To evaluate the performance of selected winter wheat varieties in an agronomic production environment in Northwestern Montana.
Winter wheat varieties were planted on September 28, 2020. The variety trial was not managed with supplemental irrigation, however the field has sub surface moisture available from a high water table. The herbicides Axial Bold and Cleansweep were applied on May 27, 2021 to control emerged annual weeds (Table 1). No other crop protection products were applied. Data collection included winter survival scoring after spring green up, heading date, plant height, yield, test weight, % protein, and thousand kernel weight. Grain yield was harvested on August 13, 2021.
Winter wheat grain yield ranged from a low of 115.2 bu/acre for StandClear CLP to a high of 161.3 bu/acre for LCS Jet, with an overall average of 135 bu/acre. The varieties LCS Jet, Loma, FourOSix, Byrd CL Plus, and Keldin where the highest yielding, ranging from 161.3 to 146.9 bu/acre (Table 1). Top performing varieties for protein content were Brawl CL Plus 12.44%, Warhorse 12.22%, Bobcat 11.93%, MT1872 11.92%, MTCS20156 11.90%, Loma 11.81%, and MTCL1737 at 11.77% (Table 2). The tallest variety at flowering was Ray at an average height of 39 inches (Table 2). The variety Loma was a top performing variety in all grain quality measures including yield, test weight, and protein.