New CROPLAN Wheat Varieties Show Excellent Potential

Do you have a goal of optimizing your wheat yields? WinField United is testing new varieties to find the next top performers for your fields. If you’re interested in trying out germplasm that’s unique to the industry and even in having a completely different look to your fields, read on.

Two new varieties of CROPLAN^® hard red spring wheat (HRSW) were tested at four North Dakota Answer Plot^® locations in 2019 and are scheduled to be more widely vetted in 2020 through on-farm strip trials and in additional Answer Plot locations. While these wheat varieties will not be available commercially until the 2021 growing season, here’s a preview of early results from both high-performing products.

CP3055: High yield potential and response to nitrogen

If you’re looking for a HRSW variety with very high yield potential, CP3055 is one you’ll want to consider. Answer Plot data from 2019 shows that CP3055 yielded 12 more bushels per acre than the number-one-volume product in our current CROPLAN lineup, which is CP3530 (70.7 bushels per acre vs. 58.6 bushels per acre).1 Performance was excellent across all environments but it tended to perform best in higher-yielding environments. Protein levels were around 0.5% lower than the plot average, but its very high yield potential helps offset the slightly lower protein.

The variety has also been proven to provide:

• Excellent stem strength. This is a tall, sturdy plant with great standability. An exceptionally large flag leaf contributes significantly to its high yield potential.

• Strong disease package. In 2019, bacterial leaf streak posed a major threat to wheat crops across North Dakota and into the Red River Valley of Minnesota. CP3055 has a high tolerance to both bacterial leaf streak and fusarium head blight.

• High response to nitrogen. This variety puts on yield when given additional nitrogen and is a great candidate for split applications of N fertilizer. However, because of its stellar stem strength, added nitrogen won’t cause the plant to lodge, as may occur in other varieties. It also has a low response to population, so while it might take a bit more nitrogen to optimize yield, populations don’t have to be pushed. In fact, CP3055 appears to put on several more kernels per head at lower populations.

• Moderate response to fungicide. Even in the absence of disease, a fungicide application appears to increase the efficiency of internal plant processes in CP3055, increasing yield potential. If the crop looks good and nutrient demands are being met, a fungicide may help you achieve a positive ROI.

CP3099A: Awnless variety for excellent forage quality

If you feed wheat or barley to cattle, you need to cut it early before the plant heads and awns begin to solidify, making forage tough or inedible. CP3099A can be harvested at early dough for maximum tonnage and quality. The plant will have good palatability because there are no awns. If you don’t need all of your HRSW crop for forage, you can leave the rest in the field, harvest it as your normal crop and then sell it.

Compared to our current volume leader CP3530, CP3099A yielded nearly 10 additional bushels per acre in 2019 trials (68.4 compared to 58.6).1 In addition, CP3099A is similar to CP3055 in terms of having excellent stem strength, a strong disease package and good performance at low populations. Yield was also high (13% better than the average yield across the Answer Plot test locations), but protein was fairly low at 12.5%. There are several additional differences.

• Good performance in lower-yielding environments. Judging from the data collected at our four test sites, CP3099A appears to do well on more defensive soils. It also has a moderate response-to-nitrogen score, so it requires less nitrogen to achieve good yield potential. You can still plant it at low populations; however, if you want to feed it to cattle and want more biomass, it has the stem strength to handle higher populations.

• High response-to-fungicide score. At our four test sites, this variety saw a large yield bump as a result of applying a fungicide.

We’re excited about both the yield and ROI potential of these two varieties and will keep you informed about 2020 performance numbers. For more information about CP3055, CP3099A or other CROPLAN wheat varieties, talk with your local WinField United-affiliated retailer.
 

1. Tested at four Answer Plot locations in North Dakota: Berthold, Bismarck, Cando and Fessenden.

All photos are either the property of WinField United or used with permission.

© 2020 WinField United. Important: Before use always read and follow label instructions. Crop performance is dependent on several factors many of which are beyond the control of WinField United, including without limitation, soil type, pest pressures, agronomic practices, and weather conditions. Growers are encouraged to consider data from multiple locations, over multiple years, and be mindful of how such agronomic conditions could impact results. Answer Plot^®, CROPLAN^® and WinField^® are trademarks of WinField United.