Preliminary Report:
2003 Wheat, Barley and Oat Variety Performance in Minnesota

MN Spring Wheat         MN Barley       MN Oats

Preface by Jochum Wiersma

This year, 2003, will be entered into the record books.  The new high mark for the state’s average Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) yield has been set at 58 bushels per acre.  This breaks the old record, set in 1985, by 3 bushels per acre.  The state’s average for spring barley was 75 bushels, tying the record set in 1992.  The average yield for oats was 71 bushels per acre, just short 1 bushel short of the record set in 2000.

The season started out very well.  By April 20, already 28% of the acres were planted.  This was four times the 5-year average. By May 4th, 75% of the spring wheat, 62% of the barley and 81% of the oats had been planted, a pace well ahead of the previous year as well as the 5-year average. Nearly a quarter of the spring wheat had emerged by the same time, signaling a very early and strong start. The development of the crop during May and June can probably best be summarized as nearly ideal. Although moisture was short in some areas, precipitation was more than adequate and temperatures were nearly ideal for small grains development.  These conditions resulted in very lush crops and raised hopes for a bin-buster year.  Crop development stayed well ahead of the long-term average, thanks to very early planting and in spite of the below-normal temperatures for much of the months of May and June. Nearly 75% of the HRSW had reached the heading stage by the end of the month of June.  This compares to the 5-year average of 48%. 

Most of the month of July was dry and sunny. Grain fill was very rapid. By the end of July, already 80% of the barley and 67% of HRSW had turned ripe.  With weather conditions continue to approach ideal for small grains for much of the state, worries about diseases were plentiful.  In wheat, despite an early presence of leaf rust, the disease never developed into an epidemic.  Other foliar pathogens, like Septoria leaf blotch or tan spot, could be readily found on wheat, but the disease development was slow. In addition, many HRSW producers had opted to use a fungicide in combination with their herbicide application to ward off any initial disease development. There were concerns of Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) for the earliest planted wheat.  Moderate to high spore counts combined with a high likelihood for disease development, as predicted by the disease forecasting models, had everyone worried.  These worries dissipated when the weather turned sunny and dry.

The only dissonance for this growing season was lodging. The ideal growing conditions resulted not only in a very lush crop, but also a very tall crop, as is illustrated by the average plant height for HRSW varieties across locations in the Red River Valley On-Farm Yield Trials.  In 2001, plant height averaged 26.7 inches across varieties and locations. This year, the average increased to 33.5 inches.  Overall, lodging was probably the worst problem that producers encountered.

Spring wheat acreage declined further to 1.85 million acres planted and 1.80 million acres harvested. Barley acreage declined to 190,000 acres planted, of which 170,000 acres were harvested.  Harvested acres of oats in the state declined by 20,000 acres compared to 2002 to 265,000 acres. Soybeans continue to replace small grains in the northwest part of the state.  In 1994, less than 200,000 acres of soybeans were planted in this part of the state. In 2003, the planted acres of soybeans in the same area were estimated at over 1 million acres.

Introduction
Successful small grain production begins with selecting the best varieties for a particular farm or field.  For that reason, varieties are compared in trial plots on the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) sites at St. Paul, Rosemount, Waseca, Lamberton, Morris, Crookston and Grand Rapids.  In addition to the six MAES locations, trials are also planted with a number of farm cooperators.  These plots are handled such that the factors affecting yield and performance are as nearly the same for all entries at each location as is possible.

Variety Classifications
Varieties are listed in the tables by heading date from earliest to latest.  No distinction or classification is used to group varieties.  Seed of tested varieties can be eligible for certification, and use of certified seed is encouraged.  However, certification does not imply a recommendation. Registered and certified seed is available from seed dealers or from growers listed in the ‘Minnesota Registered and Certified Seed Directory for 2004 Planting’, available at through the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association office in St. Paul or online at www.mncia.org .

Interpretation of the Data
The presented data are the preliminary variety trial information for single (2003) and multiple year (2001-2003) comparisons in Minnesota. The yields are reported as a percentage of the location mean, with overall mean (bu/A) listed below. Two-year and especially one-year data are less reliable and should be interpreted with caution.  Similarly, averages across multiple environments, whether they are different years and/or locations, provide a more reliable estimate of mean performance. The least significant difference or LSD is a statistical method to determine whether the observed yield differences between two varieties is due to true, genetic differences between the varieties or to interactions with other variables such as a difference in soil fertility or experimental error. If the difference in yield between two varieties equals or exceeds the LSD value, the higher yielding one was indeed superior in yield. If the difference is less, the yield difference may have been due to chance rather than genetic differences, and we are unable to distinguish between the two. The 5% unit indicates that with 95% confidence, the observed difference is indeed a true difference in performance. Lowering this confidence level will allow more varieties to appear different from each other, but also increases the chances that false conclusions are drawn.

The Authors and Contributors
This report is written, compiled, and edited by Dr. Jochum Wiersma, Small Grains Specialist. The contributing authors are: Dr. James Anderson, Wheat Breeder, Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics; Dr. Kevin Smith, Barley Breeder, Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics; Dr. Deon Stuthman, Oat Breeder, Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics; Dr. Ruth Dill-Macky, Department of Plant Pathology; Dr. James Kolmer, USDA-ARS, Cereal Disease Laboratory, St. Paul; Mr. Gerald Ochocki, USDA-ARS, Cereal Disease Laboratory, St. Paul; Dr. John Wiersma, Agronomist, Northwest Research & Outreach Station, Crookston. In addition, Dr. Fred Kolb, University of Illinois contributed BYDV data for oats; Edward Schiefelbein, Kent Evans, Gary Linkert, Roger Caspers, Richard Halstead, Tom Hoverstad, David LeGare, Roger Fuentes, Steve Quiring, Russ Mathison, and George Nelson supervised fieldwork at the various sites. Special thanks are also due to all the cooperating producers.