2002 Colorado Collaborative On-Farm Test (COFT) Results
In the fall of 2001, twenty-eight eastern Colorado wheat producers
planted collaborative on-farm tests (COFT) in Baca, Prowers, Kiowa, Lincoln,
Kit Carson, Washington, Phillips, Arapahoe, Adams, Morgan, and Weld counties.
The objective was to compare performance of the newly-released varieties, Avalanche
(HWW) and Above (HRW CLEARFIELD), with the performance of the popular HRW variety,
Akron, and the high-yielding HWW variety Trego. With the help of Federico Pardina,
a graduate student in the wheat breeding program, we also hoped to use the COFT
results to map eastern Colorado for yield and wheat quality characteristics.
From two HRW wheat varieties and two HWW wheat varieties we hoped to deduce
the optimum areas for adoption of hard white wheat in Colorado from the COFT
results. We had originally planned to spray Beyond herbicide on the CLEARFIELD
wheat variety, Above, in each test in order to demonstrate the efficacy of the
CLEARFIELD package but that objective became operationally impossible and Above
was grown under the same conditions as the other varieties.
Working alongside local Extension agents, each producer/collaborator received
100 pounds seed of each variety and planted the four varieties in side-by-side
strips. The 2001-02 season was the fifth year of winter wheat variety on-farm
testing and many collaborating producers have conducted tests each of the five
years.
Thanks to on-farm testing, wheat producers get to evaluate new varieties on
their own farms before seed of the new varieties is available on the market
to all farmers. On-farm testing directly involves agents and producers in the
variety development process, thereby speeding adoption of superior, new varieties.
Agents get experience with new varieties before the varieties are commonly available
and share this experience with growers who are not COFT participants. The whole
wheat community benefits from reliable and unbiased COFT results. Multiple COFT
farm environments offer insights into variety performance to the wheat breeding
program that might not be obtained from the small-plot trials. Farmers acquainted
with COFT results tend to rely more on COFT results than on the traditional
replicated small-plot results.
The 2002 COFT results are divided into three geographic groups- primarily for
ease of understanding the results. Twenty-one test results are reported. The
overall average performance of all four varieties was remarkably similar and
there were no statistical differences among varieties. Conclusions should not
be drawn from a single on-farm test. All tests suffered from winter, spring,
and early summer drought. Some locations were severely affected by winter freezes
and some tests barely survived the late May freeze. None of the varieties performed
less well than any other variety under drought conditions so severe that they
are reportedly only expected to occur once in 100 years. For example, some people
feared that the variety Akron with its long head would not survive as well as
other varieties in extreme drought conditions- which proved to be unfounded.
The white wheat varieties, Avalanche and Trego, were not any more susceptible
to loss by severe drought and freezing than their hard red cousins. No unexpected
agronomic flaws were found in the new CLEARFIELD wheat variety, Above.
Colorado State University Cooperative Extension agents have a large responsibility
for the success of this program -recruiting volunteer growers, delivering seed,
planning test layout and operations, helping with planting, keeping records,
coordinating visits, communicating with growers and campus coordinators, coordination
of weighing plot and measuring yields and collecting grain samples for quality
analyses. I am very thankful for the cooperation of so many dedicated and conscientious
wheat producers throughout eastern Colorado. Even under the most stressful conditions,
there was never an unkind or harsh word heard. This year, more than in the past,
the successful harvest and conclusion of the COFT program was due to the long
hours of hard work by our Cooperative Extension
agents. This is truly a collaborative on-farm testing program.