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Michigan wheat performance trials available

A wheat breeder says 2016 variety trials had extremely good yields when under intensive management.

Eric Olsen with Michigan State University tells Brownfield high yielding wheat starts with good genetics.  “The Sanilac County environment—that was the highest yielding environment this year and at the top of the yield trial there was a variety yielding 152 bushels which is generally unheard of.”

He says an early planting season and a warm winter got the crop off to a good start and dry growing conditions made fusarium head blight fairly absent. Olsen says heat stress limited wheat yields and very high levels of stripe rust allowed for strong genetic resistant results in the trials. “Very low levels of DON in grain samples at mills and the falling numbers, particularly in the white wheat growing counties, were quite high so we had good quality.”

Olsen says Michigan is the largest soft white winter wheat producer outside of the Pacific Northwest, and demand by millers and food companies such as Kellogg, Kraft and Jiffy has led to more research of high yielding varieties.

AUDIO: Interview with Eric Olsen