1999 Missouri Winter Wheat Performance Tests McKendry, Sweets, Wright, Tague, Salzman, Mattas Statistical Analyses and Interpretation --------------------------------------- Data collected on all traits measured in the soft red winter wheats tested during the 1998-99 crop season are presented in Tables 6 through 15. Data for the hard red winter wheats are given in Tables 16 through 20. Data presented for individual locations as well as regional, state-wide and multi-year data for both tests result from analysis based on a randomized complete block design. For both soft and hard wheat tests, if an observation was missing in one replication an adjusted average of the remaining observations (least squares mean) was used to approximate the missing observation. Mean comparisons were made using Fisher's protected least significant difference (LSD) at the 0.05 probability level (p=0.05). Coefficients of variation (CV%) were calculated from the analyses of variance of each location and across all locations. The LSD is used to compare the performance of two specific varieties. If the mean of a variety exceeds that of another variety by more than the LSD, then the difference observed will be a true difference in 19 out of 20 instances under conditions similar to those of the test. Differences in yield between any two varieties are considered significant or real only if that difference exceeds the LSD value given at the bottom of each column. Tables 15 and 20 rank the soft red and hard red winter wheats, respectively, according to their state-wide average. Overall rank can be very misleading. Growers should be careful to make pair-wise comparisons of results from both the appropriate location or locations and the state-wide averages before selecting one wheat variety over another for production in Missouri. Variety selection should be based on yield stability in a production environment over years and locations. Where a variety has been in the test for two or three years, combined analyses of the yield data over years are presented. In choosing a variety, other characteristics such as test weight, heading date and disease resistance should also be taken into consideration. Where disease data were not reported in a particular production environment, they can be evaluated from locations in which they were rated.