‘Secretariat’ (Reg. No. CV-359, PI 673931) is a six-row hulled winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) developed by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and released in May 2014. Secretariat, formerly designated VA08B-85, was derived from the cross VA00B-199/VA00B-259 and developed using a modified bulk breeding method. It was evaluated from 2012 to 2015 in the Virginia Official Variety Trials at five to six locations. Secretariat’s average grain yield (5907 kg ha−1) was higher than the check cultivars ‘Atlantic’, ‘Price’, ‘Callao’, ‘Nomini’, and ‘Wysor’ and similar to ‘Thoroughbred’. Average grain volume weight of Secretariat (61.1 kg hL−1) was similar to Thoroughbred, Atlantic, Price, and Callao and higher than Nomini and Wysor. Head emergence of Secretariat is 6 d earlier than the predominant cultivar Thoroughbred. Earlier maturity is a primary factor determining whether barley or wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is used in double-cropping systems with soybean [Glycine max (Merr.) L.]. Grain of Secretariat produced an average starch concentration (56.9%) that was higher than Price and Callao, similar to Atlantic, but lower than Thoroughbred. Secretariat provides barley producers and end users in the eastern United States with a high-yielding, widely adapted, early-maturing winter barley cultivar that has good grain quality and is highly resistant to leaf rust (caused by Puccinia hordei G. Otth) and powdery mildew [caused by Blumeria graminis (DC.) E.O. Speer f. sp. hordei Em. Marchal].

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