MAYVIEW SPRING WHEAT – 2005 WSU VARIETY TESTING DATA
1. 2005 Spring Wheat data from the WSU Variety Testing nursery at the Mayview location averaged 28.4, 30.5, and 34.3 bu/ac for soft white spring, hard white spring and hard red spring wheat, respectively. (The Mayview nursery is located approximately 20 miles NE of Pomeroy, WA on the breaks of the Snake River – about 5 miles from Lower Granite Dam, R. Koller farm). The 2005 spring wheat average yields were lower by 39.2%, 35.5% and 27.5% for soft white spring, hard white spring and hard red spring wheat, respectively, compared to the historical 3-year average. This nursery was planted re-crop following a 2004 winter wheat crop.
2. TEST WEIGHT values were low, probably influenced by late season dry soil conditions coupled with fairly shallow root distribution caused by seasonal May/June 2005 precipitation patterns that allowed roots to survive on surface moisture and limited development to deeper soil depths. The shallow root development was most detrimental during grain fill when roots were sitting in dry soil.
3. HEADING DATES were similar to the previous year; however, on heading averaged about 3-4 days earlier in 2005.
4. STRIPE RUST infections were present in this nursery. In general, susceptible varieties had the lower yield values and lower test weight values. Most notable was FIELDER soft white common that only had a yield of 15.6 bu/ac and a 38.1 lb/bu test weight. An interesting observation is HOLLIS HRS that is resistant to stripe rust but had the lowest yield average in the hard red spring nursery. This can probably be attributed to an average plant height of 36 inches that exceeded the average of all other varieties (27.3 inches) by over 9 inches. Apparently moisture was used for the extra plant growth and development at the expense of yield.
5. In general, variety YIELD RANKINGS were similar to 3-year historical yield rankings. Exceptions were varieties that were susceptible to stripe rust that did not perform as well in 2005.
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