Merl (Reg. No. CV1052, PI 658598) soft red winter (SRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), developed and tested as VA03W412 by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, was released in March 2009. Merl was derived from the threeway cross Roane/Pioneer variety 2643//38158 (PI 619052). Merl is a broadly adapted, highyielding, midseason, moderately short, semidwarf (Rht2) cultivar having aboveaverage straw strength and milling and pastrybaking qualities. Merl is resistant to powdery mildew [caused by Blumeria graminis (DC.) E.O. Speer] and moderately resistant to stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend.). In Virginia, Merl ranked among the top five cultivars for grain yield with a 3yr (20072009) average of 5725 kg ha1 Merl had a mean grain volume weight of 76.4 kg hL1 across 22 environments, which was significantly (P < 0.05) higher (1.93.0 kg hL1) than that of the other topyielding cultivars. In USDAARS Uniform Eastern SRW Wheat Nursery trials conducted at 29 locations, Merl ranked sixth among 46 entries for grain yield (5917 kg ha1) and seventh for grain volume weight (76.0 kg hL1) in 2006 and ranked second among 45 entries for grain yield (5529 kg ha1) and sixth for grain volume weight (75.7 kg hL1) in 2008. Merl has a soft grain texture, flour softness equivalent values from 57.5 to 60.8 g 100 g1, and straightgrade flour yields from 70.5 to 71.5 g kg1 The flour protein concentration (7.58.7 g 100 g1) and gluten strength, assessed via lactic acid solvent retention capacity (101104 g 100 g1), of Merl are lower than average. These quality attributes contribute to Merl's aboveaverage pastrybaking quality (cookiespread diameters of 17.9318.93 cm).
