Preliminary Report:

2005 Wheat and Barley 

Variety Performance in Minnesota

Preface by Jochum Wiersma

The 2005 growing season might be described as an accumulation of challenges and disappointments.  The adage of “wait five minutes and the weather will have changed” was certainly true for this past growing season.  Weather extremes caused widespread problems with flooding, diseases, and even sterility. Each caused considerable yield reductions. Fusarium head blight (FHB) was widespread and caused enough damage to label the outbreak an epidemic.  These days, not only buyers of barley but also domestic and foreign buyers of hard red spring wheat (HRSW) will stipulate a maximum deoxynivalenol (DON) level as they procure wheat or barley.  Hence, elevators are responding to the FHB epidemic by testing for the presence of DON in nearly all HRSW and barley, and steeply discounting if DON is present.

Spring planting progress was well behind the pace of both 2003 and 2004 and nearly equal to the 5-year average.  The majority of the wheat acreage in the Red River Valley was planted in a timely fashion in the first week of May. The northern tier counties of Kittson and Roseau were the exceptions, as this area had entered the winter extremely wet, and field work this spring required additional time and patience. 

Cooler than normal conditions prevailed most of the month of May, resulting in crop development behind the pace of the previous two years and the five-year average. Timely weed control was a challenge as the cooler weather and wet field conditions delayed applications repeatedly.  Aerial applications for weed control and disease control were commonplace this year, adding another expense to an already tightened crop budget.

The excess of precipitation reached a peak in the second half of June. In the northern part of the Valley, thunderstorms delivered record-breaking amounts of precipitation. The culmination of this weather pattern was 5.5 inches and several tornadoes near Humboldt on July 2.  The excess precipitation caused widespread flooding and the yield trials in Humboldt, Roseau, Stephen, and Strathcona were abandoned as a result of this. 

The state’s average Hard Red Spring Wheat yield at 41 bushels per acre was down 14 bushels from 2004’s average yield, and nearly 30% lower than the record of 2003. Some 70,000 acres or nearly 4% of the HRSW were not harvested.  Harvested acres were, however, 120,000 acres higher than 2004, reversing the decline in HRSW acreage in recent years.

Spring barley’s acreage decline continued and dropped another 20% to below 100,000 acres. Spring barley’s average yield of 43 bushels was down 25 bushels from 2004. Oat acreage increased some 15,000 acres to just over 200,000 acres. The average yield of 62 bushels per acre was down 8 bushels from the previous year. Winter wheat acreages in Minnesota continue to be very small with only 15,000 acres harvested in 2005. 

Use of this data
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.

Prairie Grains, in cooperation with the MAES and the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, grant permission to reproduce, print, and distribute the data in this publication - via the tables, only in their entirety, without rearrangement, manipulation, or reinterpretation. Use and reproduction of any material from this publication must credit Prairie Grains, the MAES and the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences as its source.

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 2006 Planting,’ available 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 (2005) and multiple year (2003-2005) comparisons in Minnesota. The yields are reported as a percentage of the location mean, with overall mean (bu/A) listed. 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.

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.

MN Spring Wheat | MN Oats | MN Barley