FAIRFIELD SPRING BARLEY – 2005 WSU VARIETY TESTING DATA
2005 Spring Barley data from the WSU Variety Testing nursery at the Fairfield location averaged 3654 lbs/ac and was 14.0% less than the previous 3-year historical average of 4249 lbs/ac. This nursery was re-cropped following a 2004 winter wheat crop
- The uniqueness 2005 GROWING SEASON (dry/cold spring, wet May 2005, hot/dry weather at the end of June 2005) appeared to influence yields and quality. Average PLANT HEIGHT in the 2005 spring barley nursery was only 27.0 inches compared to 33.0 inches in the previous year (2004). This 18% (6-inches) average difference in plant height appears to have an association with reduced yields, just in terms of plant growth and development.
- TEST WEIGHT values were high for the majority of varieties in this nursery with an average of 51.8 lbs/bu. As experienced in other many of the other 2005 spring barley nurseries, on average, 6-row varieties in the Fairfield nursery had lower average test weight values (49.9 lbs/bu) than 2-row varieties (52.3 lbs/bu) which are fairly typical.
- Variety YIELD RANKINGS were fairly consistent when compared to historical yield rankings. Interestingly however, the five commercially used malting barley varieties (Harrington, Morex, AC Metcalfe, Legacy and Tradition) all had nearly the lowest yield yields in the 2005 nursery. As noted in other nurseries, 6-row varieties/lines exhibited lower average yields than 2-row varieties/lines. In the Fairfield nursery, average yields for the 6-row types were 17.2% below 2-row types. Historical (2, 3 and 5-year) averages are the best data sets to use in making varietal choices for this nursery.
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