Southeast Extension Agronomy Wheat Variety Testing Doug Shoup, Zach Simon, Randy Hein, Jill Zimmerman, Ryan Flaming, and Jenni Carr, Romulo Lollato, Erick DeWolf, and Allan Fritz Kansas State University

Kansas Wheat Variety Testing Kansas is the wheat state Approximately 8.5 million acres of wheat The Southeast Extension programming area is 17% of the Kansas wheat The number one county for wheat is Sumner county 61% more wheat planted than the next highest county (RN)

County Wheat Variety Tests Kansas Wheat Variety Testing County Wheat Variety Tests Kansas Extension Agents have a wide network of county wheat demonstration plots Over 70 wheat tours scheduled in KS in 2016 Agents, area specialists, state specialists, and both public and private wheat breeders Variety yield potential, acid soil tolerance, winter hardiness, maturity Disease tolerance and fungicide applications Other topics include fertility, insects, weed control, and wheat planting practices

SEKS Extension Wheat Variety Testing Kansas Wheat Variety Testing SEKS Extension Wheat Variety Testing The problem with many county wheat demonstrations is replication Easier to do single strip plots but not statistically valid unless the county has multiple locations Our goal is to provide statistically valid and unbiased data to growers 3 replications Statistical power to identify variety differences Additional testing of fungicides, fertility, fertilizer additives

KSU Wheat Testing Network Kansas Wheat Variety Testing KSU Wheat Testing Network Wheat variety testing in southeast KS Conway Springs Hutchinson Moundridge Arkansas City Caldwell Argonia Belle Plaine Clearwater Andale Newton

Wheat Information Dissemination Kansas Wheat Variety Testing Wheat Information Dissemination Each spring we host a wheat tour at each of the 7 county replicated plots Coordinated effort between agents and specialists Average 350 growers each spring Custom plot harvester Data analysis and release report thru county agents Summer preplant wheat meetings Data review Presentations on wheat production practices

Preplant Wheat Meeting Data Kansas Wheat Variety Testing Preplant Wheat Meeting Data

Impact to Local Growers Kansas Wheat Variety Testing Impact to Local Growers County wheat plots are well received by the local growers in one of the biggest wheat producing regions in KS. Many seed purchasing decisions are based on the results received from our multi-year data. One producer in particular visited with Randy Hein, the Sumner County Agent, about the 2012 wheat results and noticed that the three varieties that he had been saving for numerous years were three of the lower yielding varieties in our tests. The next season he replaced two of his older varieties with newer higher-yielding varieties and told Randy that 2013 was one of the best wheat production years he had ever observed. While it is difficult to definitively say the yield impact our work had on this 3000 acre wheat producer, it is likely we significantly increased his profitability in 2013 and likely for the years to come.

Are our efforts making a difference? Kansas Wheat Variety Testing Are our efforts making a difference? Producer survey at our two preplant wheat meetings (Wichita and Oxford) 120 in attendance for the 2 preplant meetings Nearly half of the audience responded to the survey 97% found the wheat variety performance trials “Valuable” or “Very Valuable” 3% found “Somewhat Valuable” 98% said the variety performance trial results will impact their management

Kansas Wheat Variety Testing Producer Impact Will our variety performance trial results impact the profitability of your operation? 42 growers responded with wheat acreage and $/acre improvement 47,000 wheat acres represented in the survey $4000,000 to $650,000 dollars in improvement

Kansas Wheat Variety Testing Our Mission Our Agronomy mission is to increase profitability while being stewards for our resources I have satisfaction in my job when I help producers improve their operation I take pride in capturing dollars that would have been lost otherwise Pest control, variety selection, improved fertility