UNL Records Best Wheat Variety Test Results Ever

Published before 2015

Photo of 2008 wheat trials in UNL West Central District

Winter wheat field trial of Overly (left) and Tam 112, conducted in west central Nebraska in 2008. (Photos link to larger versions.)

Winter wheat field trial of AgriPro's PostRock (left) and Westbred's Winterhawk conducted in west central Nebraska in 2008.

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August 8, 2008

Several winter wheat varieties tested in rain-fed Furnas County plots yielded more than 100 bushels per acre, said a University of Nebraska-Lincoln specialist.

"That was just about unbelievable," said Bob Klein, cropping systems specialist at UNL's West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte. "We've had some good tests in the Arapahoe and McCook area in the past, but nothing quite this good."

Audio

Listen to Bob Klein discuss this year's wheat trials in west central Nebraska, including how some new varieties fared. mp3/ Indicates an audio file

Klein credited good wheat varieties and adequate moisture, as well as a well-established no-till system and excellent management practices by the producer for the abundant yields in Furnas County.

Farther west, Keith County plots yielded well for dryland, averaging 54 bushel. "My technician, Jeff Golus, said that he could still see the furrows at harvest time that were made at drilling, because they didn have enough rain to wash those furrows down," Klein said. "That crop lived mainly on the sub-soil moisture accumulated the previous year in fallow."

Klein tested wheat varieties with farmer cooperators in Chase, Furnas, Holt, Keith and Red Willow counties and at UNL's West Central Research and Extension Center in Lincoln County. Irrigated plots in Chase and Holt counties provide data in those two wheat-growing areas that might not be available otherwise.

"Since we have quite a few wheat producers who have irrigated wheat, those plots provide us with some good information on irrigated wheat varieties," Klein said.

Variety Selection

Even in the Furnas County plots, winter wheat varieties yielded from 60.2 to 101.5 bushels per acre.

The producer's choice of wheat varieties is crucial in achieving top yields and also in managing risk, Klein said. Producers should select three or four varieties with complementary traits or blend varieties if the operation is too small to plant several varieties. For example, a grower might select a high yielding variety with less winter hardiness and balanceit with a variety that yields a little less but has good winter hardiness.

For more information on the 2008 Irrigated Winter Wheat Variety Tests and the 2008 Dryland Winter Wheat Variety Tests, contact your local Extension office. Complete results for all UNL wheat trials conducted in 2008 are available on the Internet at http://varietytest.unl.edu/winterwheat/2008.html.

The following tables show data on each plot's top 10 hybrids and plot averages.

Faith Colburn
Extension Communications Specialist
West Central REC, North Platte

Table 1. Top 10 winter wheat varieties at five field trials conducted in UNL's West Central District in 2008.

Table 1a. Chase County Irrigated Wheat — 2008
Company	Variety	Yield	Moisture	BushelWt	Height	Lodging	Protein	Seedwt
----	NE03490	97	8.9	59.6	30	0.1	10.5	12.66
WESTBRED	Aspen (W)	93.6	8.8	59.4	35	0.1	11.4	13.16
AGRIPRO	Hawken	92.8	8.8	59.2	32	0	11.4	14.61
AGRIPRO	TAM 111	91.1	13	59.4	36	0.1	10.7	12.54
----	NI04436	91.1	9.5	60.4	36	0	10.5	11.31
----	NI05714	90.9	12.6	60.2	37	1	11.4	13.07
----	NX04Y2107	90.7	8.6	58	35	0	11.1	12.19
----	Bill Brown	90.6	9.1	59.6	34	0.1	10.5	14.29
----	NE01481	90.3	8.9	58.9	38	0	11.3	14.49
----	Wesley	88.9	8.8	59	33	0.2	11.3	13.05
Average of 35		85.1	9.9	59.8	35	0.7	11.2	13.16

Table 1b. Furnas County Winter Wheat Variety Test — 2008.
Brand	Variety	Yield	Moisture	BushelWt	Height	Lodging	Protein	Seedwt
----	Overley	101.5	8.7	59.7	39	28.3	11.2	12.8
----	NI04420	101.4	9.2	60.4	37	10.6	11.1	13.2
AGRIPRO	PostRock	101.4	9.2	60.5	35	4.7	10.3	12.4
AGRIPRO	NuDakota (W)	100.7	8.1	57.8	34	16.3	10.6	13.9
AGRIPRO	Art	98.8	9.3	60.7	34	20.2	11.3	14.8
----	2145	98.0	9.3	60.4	35	9.7	10.4	13.6
AGRIPRO	TAM 111	98.0	9.8	61.7	38	11.3	9.9	12.9
Husker Genetics	Overland	97.9	9.4	60.4	41	10.2	11.1	13.5
----	2137	96.8	8.9	59.4	37	6.7	10.1	13.4
WESTBRED	Smoky Hill	96.8	8.8	59.5	36	30.6	10.7	14.3
Average of 43		90.6	9.0	59.7	38	27.0	10.6	13.9

Table 1c. Keith County Winter Wheat Variety Test — 2008.
Brand	Variety	Yield	Moisture	BushelWt	Height	Protein	Seedwt
----	Ripper	61.5	7.8	59.7	28	11.6	13.77
----	Alliance	60.5	8.2	61.3	28	10.8	15.00
----	Wahoo	59.1	8.2	61.2	31	11.1	14.61
----	NE03490	58.9	7.9	60.4	28	11.2	14.37
----	Hatcher	58.3	9.2	62.0	28	10.9	14.63
----	Arrowsmith (W)	58.2	8.2	60.0	33	11.2	15.54
----	NE04424	57.2	8.5	62.6	32	11.3	14.33
----	Trego (W)	57.2	8.4	61.7	28	11.4	14.19
Husker Genetics	Overland	56.5	8.5	62.2	33	11.3	14.78
AGRIPRO	TAM 111	56.4	8.6	61.5	31	11.2	14.44
Average of 43		53.9	8.4	61.5	30	11.6	14.60

Table 1d. Lincoln County Winter Wheat Variety Test — 2008.
Brand	Variety	Yield	Moisture	BushelWt	Height	Lodging	Seedwt
WESTBRED	Smoky Hill	78.6	8.2	58.8	37	0	14.51
----	NE04490	71.6	8.2	59.1	36	0	14.14
----	2137	69.3	7.7	57.7	38	0	14.70
----	Wesley	67.9	7.3	56.5	39	0	14.92
----	Ripper	67.1	6.9	54.9	38	0	14.64
----	Alliance	66.1	7.9	57.6	40	10	15.26
----	Arrowsmith (W)	64.2	7.9	57.3	39	0	16.30
----	Trego (W)	63.8	7.8	57.6	39	0	14.64
Husker Genetics	Overland	63.7	7.8	56.9	37	0	15.31
----	Jagger	62.9	7.8	57.3	38	0	15.39
Average of 43		58.9	7.8	57.3	38	6.5	15.51

Table 1e. Red Willow County Winter Wheat Variety Test — 2008.
Brand	Variety	Yield	Moisture	BushelWt	Height	Lodging	Protein	Seedwt
AGRIPRO	Art	83.7	8.9	59.8	35.0	1.0	12.0	16.37
WESTBRED	Smoky Hill	81.9	8.2	59.3	33.0	0.5	11.9	15.91
----	Alliance	81.7	8.4	59.4	38.0	7.8	10.8	14.89
----	NE01481	80.8	8.2	58.4	37.0	1.0	10.5	15.23
AGRIPRO	TAM 111	80.4	9.3	60.9	38.0	4.8	11.5	14.27
WESTBRED	Winterhawk	80.1	8.5	60.0	36.0	1.7	11.2	14.18
----	Trego (W)	80.0	9.1	60.1	35.0	0.0	11.3	14.62
----	Arrowsmith (W)	79.8	8.6	60.2	39.0	2.0	11.3	14.42
----	2137	79.3	7.8	59.3	35.0	2.2	10.8	14.89
AGRIPRO	Hawken	78.8	7.7	58.9	31.0	0.7	11.8	15.77
Average of 43		74.0	8.3	59.4	36.0	4.6	11.7	14.90

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