On-Farm Cereal Variety and Advanced Breeding Line Testing across Montana for Environment Specific Cultivar Recommendations:

Spring Wheat Off-Station Variety Performance, Turner, MT

Principal Investigator:

Peggy Lamb, Research Scientist, Northern Ag Research Center, Havre

Project Personnel:          

Jason Cook, Breeder/Geneticist, Spring Wheat, Bozeman

Hwa-Young Heo, Research Associate, Spring Wheat, Bozeman

Eleri Haney, Research Associate, Havre

Julianne Snedigar, Blaine County Extension

Cooperator:

Max Cederberg, Landowner, Turner

Objectives:

Commercially available spring wheat varieties and advanced breeding lines were evaluated for agronomic performance and fit at on-farm locations across Montana. Sites chosen for the research considered the environment, growing conditions and soil types, and represent the major land areas for producers in those regions served by Northern Agricultural Research Center. The Blaine County location near Turner entered its forty-first year of spring wheat testing in crop year 2024.               

Methods:

The uniform off-station spring wheat variety performance trial was seeded into chemical fallow ground during 2024. The trial consisted of 25 entries seeded in replicated, three-row, 22-foot plots on a 12-inch row spacing, utilizing a self-propelled cone seeder with Atom Jet paired row openers. All plots were trimmed to a harvest length of approximately 17 feet with a three-point rototiller. Plant height was measured from the soil surface to the top of the head, excluding awns, and percent sawfly cutting was visually estimated for each plot immediately prior to harvest. A ‘Wintersteiger’ small plot combine, funded in part by the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, was used to harvest each three-row plot. Prior to measuring plot weight for yield determination, seed was either cleaned or weighed in-dirt as per protocols. Protein, test weight and moisture content were determined on a clean sample using a Foss Infratec 1241 near infrared analyzer. Falling number was determined using a Perten FN1700 according to the FGIS Directive 9180.38.  Other variables specific to each individual trial are listed with the current year data tables.

Please note that research trial seed 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 wheat stem sawfly. Pickup guards, coupled with an exceptionally slow ground speed and a low cutting height, help researchers collect all heads 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.

Results:

This report contains both single-year and long-term data summaries limited to the most recent ten years. It should be noted that the 2024 data table in this report represents varietal performance for a single crop year at a single location, therefore cannot be considered representative of performance expected when differing conditions due to location, year and management are imposed. By itself, 2024 data shall not constitute in any form a recommendation for or against any variety or breeding line included.

Spring wheat seed yields at Turner averaged just under 43 bu/ac (Table 1) and Montana State University breeding line ‘MT 21473’ was the top yielding entry producing over 51 bu/ac. ‘MT Dutton’ and ‘MT UBet’ produced yields statically the same as the highest yielding line. Test weights of all spring wheat entries for this site averaged just over 59 lb/bu. Wheat stem sawfly cutting in the spring wheat trial at Turner averaged over 10 percent. Yield, test weight, protein, falling number, plant height and sawfly cutting data for the 2024 Turner dryland spring wheat trial are summarized in Table 1.

Comparable averages are calculated using a standard check variety when not all entries are present in a specific trial for all years. Variety means are adjusted by multiplying the actual check mean by the ratio of the individual variety mean compared to the check mean for the same years as tested. All varieties are then directly comparable to each other when in the same nursery. At least three years of data is needed to be included in the comparable average calculation. Ten-year comparable averages (2015-2024) for spring wheat seed yield and test weight at Turner are summarized in Table 2, while ten-year comparable averages for protein content and wheat stem sawfly cutting are summarized in Table 3. Based on the comparable average calculations, ‘MT Carlson’, MT Dutton, MT UBet and ‘Vida’ are the highest yielding varieties at Turner.

Summary:

Upon establishment, spring wheat at the Turner site had good stand uniformity. The quantity and timeliness of precipitation throughout the growing season in the Turner area was very good, which was reflected in the increased seed yields at the site. 

This work has been strongly supported by producers in the Turner-Hogeland area, and by the Northern Agricultural Research Center Advisory Board. With budget and other resources allowing, it is planned to continue the off-station spring wheat variety and breeding line testing in this area. The Blaine County location near Turner has been a long-term site for various cereal and variety testing trials since 1984, marking 2024 as the Cederberg Family’s forty-first year of collaboration.

Recognition:

This research would not have been possible without the assistance of the following seasonal employees: Callie Bebee, Clara Haslem, Brady Kueffler, Cleta Lamb, and Teresa Miller.

Table 1. Dryland Fallow Spring Wheat Cultivar Evaluation Nursery Grown Off-Station at the Max Cederberg Farm, Turner.  Northern Agricultural Research Center.  Havre, Montana.  2024. (Exp# 24-9951-SW)

Table 2. Ten-Year Yield and Test Weight Summary on Selected Entries from Dryland Fallow Spring Wheat Variety Nurseries Grown Off-Station at the Max Cederberg Farm, Turner. Northern Agricultural Research Center.  Havre, Montana.  2015-2024.  (Exp# 9951-SW)

Table 3. Ten-Year Protein and Sawfly Summary on Selected Entries from Dryland Fallow Spring Wheat Variety Nurseries Grown Off-Station at the Max Cederberg Farm, Turner. Northern Agricultural Research Center.  Havre, Montana.  2015-2024.  (Exp# 9951-SW)