Winter Wheat, Spring Wheat, Spring Durum, Spring Barley and Safflower Variety Performance Evaluations Under Dryland Chemical Fallow Conditions On-Station at Northern Agricultural Research Center, Havre, Montana. 2009-2018.

Note: A PDF version of this report can be downloaded by clicking this link 

PROJECT LEADER:  Peggy F. Lamb, Research Scientist, Havre

PROJECT PERSONNEL:  Kasee Clark, Research Associate, Havre Kyla McNamara, Research Associate, Havre Phil L. Bruckner, Winter Wheat Breeder/Geneticist, Bozeman Luther E. Talbert, Spring Wheat Breeder/Geneticist, Bozeman Jamie D. Sherman, Spring Barley Breeder/Geneticist, Bozeman Mike Giroux, Durum Breeder/Geneticist, Bozeman Jim E. Berg, Winter Wheat Research Associate, Bozeman Hwa-young Heo, Spring Wheat Research Associate, Bozeman Liz Elmore, Spring Barley Research Associate, Bozeman Andy Hogg, Durum Research Associate, Bozeman Jerald W. Bergman, Safflower Breeder/Agronomist, Williston, ND

Content:

This report is intended to serve as a popularized 2018 summary of “primary” on-going cereal and oilseed crop variety investigations traditionally conducted on-station by the Variety Testing Program at Northern Agricultural Research Center. These data represent approximately 20 percent of NARC Variety Testing Programs total research project effort on-station at Havre. The remaining 80 percent of the research not reported here includes cultivar and product evaluations associated with larger nurseries featuring early generation or other unnamed experimental materials not of general interest to the public; and/or experimental seed treatment, fertility, fungicide and insecticide evaluations. Long-term data summaries reported here are limited to the most recent ten years. This is largely due to need for report brevity and the fact that most varieties have approximately a 10-year life span before they are replaced in common use with newer materials having superior production characteristics. Variety performance data has been continuously collected and maintained at the Havre station for 103 years beginning in 1916. Collection of sawfly stem cutting data was added beginning in 2003.

Detailed data pertaining to multiple performance characters, along with associated climatic and management inputs are presented for 2018. Abridged, multi-year summaries for each cereal trial are limited to three crop characters (yield, test weight and sawfly rating) while the safflower summary is limited to two crop characters (yield and oil content). Individuals desiring detailed data for other than the current year may contact the research center or refer to previous editions of this report for the year(s) of interest.

2018 Data:

It should be noted that 2018 data tables in this report represent varietal performance for a single crop year at a single location only, and thus cannot be considered representative of performance expected when differing conditions due to location, year and management are imposed. Therefore, by itself, 2018 data shall not constitute in any form a recommendation for or against any entry or practice included. Please note that research trial yield results recorded under wheat stem sawfly pressure are likely much higher than a producer should expect. Small plot variety trials are managed to assess maximum yield potential and are harvested in such a way that all stems and heads are picked up by the combine, regardless of lodging or cutting due to sawfly. Pickup guards coupled with an extremely slow ground speed and an exceptionally low cutting height help researchers collect all heads in order to assess seed yield potential. If you are a producer in a wheat stem sawfly environment, although hollow stemmed varieties may be high yielding in research trials in your area, we strongly recommend against growing those hollow stemmed varieties. Please be aware that if you seed hollow stemmed varieties with wheat stem sawfly present, you are only creating a breeding ground for future generations of sawfly in your area and not helping combat the pest population. Although winter months of crop year 2018 were colder and wetter than normal, spring and summer months during the growing season resulted in drought conditions persisting across north central Montana. At Havre, annual growing season precipitation (9/1/17 through 8/31/18) was 13.15 inches, 1.1 inches higher than the average for all years since 1916 due to an abundance of winter snowfall. April 1 through July 31 precipitation was only 4.02 inches, NARC On-Station 2 of 30 just 59 percent of the 103-year average. Heat units expressed as "Growing Degree Days" (GDD, base 50) from May through July totaled 1392, or 108 percent of the average for the last 68 years (1951-2018). The last spring frost was on May 14 and the first fall frost of 2018 was on September 28, resulting in 137 frost-free days. The minimum winter temperature was -33 degrees F on February 12, 2018. Overall, the 2017-2018 average crop year temperatures were very similar to the long-term average. The April through July growing season saw an average daily temperature of 57 degrees F, 0.75 degrees F lower than historical temperatures. July and August temperatures were also nearly identical to the long-term averages with the high for 2018 recorded on August 2 at 103 degrees F. There were 23 days with temperatures 90 degrees F or above, with only two days over 100 degrees F.

Multi-Year Summary Data:

Use of a “Comparable Average” provides a mechanism for “estimating” the performance of varieties over a period of time longer than that for which actual data is available for them. This is accomplished by comparing the performance of a “variety of interest” for the years it was actually tested with that of a designated “check” or reference variety grown in the same trial in the same years. The performance of the variety of interest is then expressed as a percentage of the check variety’s performance. This actual percentage or index is then applied to the actual long-term performance of the check to estimate the performance of the variety of interest had it been grown over the same long term. The reliability of comparable average figures improves with increasing years of actual evaluation, so no entries with less than three years of actual data have been included in long-term summaries.

Other References:

It is intended that this report be used as a supplement to variety performance summaries prepared by MSU’s Plant Science and Plant Pathology Department on statewide evaluations by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station: Winter Wheat Varieties, Extension Service 2B 1098 (Revised February-March annually) Spring Wheat Varieties, Extension Service 2B 1093 (Revised February-March annually) Barley Varieties, Extension Service 2B 1094 (Revised February-March annually) These summaries include performance data, descriptions, quality assessments, disease and insect considerations, cropping district recommendations, cultural practices, and general crop production management information. These publications are available from MSU-Extension Service offices and can further be accessed via the Internet at http://plantsciences.montana.edu/crops/index.html.

Recognition:

This research would not have been possible without the assistance of the following seasonal employees: Tawnya Brown, Daisen Fox, Marca Herron and Cordell King.

Summary of climatic data by months for the 2017-2018 crop year (September to August) and averages for the period 1916-2018 at the Northern Agricultural Research Center. Havre, Montana.

2018

INDIVIDUAL CROP EXPERIMENT IDENTIFICATION & DESCRIPTION RECORD Agronomy and Livestock Northern Agricultural Research Center Havre, Montana

TABLE 1. Intrastate Winter Wheat Cultivar Evaluation Nursery Grown On-Station Under No-Till Dryland Fallow Conditions.  Northern Agricultural Research Center.  Havre, MT.  2018. (Exp# 18-3502-WW)

TABLE 2. Nine-Year Yield Summary on Selected Entries from Dryland Intrastate Winter Wheat Nursery.  Northern Agricultural Research Center.  Havre, Montana.
2009-2018. (Exp# 3502-WW)

TABLE 3. Nine-Year Test Weight Summary on Selected Entries from Dryland Intrastate Winter Wheat Nursery.  Northern Agricultural Research Center.  Havre, Montana.  2009-2018. (Exp# 3502-WW)

TABLE 4. Ten-Year Sawfly Summary on Selected Entries from Dryland Intrastate Winter Wheat Nursery.  Northern Agricultural Research Center.  Havre, Montana.
2009-2018. (Exp# 3502-WW)

TABLE 5. Advanced Yield Spring Wheat Cultivar Evaluation Nursery Grown On-Station Under No-Till Dryland Fallow Conditions.  Northern Agricultural Research Center.  Havre, MT.  2018. (Exp# 18-3102-SW)