Winter Wheat and Pea Field Days in the Panhandle in June

Winter Wheat and Pea Field Days in the Panhandle in June

Wheat Variety Field Days

Wheat variety trial plots are located in Cheyenne and Box Butte counties. In Cheyenne County, 50 dryland varieties are planted at the High Plains Ag Lab. In Box Butte County, 50 dryland varieties and 28 irrigated varieties are planted at the Chris Cullan farm. Discussion topics will include genetics (new varieties on the horizon) and also production issues.

Specialists and crop breeders from the public sector, as well as representatives of private seed companies, will be on hand at wheat tour stops. Speakers will include UNL Small Grains Breeder Stephen Baenziger, UNL Plant Pathologist Stephen Wegulo, and Robert Graybosch, wheat breeder with the U.S. Department of Agriculture based in Lincoln. Other UNL and company reps also will speak at some of the plots.

The 50 dryland and 28 irrigated varieties come from UNL, Colorado State University, University of Wyoming, and commercial seed companies. The varieties include both experimental lines and commercially released varieties. Seed companies represented in the variety trials include Husker Genetics (UNL), PlainsGold (Colorado State University), AGRIMAXX, Limagrain Cereal Seeds, AgriPro Syngenta, Dyna-Gro Seeds, WestBred (Monsanto), CRFW (University of Wyoming), and CROPLAN.

The schedule of wheat tours:

June 20, High Plains Ag Lab, Sidney: During the HPAL Field Day, a morning field day will feature wheat on dryland crops, grazing systems, and integrated crop-livestock research.

June 20, Box Butte County: 4 p.m., Irrigated Wheat Variety Plot Tour at Chris Cullan farm, Box Butte County. From Berea, ¾ mile north on Highway 385; plot is on west side of highway.

June 20, Box Butte County: 7 p.m., Dryland Wheat Variety Plot Tour at Chris Cullan farm. From Berea, north on Highway 2 for 2.7 miles, then west on Hall Rd 0.65 miles. Plot is on the south side of the road.

Pea Field Days

Field pea plot tours are scheduled for June 20 in Cheyenne County and June 21 in Box Butte County. Both sites will feature 44 varieties from these seed companies: Arrowseed, Meridian Seeds, Pulse USA, Puris Foods (new this year), Valesco Genetics (formerly Great Northern AG), Legume Logic, ProGene Plant Research (new this year), Montana Integrity (new this year), and Photosyntech (new this year). Santra said the entry of new seed companies into the Nebraska trials represents increased interest in growing peas in Nebraska.

Speakers from UNL and seed companies will speak during the tours. The Panhandle field pea variety plots are among six total pea plot locations in Nebraska. In addition to Sidney and Hemingford, the others are at Grant (dryland and irrigated), North Platte, and Mead.

Discussion will include 2019 crop condition. As a result of the cool, wet weather, Santra said he expects shorter crop heights than in the past several years. The crop is 7 to 10 days behind normal, but the trial stands look good. One topic of discussion will be susceptibility to powdery mildew.

Dates and locations of the field pea plot tours:

June 20, 8 a.m., Cheyenne County at High Plains Ag Lab (Rainfed).
Directions: From the HPAL office, go 0.25 miles east on CR 32N, then north on trial road.

June 21, 9 a.m., Box Butte County, Greg Hansen Farm
Directions: From Hemingford, go 7 miles east on Dodge RD, 2 miles south on CR 62. Plot is on east side of road.

“We appreciate the generosity of the cooperative growers,” said Santra. For more information call Santra at 308-632-1244 or 308-765-2324 (cell) or UNL Research Technician Vernon Florke at 308-249-3161.

For information on other tours, see Wheat and Small Grain Field Days Across the State in CropWatch.

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