2019 Hard Red Spring Wheat
2019 was yet another unique year in the Northern Great Plains. After a long and very cold winter, with above average snow accumulation, fields warmed up and dried out slowly. Planting was later than normal, and many fields suffered from wet conditions all year. These conditions resulted in rampant bacterial leaf streak (BLS) in many areas, especially on heavy soils. Cooler wetter conditions persisted throughout the summer resulting in delayed harvest in many areas, in some cases much delayed; this resulted in low falling numbers (FN) due to sprouting. The cool wet conditions may have broken or reduced preharvest dormancy in some of these environments. September had record rainfall which made a mess of any HRS left in the field.
TCG-Spitfire really stands out in 2019; it performed very well in the BLS impacted areas, which accounted for much of its outstanding yield performance in 2019. It has been a very consistent performer over the past 4 years with a great combination of standability, yield and medium protein. It is consistent across environments, and it handles moisture stress well on good ground. Like many other varieties delayed harvest did result in lower falling numbers in 2019. This has not been a problem in the past, but timely harvest is important for all HRS varieties, to preserve quality.
TCG-Heartland performed very well as a good standing companion variety with TCG-Spitfire, it has better standability, much higher protein and TW, better scab resistance under management (fungicide). It does not have the level of BLS resistance of TCG-Spitfire, but has a better FN profile, that still declines with delayed harvest, like all varieties. TCG-Heartland is a patented (pending) certified seed only (CSO) variety.
TCG-Climax produces very high protein and very high TW seed year in year out, with good late season standability; this can be seen in the 4 year summary.
TCG-Glennville continues to perform as a short, early, good standing, high protein management HRS for good environments north of Highway 2. It can get pushed when grown further south.
TCG-Wildfire continues to look very good as a good yielding medium high protein option on tough alkali ground. It handled BLS well in both 2018 and 2019 and it is a solid performer in its area of adaptation.
All the TCG HRS varieties are good standing management wheat in their areas of adaptation, with MS scab ratings of varying strength. They are meant to be treated with fungicide at least once, at flowering.