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- 2021 Small Grain Performance Trials
Stephen Harrison, Waltman, William F., Burns, Dennis, Stephenson, Daniel O., Arceneaux, Kelly J., Fluitt, Jacob, Leonards, James P., Price, III, Paul P, Purvis, Myra, Williams, Gregory, Padgett, Guy B., Ezell, Dustin, Collins, Fred L., deNux, Caitlin, Buckley, Blair, Fontenot, Kathryn, Harrell, Dustin L., Groth, Donald E., Kongchum, Manoch
Download Publication ID: RS-224
Small grain variety trials are conducted annually by scientists of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Agricultural Experiment Station (LSUAC) to evaluate grain yield, agronomic performance, and disease reaction of varieties and advanced lines. The trials are conducted at seven LSUAC research stations representative of the major soil and climate regions of the state. Entries are included in the trials based upon previous performance or at the request of the originating agency. Inclusion of an entry in the trials does not constitute an endorsement. The performance trial in north Louisiana is divided by relative maturity into two groups, early and medium-late (normal) to facilitate planting and harvest. The north Louisiana early trial included six varieties (bold font) and four experimental lines (normal font) while the normal trial included 33 commercial varieties and 33 experimental lines. There were 45 entries in the south Louisiana performance trials.
A fungicide split was added to the wheat performance trials at Baton Rouge, Alexandria and Winnsboro starting in 2020. At these locations there were six replications in each trial with three of those receiving two fungicide applications and three without fungicide.
New entries in the statewide trials are tested in the north Louisiana normal trial and in a south Louisiana vernalization trial, unless prior testing in Baton Rouge nurseries indicates an entry is adapted to south Louisiana, in which case it is also tested in the south Louisiana variety trials. South Louisiana consists of the Baton Rouge, Crowley, and Jeanerette locations; whereas North Louisiana consists of locations at Alexandria, Bossier City, St. Joseph, and Winnsboro.
When choosing varieties, growers should consult their local extension agents and choose varieties based on two-year data within a region, not based on a single year or location. Fusarium headblight reaction should also weigh heavily in variety choice.
Growers should also consider specific data from the LSUAC variety trial location that most closely matches the weather and soil conditions of their farm and should avoid growing a single variety on a large acreage.
Growing several varieties helps to hedge against losing the entire crop to chance occurrences in weather or shifts in pathogen or pest races or virulence patterns. Yield, test weight, maturity, and disease resistance are important traits to consider when selecting varieties. If a grower plans to plant wheat early, he should avoid varieties that have a very early heading date in order to reduce the danger of freeze damage. Specific management and cultural practices for a location are presented at the bottom of the tables, along with unusual or key observations about that test. All plots were seeded at the recommended rate with seed provided by the originating agency or company (Appendix A).
2021_SmallGrainsPerformanceTrialspdf / 3.36MB