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2002
COLORADO WINTER WHEAT VARIETY PERFORMANCE TRIAL RESULTS
Jerry
Johnson and Scott Haley
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Introduction
Colorado
State University conducts variety performance trials to obtain unbiased
and reliable information for Colorado wheat producers to make better
variety decisions. Good variety decisions can return millions of dollars
to Colorado wheat producers.
Although
precipitation in late summer and early fall 2001 was not abundant, trials
were seeded timely and wheat stand establishment was excellent at all
trial locations. The 2001/2002 winter temperatures were moderate but
most trial locations suffered from lack of winter precipitation and
snow cover. At each dryland trial location south of I-70, dry winter
conditions combined with moderately cold temperatures caused significant
winter injury and in some cases, total trial abandonment (e.g., Sheridan
Lake, Cheyenne Wells). The winter drought carried through spring and
early summer. Cold night temperatures in mid- and late-May led to widespread
late spring freeze damage, especially in Northeast Colorado along Highway
14. As if conditions were not bad enough already, some areas were severely
affected by hail, including the Genoa variety trial location. Continued
widespread and severe drought conditions, combined with several periods
of damaging high temperatures, led to earlier-than-normal harvest and
extremely low yields. Though widespread throughout eastern Colorado,
drought conditions were more prolonged and severe in southeastern Colorado.
ARTICLES (pdf files)
New CSU Wheat Variety - 'Ankor'
Deciphering Wheat Pedigrees
Caterpillar Pests of Wheat in Colorado
Weed Science Update
Detection and Management of Jointed Goatgrass and Broadleaf Weeds Using Remote
Sensing and Site-Specific Variable Rate Technology
Making Better Marketing Decisions in 2003
Irrigated Winter Wheat - The Platte Value Program
Small Grain Variety Performance Tests at Hayden, CO 2002
Tribute to William M. Brown
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In
drought years like this, common dryland root rot often adversely affects
yields-visible by sporadic ‘white heads’ in the field as
was observed in many production fields and several trial locations.
Insect pressure was low, but Russian wheat aphids could be found in
some fields and may have caused slight yield reductions, especially
along the Front Range. There was minimal yield loss to due wheat steak
mosaic, high plains disease, or barley yellow dwarf virus. Stripe rust,
which had been so severe in 2001, and leaf rust were present in relatively
low levels in some irrigated fields after grain filling had commenced
and probably had only small effects on yield.
Our
dryland winter wheat variety trial (UVPT) is a single uniform variety
performance trial comprised of 60 entries grown at 10 locations. Of
the 60 entries in this trial, approximately half are named varieties
and the other half are experimental lines. In addition to CSU varieties
and experimental lines, the trial included public varieties from Nebraska,
Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, and private varieties from Cargill-Goertzen
and AgriPro. Due to winter injury, drought, spring freeze, and hail,
only five of the ten trial locations were successfully harvested. Two
of the five trials, Walsh and Lamar, were extremely low-yielding and
highly variable preventing reliable differentiation among entries. Plot
yields at Bennett, Akron, and Julesburg were low but reasonably high
enough to be used for wheat variety selection purposes. Akron, the best
dryland trial location all spring, experienced a damaging hail storm
the night before harvest that reduced yields 15-25% in some entries.
A randomized complete block field design with three replicates is used
in all trials. Dryland trials were seeded at 600,000 seeds per acre
and planted in 12 inch-spaced rows, except Julesburg that was seeded
in 9 inch-spaced rows.
Irrigated
variety trials were conducted at Rocky Ford, Haxtun, and Fort Collins.
The irrigated trials are seeded 1.2 million seeds per acre. The Haxtun
and Fort Collins trials were grown under sprinkler irrigation and the
Rocky Ford trial was furrow-irrigated. Rocky Ford and Haxtun trials
provided excellent results, but the Fort Collins trial suffered significantly
from the spring freeze of May 9 and a damaging hail storm two weeks
before harvest that reduced yields 30-70% in some entries.
The
authors wish to make special note of two wheat improvement programs
that will affect variety selection for the coming year: CLEARFIELD*
wheat and Hard White Wheat (HWW) varieties.
CLEARFIELD*
is a unique production system comprised of herbicide-tolerant wheat
varieties, Beyond™ herbicide to manage problematic weed species,
and a stewardship agreement with growers to ensure the use of best management
practices for system sustainability. The first publicly-developed CLEARFIELD*
winter wheat varieties to be released in the U.S., ‘Above’
(from Colorado State University and marketed by the Colorado Wheat Research
Foundation) and ‘AP502 CL’ (marketed by AgriPro Seeds, Berthoud,
CO) are tolerant to Beyond™ herbicide for use in the CLEARFIELD*
wheat production system.
Above
is an awned, white-chaffed, early maturing, semi dwarf hard red winter
wheat. In 2000 and 2001 Colorado variety trials, Above yielded more
than Akron, TAM 107, and TAM 110. Average test weight for Above in these
trials was less than TAM 107, but more than TAM 110. Above matures 3.5
days earlier than Akron and about 1.5 days later than TAM 107. Above
is short, similar to TAM 107, and has similarly good straw strength.
Above is resistant to stem rust, susceptible to leaf rust, and moderately
susceptible to both wheat streak mosaic virus and barley yellow dwarf
virus. Above is resistant to greenbug, and susceptible to the Great
Plains biotype of Hessian fly and Russian wheat aphid.
AP502
CL is an awned, red-chaffed, early maturing, semi dwarf hard
red winter wheat. AP502 CL is very similar to Above in many respects,
yet has shown lower average grain yield and test weight in Colorado
variety trials. AgriPro Wheat intends to market AP502 CL in areas of
the Great Plains where their distribution and marketing system is strongest.
More
information on the CLEARFIELD* wheat production system can be obtained
at the following websites:
CLEARFIELD
Wheat Fact Sheet as html
CLEARFIELD Wheat Fact
Sheet as PDF
BASF’s
CLEARFIELD website with their technical bulletin and the stewardship
guide
White
Wheat varieties
Development
of hard white winter wheat (HWW) varieties has been a top breeding priority
in the Great Plains for over 10 years. Enhanced preference for HWW over
hard red winter wheat (HRW) in most export markets is the predominant
factor driving the strong interest in increasing HWW acreage in the
Great Plains.
In
the 2002 US Farm Bill, a three-year market incentive program was established
to foster development of US HWW production and markets. With the recent
development of HWW varieties well adapted for production in Colorado,
wheat producers now have an excellent opportunity to participate in
a concerted, market-expansion effort. The most promising of these HWW
varieties for production in Colorado include the following:
Trego
is medium height, medium-late semi dwarf released by the Kansas State
University program at Hays, KS, in 1999. Trego has shown both very high
yield and test weight in CSU dryland trials and throughout the High
Plains region. Trego has inadequate straw strength for irrigated production
conditions. Trego is susceptible to Russian wheat aphid.
Avalanche
is a medium height, medium maturing semi dwarf released by Colorado
State University in 2001. Yields of Avalanche in CSU dryland variety
trials have been slightly less than Trego (though equivalent to Akron)
with similarly high test weight. Avalanche has performed better than
average in experimental bread baking tests but, like Trego, is not suitable
for Asian noodle production. Avalanche is susceptible to Russian wheat
aphid.
Lakin
is an awned, white-chaffed, medium maturing, semi dwarf released by
the KSU-Hays program in 2000. Grain yields of Lakin in CSU dryland variety
trials have been slightly less than Trego and Avalanche, but its straw
strength may allow successful irrigated production at moderately-high
yield levels. Lakin possesses both good bread baking and good Asian
noodle quality characteristics. Lakin is susceptible to Russian wheat
aphid.
Platte
is an awned, white-chaffed, medium maturing, semi dwarf released by
AgriPro in 1995 and marketed under an exclusive contract arrangement
with ConAgra Flour Milling. Platte has shown excellent straw strength
as required for high-input, irrigated production conditions. Platte
is very susceptible to stripe rust, a rare problem in Colorado except
under very high moisture or irrigated conditions. Platte is susceptible
to Russian wheat aphid.
More
information concerning hard white wheat may be obtained at the following
website: http://www.awwpa.com
(website for the American White Wheat Producers Association)
The
authors encourage wheat producers to make use of the "Decision
Tree for Winter Wheat Variety Selection in Colorado" because it reflects
our synthesis of data and field observations over years and locations.
Because this year provided so little information to aid variety selection,
we think growers should rely on variety performance data acquired in
more normal years. Unfortunately, some varieties were being tested for
the first time in 2002 and there is just too little information to make
sound recommendations. Producers are also encouraged to spread the variety
decision risk by planting two or more varieties. The average performance
over two or three years is a proven tool for yield performance evaluation
but producers should be mindful of other variety characteristics, like
maturity, height, disease and insect resistance, quality characteristics,
and winter hardiness, that influence variety adaptation, performance,
and marketing options.