2019 Montana Cool-Season Spring Pulse Variety Evaluation Annual Report

Prepared By: William Franck, Fatemeh Etemadi and Chengci Chen

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Montana State University Eastern Agricultural Station in Sidney, MT coordinates an annual variety evaluation for cool season spring pulse crops (dry pea, lentil and chickpea) at multiple locations across the state of Montana. In 2019, funding for this project was obtained from the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, and testing fees from private entities submitting varieties and experimental lines for evaluation. The results provided in this report reflect the efforts of a large team of individuals from the Montana State University Agricultural Experiment Stations, Montana State University Extension, industrial partners from the seed industry and cooperating producers across the state. The following list provides contact information for many of the individuals involved in the 2019 variety evaluation.

Montana State University

Chengci Chen: Superintendent/Professor, Eastern Ag. Research Center
1501 North Central Ave, Sidney, MT 59270
(406) 433-2208, cchen@montana.edu

William Franck: Research Scientist, Eastern Ag. Research Center
1501 North Central Ave, Sidney, MT 59270
(406) 433-2208, william.franck@montana.edu

Kevin McPhee: Professor, Pulse Breeder, Plant Science and Plant Pathology
Bozeman, MT 59717
(406) 994-5156; kevin.mcphee@montana.edu 

Frankie Crutcher, Assistant Professor, Eastern Ag Research Center
1501 North Central Avenue Sidney, MT, 59270
(406) 433-2208, frankie.crutcher@montana.edu 

Patrick Carr: Superintendent/Associate Professor, Central Ag Research Center
52583 US Hwy 87, Moccasin, MT, 59462
(406) 423-5421, patrick.carr@montana.edu 

Simon Fordyce: Research Associate, Central Ag Research Center
52583 US Hwy 87, Moccasin, MT, 59462
(406) 423-5421, simon.fordyce@montana.edu 

Fatemeh Etemadi
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Eastern Ag Research Center
1501 North Central Avenue Sidney, MT, 59270
(406-433-2208, fatemeh.etemadi@montana.edu 

Kent McVay: Associate Professor, Southern Ag Research Center
748 Railroad Hwy Huntley, MT, 59037
(406) 348-3400, kmckvay@montana.edu 

Peggy Lamb: Research Scientist, Northern Ag. Research Center
3710 Assiniboine Road Havre, MT 59501
(406) 265-6115, plamb@montana.edu

John Miller
Research Scientist, Western Triangle Ag Research Center
9546 Old Shelby Road Conrad, MT, 59425
(406) 287-7707, jhmiller@montana.edu 

Derek Lewis
Research Associate, PSPP, Bozeman, MT, 59717
derek.lewis@montana.edu 

Inga Hawbaker, Daniels County Extension Agent
106 Railroad Ave East Scobey, MT 59263
(406) 487-2861, inga.hawbaker@montana.edu

Shelley Mills
Valley County Extension Agent
501 Court Square Glasgow, MT, 59230
(406) 228-6241, smills@montana.edu 

Qasim Khan, Research Scientist, Southern Ag Research Center
748 Railroad Hwy Huntley, MT, 59037
(406) 348-3400, qkhan@montana.edu 

USDA - Agricultural Research Service

George Vandemark: Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS
Pullman, WA 99164
(509) 335-7728, George.vandemark@ars.usda.gov

Rebecca McGee: Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS
Pullman, WA 99164
(509) 335-0300, Rebecca.mcgee@ars.usda.gov

University of Saskatchewan

Tom Warkentin and Brent Barlow, Pulse Breeders
(306) 966-9488, tom.warkentin@usask.ca;brent.barlow@usask.ca 

Producers

Richard Fulton: Richland, MT

Marvin Tarum: Richland, MT

Keith and Karen Schott: Broadview, MT

Industries

USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council
2780 W. Pullman Road Moscow, ID 83843
(208) 882-3023
pulse@pea-lentil.com; www.pea-lentil.com 

Northern Pulse Growers Association
1710 Burnt Boat Drive Bismarck, ND 58503
(701) 222-0128, info@northernpulse.com; www.northernpulse.com

Kurt Braunwart, Nancy Powell, and Mike Wood
ProGene
860 S. Crestline Othello, WA, 99344
(509) 448-3977, kurt@progenellc.com; nancy@progenellc.com; mike@progenellc.com 

Charlie Cahill
Cahill Seeds
669 Highway 5, Scobey, MT 59263
(406) 783-5510, cahillseeds@nemontel.net 

Martin Hochhalter
Meridian Seeds
216553 37th St. SE, Suite 3, Mapleton, ND
(204) 988-4681, mhochhalter@meridianseeds.com 

Richard Roland/Cody Roland
Legume Logic
(701) 965-6058, legumel@nccray.com 

Emily Paul
Pulse USA
1900 Commerce Drive, Bismarck, ND, 58501
(701) 530-0734; emily@pulseusa.com 

Shannah Plehal
Great Northern Ag
(701) 497-3082; shannah@greatnorthernag.com 

DISCLAIMER

The information given herein is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station is implied. The results of individual trials and studies are considered to be of a PRELIMINARY nature and should NOT be considered as a product endorsement or recommendation for commercial use.

Project Description and Objective

Project Description

Cool season spring pulse crop (dry pea, lentil and chickpea) acreage in Montana has increased more than 10 fold this century. In an effort to improve yield and quality of these crops, the Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC) of Montana State University (MSU) is currently coordinating a statewide pulse crop variety evaluation project across Montana on an annual basis. For the 2019 growing season, trials were conducted at four MSU Agricultural Research Centers, the MSU-Bozeman Post Farm and two cooperating producers’ fields near Broadview and Richland, Montana. The results reported herein are intended to aid producers and seed suppliers in variety selection as well as aiding the research community in variety development. The report is available both in print and electronic formats and can be found at: agresearch.montana.edu/earc/annualreports.html.

Objective

The objective of this project is to evaluate yield and seed quality parameters for dry pea, lentil and chickpea varieties and lines selected by stakeholder input across a broad range of Montana environments.

Methods

Procedures and Experimental Design

Seed companies and pulse breeders with an interest in Montana pulse production were invited to submit commercial varieties or expermential lines for evaluation in 2019. Locations available for evaluation were indicated in the invitation letter and the selection of locations for each entry to be evaluated was determined by submitting party. In addition, ten (lentil and chickpea) or 11 (dry pea) entries were selected by the EARC to serve as check varieties and were planted at all locations. In 2019 the variety evaluations were performed at seven dryland locations and two irrigated locations.

Seed for all entries were sent to the EARC where each seed lot was tested for germintation. All seeds were treated with Obvius Fungicide (BASF Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC) and Cruiser 5FS Insecticide (Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., Greensboro, NC) prior to packaging. Seeds were packaged on a per plot basis to obtain live seed rates of 8, 12 and 4 live seeds per ft2 for pea, lentil and chickpea, respectively. Seeds were sent to the cooperating research centers with an appropriate rhizobial inoculant to be applied at planting. Research plots were planted in a randomized complete block design with four replicates per entry. Plot size varied amongst locations and was dictated by the equipment available at each location. Management practices varied by location but were consistent with typical practices for the location. In season measurements and harvest data were collected by each cooperating center and sent to the EARC for analysis. Grain yield data was adjusted to 13% moisture content before statistical analysis. Dry pea protein concentrations were determined on an Infratec 1241 Grain Analyzer (Foss, Hilleroed, Denmark). Analysis of variance were done using GLM of the SAS statistical package (SAS 9.4). The LSMEANS (@ α = 0.05) procedure was used to differentiate means of different varieties.

List of Collaborators and Locations

The type of crop (pea, lentil and chickpea) and number of entries for each of these crops evaluated at the different locations varied from location to location depending on the interest of seed suppliers and availability of resources at the respective location. The list of location, collaborators and the type of crops evaluated at each location is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Collaborators, locations and crops evaluated in 2020

†CARC = Central Agricultural Research Center, EARC = Eastern Agricultural Research Center, PSPP = Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, NARC = Northern Agricultural Research Center, SARC = Southern Agricultural Research Center, WTARC = Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center. ‘X’ indicates the collaborator participated for the specific crop variety evaluation in 2019.

List of Varieties

Table 2 includes the list of varieties and experimental lines evaluated in 2019. Additional information for these entries can be obtained by contacting the respective seed suppliers listed in the acknowledgements section. Entries listed in this table include varieties requested by seed suppliers, varieties selected as check varieties by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and experimental lines from the Montana State University and North Dakota State University pulse crop breeding programs.

Table 2. Dry pea, lentil and chickpea entries included in 2019 variety evaluation trials.

Precipitation and Cultural Practices

Precipitation, site information and agronomic management practices for the respective locations are summarized in Tables 3 and 4.

Table 3. Site characteristics for each trial location

Table 4. Major agronomic management practices for each location in 2019

Results

Dry Pea Variety Evaluation in 2019

A total of 53 dry pea varieties and experimental lines (37 yellow and 16 green) were evaluated in 2019 at 8 locations. A ninth location under irrigation at Huntley was lost to hail just prior to harvest. Planting was slightly delayed at Richland and Bozeman due to weather conditions and subsequently harvest was delayed as well. Eleven entries (six yellow and five green) were advanced breeding lines and check varieties selected by EARC to test at all locations. The remaining 42 entries were tested only at locations requested by the seed supplier. The data collected and presented includes grain yield, thousand kernel weight, test weight, plant height and number of days to flowering consistent with previous years. New to 2019 is the addition of protein content data for all pea entries at each location. As in the past, results are presented in two groups based on cotyledon color (yellow and green).

Yellow dry pea grain yield

Mean grain yield for yellow dry pea for the different locations ranged from 2000 lb/ac at Havre to 5030 lb/ac under irrigation at Sidney (Table 5). Yields were generally normal to above normal with no locations reporting poor yields. Significant differences for entries were found among the locations, and differences within a location were observed for all locations except Bozeman and Conrad.

Yellow dry pea protein content

Protein content is presented in Table 6. The mean protein content by location varied from 20% at Huntley and Conrad to 25% at Moccasin. Protein contents were considerably better at Mocassin and Richland than other locations. Of the six entries tested at all locations, protein contents were always highest at these two locations suggesting that environmental conditions are playing an important role in determining pea protein content.

Yellow dry pea thousand kernel weight (TKW)

TKW’s were collected from four locations in 2019 and ranged from 219 to 251 grams per thousand kernels (Table 7). Significant differences for entries within a location were observed for all locations examined.

Yellow dry pea test weight

Test weight data was recorded for all locations and location mean test weights ranged from 63.8 lb/bu (Havre) to 64.9 lb/bu (Bozeman). The variation in test weight means amongst locations in considerably smaller than in previous years. The differences in test weight were significant for entries within a location except at Broadview and Conrad.

Yellow dry pea plant height

The mean plant height ranged from 40 cm to 70 cm (Table 9). The highest mean plant height was observed at Sidney and the lowest at Havre which correspond to the highest and lowest yielding sites. Significant differences for entries within a location were observed for all locations.

Yellow dry pea days to flowering

The number of days to flowering were recorded for all trials located at a research center (Table 10). Consistent with previous years Moccasin had the longest mean time to flowering at 74 days and Sidney the shortest at 55 days (Table 10).

Green dry pea grain yield

The mean grain yield for green pea ranged from 2017 lb/ac at Havre to 4552 lb/ac at Sidney under irrigation (Table 11). As with yellow pea, yields for green pea were average to above average at all locations. Significant differences for entries within a location were observed for all locations except Conrad.

Green dry pea protein content

Green peaprotein content is presented in Table 12. The mean protein content by location varied from 19.7% at Conrad to 25.1% at Moccasin. Consistent with yellow pea, protein contents were considerably better at Mocassin and Richland than other locations. Of the five entries tested at all locations, protein contents were always highest at these two locations.

Green dry pea thousand kernel weight (TKW)

TKW’s were collected from four locations in 2019 and ranged from 208 to 238 grams per thousand kernels (Table 13). Significant differences for entries within a location were observed for all locations examined.

Green dry pea test weight

Mean test weights for green pea ranged from 63.6 lb/bu to 64.4 lb/bu (Table 14). The differences in test weight among entries were significant within a location for all locations except Conrad.

Green dry pea plant height

Mean plant heights ranged from 37 cm at Havre to 68 cm at Huntley (Table 15).

Green dry pea days to flowering

Mean days to flower ranged from 57 days at Sidney to 74 days at Mocassin (Table 16) consistent with that of the yellow peas.

Summary

A cool summer and timely rainfalls throughout the growing season resulted in average to above average pea yields in the 2019 trials. Pea yield and protein concentration varied greatly from location to location. Moccasin and Richland tended to produce higher protein concentration for all varieties than other locations. Within a location, pea yield and protein concentration also varied among the varieties. There was a negative correlation between the yield and protein concentration within a testing location. Varieties that have higher protein concentrations tended to produce lower yields.

Table 5. Yellow Dry Pea Grain Yield (lb/a) - 2020 Montana Statewide Variety Evaluation

Table 6. Yellow Dry Pea Protein (%) - 2019 Montana Statewide Variety Evaluation

Table 7. Yellow Dry Pea Thousand Kernel Weight (g) - 2020 Montana Statewide Variety Evaluation

Table 8. Yellow Dry Pea Test Weight (lb/bu)

Table 9. Yellow Dry Pea Plant Height (cm)

Table 10. Yellow Dry Pea Days to Flowering

Table 11. Green Dry Pea Grain Yield (lb/ac)

Table 12. Green Dry Pea Protein* (%)

Table 13. Green Dry Pea Thousand Kernel Weight (g)

Table 14. Green Dry Pea Test Weight (lb/bu)

Table 15. Green Dry Pea Plant Height (cm)

Table 16. Green Dry Pea Days to Flowering

Lentil Variety Evaluation in 2019

A total of 10 lentil entries were evaluated at seven locations. The lentil trial under irrigation at Huntley was lost to hail just prior to harvest. Seeding was delayed due to weather related field conditions in Bozeman and Richland. Harvest was also slightly delayed in Bozeman. No other issues were reported for the trials.

Lentil grain yield

The mean grain yield varied from 1204 lb/ac to 3043 lb/ac (Table 17). The differences in grain yield among entries within a location was significant for five of the seven locations. The Bozeman and Richland locations had mean grain yields greater than any year dating back to 2011. The varieties Avondale and CDC Richlea have been trialed continuously at Bozeman and Richland dating back to 2011 and both produced their highest observed yields at these two locations in 2019.

Lentil TKW

Thousand kernel weights (TKW) were obtained for all entries at all locations (Table 18). The mean TKW ranged from 38.4 g per 1000 seeds at Huntley to 47.1 g per 1000 seeds recorded at Bozeman. These values are generally higher than previous years. TKWs were significantly different for different classes of lentils within a location for all locations.

Lentil test weight

The mean test weight ranged from 61.4 lb/bu at Sidney to 64.5 lb/bu at Conrad, a spread smaller than in previous years (Table 19). The test weight differences among entries within a location were significant for all locations.

Lentil plant height

The mean plant height ranged from 20 cm at Havre to 41 cm at Moccasin and Bozeman (Table 20). Across all locations, variety Avondale had the tallest average plants at 37.4 cm. Plant height differences among entries within a location were significant for all locations.

Lentil number of days to flowering

The mean number of days to flowering ranging from 56 days at Sidney to 76 days recorded at Moccasin which are considerably shorter or longer than the other locations respectively (Table 21). However, neither the early flowering at Sidney nor late flowering at Moccassin is unsual with respect to previous years. The differences in mean number of days to flowering were significant for the different entries at each location.

Table 17. Lentil Grain Yield (lb/a) 

Table 18. Lentil Thousand Kernel Weight (g)

Table 19. Lentil Test Weight (lb/bu)

Table 20. Lentil Plant Height (cm)

Table 21. Lentil Days to Flowering

Chickpea Variety Evaluation in 2020

The 2019 statewide chickpea variety evaluation included twelve varieties (eleven Kabuli type and one Desi type). Results are reported for four locations. Trials were planted late in Bozeman and Richland due to weather related field conditions and harvest was slightly delayed in Bozeman. Trials were lost at Huntley due to hail, Havre due to wildlife damage and Moccassin due to planter issues. The trials at Conrad and Richland also suffered wildlife damage due to late maturity. Mean grain yields ranged from 361 to 4371 lb/ac with location averages of 2611 lb/ac at Bozeman, 1605 lb/ac at Conrad, 1568 lb/ac at Richland, 2112 lb/ac at Sidney and a total average of 1939 lb/ac for all entries across all locations (Table 22). Differences in mean grain yield were significant for all locations except Conrad.

Seed size was evaluated for all locations using a sieve with an 8.73 mm (22/64 in) diameter round openings (Table 23). The Desi type entry Myles had essentially no seeds larger than 8.73 mm diameter at all locations. Entries Sierra, Nash and Royal had the highest percentage of seeds larger than 8.73 mm diameter with averages across all four locations of 83%, 82% and 77% respectively. Bozeman had the highest percentage of seeds larger than 8.73 mm in diameter with a site average of 70% and Sidney the lowest 39%.

The hot and humid conditions in Sidney were favorable for development of Ascochyta blight during the 2019 growing season. Three fungicide applications were made on 6/27/2019, 7/13/2019 and 7/30/2019 (Table 4) in an effort to limit disease impact on the trials. An assessment of Ascochyta incidence and severity was performed on 07/30/2019 and the results are presented in Table 24. Disease severity was high for cultivars Nash, Sierra and Royal resulting in significant yield reductions (Table 22). Resistant varieties CDC Leader, BGC090017,and Myles had less disease severity and therefore produced the highest yields even though disease incidence remained high for all three entries. Seed sizes for all entries at Sidney were reduced relative to other locations irrespective of the Ascochyta severity.

Table 22. Chickpea Grain yield (lb/a) with Three Year Averages in parentheses

Table 23. Chickpea Seed Size (% greater than 8.73 mm)

Table 24. Chickpea Ascochyta Assessment at Sidney

FUTURE PLANS

The EARC will continue to lead the statewide variety evaluations in the coming years as long as there is a need from pulse growers, seed industries, and breeders.

Note: The data and summaries presented in this report are for informational purposes only. Inclusion and or exclusion of any commercial variety in this summary does not constitute a recommendation by Montana State University Agricultural Experiment Station or EARC.

DISCLAIMER:

The information given herein is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station is implied. The results of individual trials and studies are considered to be of a PRELIMINARY nature and should NOT be considered as a product endorsement or recommendation for commercial use.