the 2-row hulled variety CDC Fleet. It has good threshability and very good straw strength. It carries the Rpg1 gene for stem rust resistance, has moderate scald resistance and is moderately resistant to the spot-form of net blotch. It is susceptible to the smuts, net-form net blotch and spot blotch.

CDC Speedy's combination of hulless grain and very early maturity make it a good candidate for delayed planting situations since under late seeding it has the potential to produce reasonable yields of high quality feed barley. While when planted at normal western Canadian seeding dates during May its grain yield is some 15% lower than other newer hulless varieties, it is at least a week earlier in maturity and when seeded late (mid- June or later) its potential relative to other varieties improves dramatically.

CDC Speedy was tested as SB94290 and HB343 and originates from the cross SB87792/Tyra, where SB87792 is a CDC hulless breeding line and Tyra is an early maturing semi-dwarf variety from Norway. CDC Speedy has been released exclusively to Value Added Seeds Ltd. for Pedigreed seed production and marketing. Certified seed should be available by the spring of 2002.