Project Title

Off-station spring barley variety performance trials in Central Montana – CARC

Project Leader

Simon Fordyce, Research Scientist, CARC, Moccasin

Project Personnel

Jamie Sherman, MSU Spring Barley Breeding Program

Sally Dahlhausen, Research Assistant III, CARC

Tracy Watson, Research Assistant III, CARC

Objective

The main goal of this work was to identify the top-performing spring barley cultivars in central Montana.

Methods

Standard spring barley variety performance trials were established in Moccasin, Geraldine, Judith Gap, Denton in the spring of 2025. Trials included named varieties (18) and experimental lines (7) seeded in triplicate in 5-row, 5 x 16-foot plots to evaluate differences between varieties. Seeding dates were April 22 at Moccasin and May 17 at Denton and Geraldine and May 27 at Judith Gap.  Planting depth was 1 inch at a rate of 20 seeds/ft2. Starter fertilizer, 20-30-20-10 NPKS, was applied at seeding at a rate of 50 lb/ac. All plots were trimmed to a harvest length of approximately 12 feet and harvested with a small plot combine.  Plots were harvested August 11 at Moccasin and August 26 at Denton and Geraldine. Judith Gap was not harvested due to hail.

Long term precipitation and temperature averages were derived using historical Agrimet data (https://www.usbr.gov/gp/agrimet/station_MWSM.html). However, Agrimet failed in May of 2025. Therefore, precipitation and temperature records from September 2024 through August 2025 were obtained through Montana Climate Office Mesonet Data Downloader, Moccasin Hydromet (https://mesonet.climate.umt.edu/dash/moccasin/).

Results

Precipitation in July was 2.05 inches higher (Table 1) and 3.4 °F cooler (Table 2) than long term (21-year) averages at the Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC) near Moccasin. A late killing frost on June 3 (Table 3) and a near-killing frost (32.5 °F) on June 23 may have damaged some of the more sensitive crops at the CARC. The frost-free period was 181 days. While weather conditions were favorable at the CARC, hailstorms were prevalent across the region, including at our Judith Gap testing locations, forcing abandonment of these experiments in 2025. Hail was also reported at our Geraldine and Moccasin test sites, but damages were minimal.

Table 1. Monthly precipitation (inches) during the 2024-25 growing season with long term (21-year) averages.

Month

2024-25

Long Term Avg.

Difference

Sep

3.35

1.37

1.98

Oct

0.05

1.06

-1.01

Nov

0.44

0.5

-0.06

Dec

0.21

0.48

-0.27

Jan

0.47

0.42

0.05

Feb

0.46

0.41

0.05

Mar

0.6

0.5

0.1

Apr

0.58

1.25

-0.67

May

2.62

2.81

-0.19

Jun

2.6

2.13

0.47

Jul

3.11

1.06

2.05

Aug

1.51

1.53

-0.02

Sum

16

13.5

2.5

 

Table 2. Monthly air temperature (°F) during the 2024-25 growing season with long term(21-year) averages.

Year

2024-25

Long Term Avg.

Difference

Sep

61.9

56.5

5.4

Oct

50.3

44.2

6.1

Nov

32.4

34.2

-1.8

Dec

34.6

25.6

9

Jan

22

27

-5

Feb

12.6

24.7

-12.1

Mar

38

33.9

4.1

Apr

41.3

40.7

0.6

May

53.3

49.5

3.8

Jun

58.2

58.3

-0.1

Jul

64.8

68.2

-3.4

Aug

65.7

65.7

0

Avg.

44.6

44.1

0.5

 

Table 3. Key air temperature events with dates.

Event

Temperature (°F)

Date

Maximum summer temperature

92.5

19-Aug

Minimum winter temperature

-28.8

10-Feb

Last killing frost in spring

31.5

3-Jun

First killing frost in fall

28.8

5-Oct

Moccasin Location

The grand mean for grain yield was 99.3 bu/ac (Table 4).

  • Top Yield Performers: BC Lexy (120 bu/ac), KWS Kayis (113 bu/ac), and Hockett (110 bu/ac).
  • Top Test Weight Performers: Havener (65.9 lb/bu) and MT20_H092_13 (65.6 lb/bu).
  • Top Plump Percentage: MT19_M067_02 (98.3%), MT20_M047_16 (97.9%), and MT17M01908 (97.6%) had the highest plump percentage.

Table 4. Spring Barley, Moccasin, MT.

Variety

Heading Date (julian)

Test Weight (lb bu-1)

Protein (%)

Yield (bu ac-1)

Plumps (%)

AAC Synergy

176

55.1

11.1

108

96.8

ABI Eagle

177

55.3

10.5

105

90.5

ABI Montana

176

57.5

10.1

110

94.0

ABI Voyager

176

54.3

11.4

93.1

94.9

AC Metcalfe

176

56.7

10.7

91.6

94.6

BC Lexy

178

54.2

10.1

120*

96.6

Bill Coors 100

176

53.2

11.2

101

92.5

Buzz

170*

56.7

9.77

98.5

97.5

Havener

177

65.9*

10.6

93.3

31.7

Hockett

175

57.5

10.1

110

95.3

KWS Enduris

177

54.7

9.42

112

97.2

KWS Kayis

176

54.5

9.41

113

95.9

LCS Genie

177

55.7

10.5

107

78.7

LCS Odyssey

178

56.3

9.92

115

94.6

LG Diablo

179

54.3

9.38

98.7

96.3

ME031

176

53.7

9.95

100

94.2

Merit 57

177

54.2

9.91

95.7

83.8

MT Boy Howdy

175

55.1

9.14

93.9

95.4

MT Endurance

171

56.2

10.8

103

97.3

MT17M01908

170*

55.6

9.75

86.5

97.6

MT19_M064_04

176

55.0

10.1

93.5

92.9

MT19_M067_02

175

54.3

10.6

91.6

98.3*

MT19_M080_13

170*

54.9

10.8

84.4

96.8

MT20_H092_13

177

65.6

12.7*

67.9

65.9

MT20_M047_16

170*

55.4

9.64

90.1

97.9

Grand Mean

175

56.1

10.3

99.3

90.7

LSD (0.05)

1.07

1.49

1.34

20.6

5.76

P-Value

<0.001

<0.001

<0.001

0.003

<0.001

CV (%)

0.370

1.61

7.92

12.6

3.87

Bold* = top performer within a column; Bold = equivalent to top performer within a column; NS= Not significant

Geraldine Location

The grand mean for grain yield was 90.0 bu/ac (Table 5).

  • Top Yield Performers: LCS Genie (105 bu/ac), KWS Kayis (101 bu/ac), and LCS Odyssey (101 bu/ac).
  • Top Test Weight Performers: Havener (65.7 lb/bu) and Hockett (56.9 lb/bu).
  • Top Protein Content: MT20_H092_12 (14.3%) and AC Metcalfe (12.5%).
  • Top Plump Percentage: ABI Voyager (97.2%), KWS Enduris (96.8%), and BC Lexy (96.6%) had the highest plump percentage.

Table 5. Spring Barley, Geraldine, MT.

Variety

Plant Height (in)

Test Weight (lb bu-1)

Protein (%)

Yield (bu ac-1)

Plumps (%)

AAC Synergy

23

53.6

11.3

91.3

95.8

ABI Eagle

21

54.6

11.0

100

90.9

ABI Montana

20

55.1

11.7

90.7

95.0

ABI Voyager

23

54.7

10.9

90.4

97.2*

AC Metcalfe

24*

54.6

12.5

83.2

92.8

BC Lexy

21

54.5

11.4

88.3

96.6

Bill Coors 99

19

53.0

11.8

97.1

95.0

Buzz

22

55.0

11.0

87.2

94.3

Havener

23

65.7*

10.3

95.3

52.4

Hockett

23

56.9

11.7

91.6

95.9

KWS Enduris

22

54.9

11.7

90.0

96.8

KWS Kayis

21

53.8

9.88

101

95.7

LCS Genie

20

54.5

10.8

105*

85.7

LCS Odyssey

19

55.5

11.1

101

97.1

LG Diablo

20

54.0

12.5

83.5

96.3

ME030

18

53.3

10.6

89.4

92.4

Merit 56

23

53.2

12.3

88.7

84.5

MT Boy Howdy

23

52.4

11.2

79.4

91.4

MT Endurance

23

54.3

11.7

87.1

91.6

MT17M01907

23

54.3

10.3

84.2

94.0

MT19_M064_03

24*

54.9

10.2

90.2

89.6

MT19_M067_01

22

54.6

12.5

74.4

95.4

MT19_M080_12

22

54.8

11.4

91.6

91.6

MT20_H092_12

24*

63.6

14.3*

83.9

75.9

MT20_M047_15

22

54.3

10.5

85.5

90.3

Grand Mean

22

55.2

11.4

90.0

91.0

LSD (0.05)

1.6

1.15

1.60

13.4

4.94

P-Value

<0.001

<0.001

0.001

0.008

<0.001

CV (%)

4.41

1.27

8.57

9.09

3.31

Bold* = top performer within a column; Bold = equivalent to top performer within a column; NS= Not significant

Denton Location

The grand mean for grain yield was 63.3 bu/ac (Table 6).

  • Top Yield Performers: KWS Kayis (76.4 bu/ac), MT20_M047_16 (71.0 bu/ac), and ABI Montana (70.6 bu/ac).
  • Top Test Weight Performers: Havener (64.9 lb/bu) and Hockett (56.7 lb/bu).
  • Top Protein Content: MT20_H092_13 (16.4%) and AC Metcalfe (14.6%).
  • Top Plump Percentage: ABI Voyager (97.9%), LCS Odyssey (97.3%), and LG Diablo (97.3%) had the highest plump percentage.

Table 6. Spring Barley, Denton, MT.

Variety

Plant Height (in)

Test Weight (lb bu-1)

Protein (%)

Yield (bu ac-1)

Plumps (%)

AAC Synergy

24

54.2

13.2

68.9

96.2

ABI Eagle

20

55.3

12.9

63.5

93.0

ABI Montana

20

55.7

13.1

70.6

97.3

ABI Voyager

22

54.5

13.0

61.6

97.9*

AC Metcalfe

23

54.9

14.6

56.3

96.0

BC Lexy

22

54.1

12.9

64.6

96.0

Bill Coors 100

19

53.2

14.0

58.6

96.8

Buzz

23

55.0

11.8

55.1

94.5

Havener

22

64.9*

13.2

70.1

77.3

Hockett

22

56.7

13.0

64.1

96.3

KWS Enduris

24

55.2

12.8

68.5

95.6

KWS Kayis

22

54.7

11.7

76.4*

96.9

LCS Genie

19

53.8

13.4

59.4

89.4

LCS Odyssey

21

55.8

13.4

63.3

97.3

LG Diablo

22

53.8

14.0

60.6

97.3

ME031

20

54.1

13.2

62.5

94.9

Merit 57

23

54.0

13.2

64.8

90.7

MT Boy Howdy

22

52.9

12.0

49.5

92.0

MT Endurance

24

56.2

13.0

63.6

93.1

MT17M01908

26*

53.2

11.6

61.7

95.1

MT19_M064_04

24

55.0

11.7

63.6

93.4

MT19_M067_02

24

53.6

12.3

65.6

94.3

MT19_M080_13

21

54.7

12.8

68.3

92.1

MT20_H092_13

25

63.1

16.4*

50.5

78.2

MT20_M047_16

23

55.4

11.6

71.0

95.8

Grand Mean

22

55.4

13.0

63.3

93.5

LSD (0.05)

2.0

1.25

0.751

10.3

1.75

P-Value

<0.001

<0.001

<0.001

<0.001

<0.001

CV (%)

5.35

1.38

3.52

9.90

1.14

Bold* = top performer within a column; Bold = equivalent to top performer within a column; NS= Not significant

Summary

Overall, total precipitation was above, and average temperatures were below the long-term averages, while a hailstorm prevented harvest of spring barley trials at our Judith Gap testing location and caused minor damages at Moccasin and Geraldine. Grain yield across all locations averaged 84.2 bu/ac and ranged from 63.3 bu/ac at Denton to to 99.3 bu/ac at Moccasin.

Although no variety was consistently the highest yielding across locations, Havener had the highest test weight across all three locations (Moccasin, Gerladine, Denton). MT20_H092_13 (an experimental line) was a top performer for protein content at all three locations and for test weight at Denton and Moccasin. ABI Voyager was a top performer for plump percentage at Geraldine and Denton, but did not perform as well for yield.

Funding and MWBC FY 2025 Grant Submission Plans

An expenditure summary will be provided by OSP. No additional grant support was provided for this project. A request for continuing this project was submitted for funding consideration for the next fiscal year.