2008 Test Results

The average state-wide yield of soft red winter wheats tested in the 2008 was 60.4 bu/acre (Table 5), up 21.5 bu/acre from the average grain yield in the 2007 tests (38.9 bu/acre) that was severely affected by a late spring freeze in April of 2007. In 2008, the state-wide yield was 12.2 bushels lower than the record yield (72.6 bu/acre) achieved in the 2003 Missouri Winter Wheat Performance Tests. Average yields across the seven test locations ranged from a low of 43.3 bu/acre at Lamar (Table 11) to a high of 82.5 bu/acre at Charleston (Table 9). Average regional yields ranged from 50.6 bu/acre in the southwest to 62.0 bu/acre in the north, and 75.3 bu/acre in the southeast (Table 13). In the northern region, Fusarium head blight (scab) was significant at all locations. At Trenton, planting was delayed due to late soybean harvest. Temperatures were cold and conditions were wet which reduced stand establishment and affected fall tillering and winter survival in most varieties. In the southwest, barley yellow dwarf virus affected crop yields in many varieties. Yields were lowest at the Lamar location due to excessive spring rainfall and a hail event that may have reduced grain yield by as much as 8 bu/acre in some varieties. ‘EXCEL 400-1’ and ‘Pioneer ® Variety 25R62’ were the highest yielding soft red winter wheat varieties tested, averaging 66.9 bu/acre across the state (Table 5). Eighteen varieties were not significantly different from these two top yielding varieties. The experimental variety ‘MO 11126’ developed at the University of Missouri was the top yielding public variety. It will be released in the summer of 2008.

State-wide, the average test weight of entries evaluated was 53.7 lb/bu (Table 5), up 0.3 lb/bu from the state-wide average (53.4 lb/bu) recorded in the 2007 Missouri Winter Wheat Performance Tests. Test weights in the northern region were significantly affected by Fusarium head blight in susceptible varieties and by excessive rainfall throughout the harvest period at all northern locations. The wet harvest period also affected test weights at Lamar and Mt. Vernon. Test weights ranged from a low of 51.5 lb/bu recorded at Novelty (Table 7) to a high of 56.6 lb/bu recorded at Portageville (Table 10). State-wide, ‘AgriPro COKER W1377’ had the heaviest test weight (56.4 lb/bu) of soft red winter wheats tested (Table 5). Test weights of Roane (56.1 lb/bu) and COKER 9511 (55.5 lb/bu) were not significantly different from that of AgriPro COKER W1377.