Sally Jones-Diamond
Colorado State University
Crops Testing Program Director & Extension Crop Production Specialist
There are many variety options to choose from for fall 2022 wheat planting. The best variety to plant depends on your specific situation, and planting more than one variety is highly recommended. The top picks discussed below were chosen based on their non-yield attributes and their performance in the Colorado State University (CSU) wheat variety trials. Crop variety performance trials are conducted by the CSU Crops Testing Program to provide unbiased and reliable information to crop producers to help them make better variety decisions. All the CSU wheat variety trial results and the 2022 Making Better Decisions report can be accessed on our website at www.csucrops.com. A useful resource for comparing varieties is www.ramwheatdb.com, which utilizes university trial data from multiple states to allow you to make head-to-head variety comparisons.
Among the conventional hard red winter (HRW) varieties, Langin from PlainsGold continues to perform well in CSU trials as an early variety with good stripe rust resistance. KS Dallas from Kansas Wheat Alliance is a medium maturing variety with good stripe rust and very good wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) resistance. Avery, Byrd, and Canvas from PlainsGold remain popular and are above average in yield among medium maturity HRW varieties. Whistler from PlainsGold is later maturity and has very good stripe rust and WSMV resistance.
To help combat the devastating wheat stem sawfly (WSS), there are a few options for semi-solid stemmed varieties. AP Solid from AgriPro is a late maturing variety with average yield based on two years of data from our trials. Fortify SF and Amplify SF from PlainsGold also have semi-solid stems, are medium maturing, and have good standability under severe WSS pressure with acceptable yield.
Among the herbicide tolerant hard red varieties, farmers who want to plant varieties in the Clearfield® production system (Beyond® herbicide) should look at Byrd CL Plus from PlainsGold. If using the CoAXium® production system (Aggressor® herbicide), Crescent AX is the top pick for an early maturity variety and Kivari AX for a medium maturity variety, both from PlainsGold.
For producers planting hard white varieties Snowmass 2.0 from PlainsGold has performed well, but a contract with Ardent Mills is required for planting and marketing this variety. KS Silverado from Kansas Wheat Alliance is an option for a high-yielding non-premium variety. It has excellent test weight and above-average protein based on two years of trial data.
Contact your local CSU Extension agronomy agent or contact Sally at 970-214-4611 if you have any questions.