Evaluation of Advanced Spring Wheat Experimental Lines

Objective:          

To evaluate spring wheat varieties and experimental lines for agronomic performance in environments and cropping systems representative of northwestern Montana.

Results:

High temperatures and low rainfall reduced crop height, which averaged only 24 inches.  Height ranged from 32.9 inches for Thatcher to a low of 21.3 inches for SY Tyra. Heading spanned 9 days with an average of 174 days.  MT 1659 was the earliest at 170.3 days and WB 172 was the latest at 179.3 days.  Days to physiological maturity spanned 4 days, with the average being 202.1 days (July 21).     High temperatures and low rainfall also depressed yields, which only averaged 55 bu/A.  Yields range from a high of 67.8 bu/A for MT 1601 to a low of 45 bu/A for Choteau.  At the same time, protein was high and averaged 14.9 %, ranging from a high of 16.68 % for Egan to a low of 13.6 % for WF 162.  Test weights averaged 58.8 lb/bu, with WB 173 having the heaviest grain at 61.7 lb/bu and Egan the lightest at 55.6 lb/bu.  Seed size varied substantially among the entries, ranging from 42.6 g for MT 1653 to 29.1 g for Thatcher.

Summary:

MT 1601 was the top performer this year producing 67.8 bu/A, 14.86 % protein and a test weight of 59.4 ln/bu.