2005 MN Oat Variety Performance

Authors and Contributors: Deon Stuthman, Roger Caspers, Jill Miller-Garvin, Ruth Dill-Macky, Martin Carson, and Jochum Wiersma

In 2005 crown rust (Puccinia coronata) caused major losses in many commercial oat fields in much of southern Minnesota, except for the southeastern corner.  The inoculum most likely came from local buckthorn bushes as well as from more southern areas of the U.S., and Mexico where the disease overwinters. Favorable moisture conditions and temperatures for rust infection prevailed in much of the affected area from mid-May until early-July.  At that time, temperatures rose considerably and negatively impacted grain fill.

Crown rust was scarcely evident at Rosemount on May 26, but by mid-June severities of 20+ % were reported in southern Minnesota. At Rosemount, Waseca and Lamberton, losses due to crown rust in oat yield trial plots were the worst in at least 40 years. Entries with major damage included several that had good crown rust resistance until 2005, indicating that there were one or more virulence (race) changes this year.  For more information on all rusts of small grains over the entire country go to: www.cdl.umn.edu/crb/2005crb/05crb10.html.

Average yields of the state variety trial were high in both Crookston and Morris as the impact of crown rust was minor at these locations. In contrast the average yield was only 58 bu/ac in Waseca. The average yield across the five trial locations was 87 bu/ac. This compares to 119 bu/ac in 2004 and 110 bu/ac in 2003.

Kame, Morton, Esker, and HiFi yielded well in both single year and multiple year comparisons at individual locations and across the state. Kame is a new release from Wisconsin, as is Esker. Winona, the 2005 MAES release, disappointed in its first season largely as a result of the susceptible response to crown rust. Fortunately, 14 UM unreleased lines exceeded the five location mean yield, and they will be included in next year’s trials for further evaluation and consideration.

Review more detailed oat varietal performance and agronomic data online at www.maes.umn.edu. At the bottom right of this web page, click on “Individual crop pages.” Data will be posted early 2006.

Table 1. Relative grain yield of oat varieties in Minnesota in multiple year comparisons (2003-2005).

Vari.ety	Rosemount (%)		Wasica (%)		Lamberton (%)		Morris (%)		Crookston+ (%)		State (%)
	1 yr	3 yr.	1 yr.	3 yr.	1 yr.	3 yr.	1 yr.	3 yr.	1 yr.	3 yr.	1 yr.	3 yr.
Winona	90	90	76	90	92	92	89	99	82	90	86	92
Reeves	95	95	84	87	73	91	84	72	77	84	82	86
Kame	133	116	123	117	106	114	112	114	122	113	119	115
Esker	92	105	111	109	98	105	95	103	117	105	103	106
Moraine	101	96	96	91	86	86	79	102	84	94	89	94
Richard	83	94	83	95	85	88	94	90	74	92	84	91
Gem	77	95	92	95	87	93	93	100	95	92	89	95
Wabasha	52	87	83	100	76	92	66	87	86	97	72	93
Morton	134	116	117	112	117	120	99	103	114	102	116	111
Sesqui	33	81	37	81	88	102	98	99	92	101	70	93
HiFi	129	113	100	105	110	111	106	106	116	106	112	108
Drumlin	83	101	82	100	90	103	99	118	109	109	92	106
Leonard	33	78	47	80	67	85	74	89	77	93	59	85
Mean (bu/A)	67	86	58	91	91	96	102	107	117	135	87	103
LSD (0.05)	14.8	8.5	21.0	8.4	14.1	9.2	17.3	9.1	16.4	7.7	7.6	3.7

Table 2. Agronomic characteristics of oat varieties in Minnesota in multiple year comparisons (2003-2005).

Variety	Days to Heading	Plant Height	Lodging2	Test Weight	Groat
	(days)	(inches)	1 yr.	(lb/bu)	(%)
Winona	62	36	3.0	39.8	71.2
Reeves	63	40	3.7	41.6	71.2
Kame	64	36	1.8	38.3	71.7
Esker	65	37	2.5	39.3	70.4
Moraine	65	38	2.9	39.6	72.0
Richard	65	41	2.9	38.7	69.1
Gem	67	39	2.7	38.4	69.3
Wabasha	67	38	2.8	37.8	71.2
Morton	68	44	1.6	41.1	70.6
Sesqui	69	38	3.1	37.8	65.0
HiFi	69	41	2.0	41.4	70.3
Drumlin	69	38	2.5	38.7	69.5
Leonard	69	39	3.5	35.7	67.5
Mean	66	39	2.7	39.1	69.9
2 1 = Erect, 5 = Flat

Table 3. Disease reactions of oat varieties in Minnesota in single year (2005) comparisons.

Variety	Crown Rust1	Smut2	BYDV3
Winona	S	R	6
Reeves	MS-S	MS	7
Kame	MS-MR	R	7
Esker	S	R	5
Moraine	S	R	6
Richard	S	R	6
Gem	S	MR	4
Wabasha	S	R	6
Morton	MS-S	R	6
Sesqui	S	R	5
HiFi	MS	MS	6
Drumlin	S	R	4
Leonard	S	R	4
1 R=resistant, MR=moderately resistant, MS=moderately susceptible and S=susceptible. 2 Artificially inoculated nursery; R=resistant, MR=moderately resistant, MS=moderately susceptible and S=susceptible. 3 Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus score from Univ. of Illinois with 1=no symptoms, 9=dead.