This research was funded by USDA-NIFA, Walton Family Foundation, Albert Lea Seed House, Green Cover, North Dakota State University and KWS.
In a Nutshell:
- Eleven cereal rye varieties and one triticale variety were screened at four Iowa State University research farms.
Key Findings:
- Across sites and varieties, average cereal rye yield was 42.6 bu/ac.
- Hybrid cereal rye varieties Bono, Receptor, Serafino and Tayo were the top yielding varieties across all sites except Greenfield, where Tulus (triticale) was the highest yielding.
- Hazlet, Danko and Aroostook were the top yielding open-pollinated varieties across all sites.
Background
This was the fifth year that Practical Farmers of Iowa coordinated cereal rye variety trials at Iowa State University research farms at Kanawha (north-central Iowa) and Nashua (northeast Iowa); it was the third year of trials at ISU research farms at Boone (central Iowa) and Greenfield (southwest Iowa). In 2023, we once again included one winter triticale variety (Tulus) along with 11 cereal rye varieties. In 2019, the average cereal rye yield across three sites in northern Iowa was 43 bu/ac.[1]
In 2020, the average cereal rye yield across the same northern Iowa sites was 39 bu/ac.[2] In 2021, the average cereal rye yield across the four research farms was 65.3 bu/ac.[3] In 2022, the average cereal rye yield across the four research farms was 81.3 bu/ac.[4] Cereal rye variety trials conducted by the University of Minnesota reported an average yield of 92.9 bu/ac in 2022.[5]
Plots at the cereal rye variety trial at Boone on May 10, 2023.
Methods
Variety trials were conducted at four locations in 2023: ISU Northern Research Farm in Kanawha; ISU Northeast Research Farm in Nashua; ISU Ag Engineering and Agronomy Farm in Boone; ISU Southwest Research Farm in Greenfield. Production characteristics and some breeding history about each of the trialed varieties can be found in Table 1. Information on winter hardiness, days to heading, plant height and ergot susceptibility can be sourced from the University of Minnesota.[5] Rye management information is provided with the results from each location. No herbicide, insecticide or fungicide were applied at any location.
Statistical significance is determined at the 90% confidence level and means separations were determined using Tukey’s least significant difference (LSD).
Results and Discussion
Data were analyzed by location and reported yields are corrected for 14% moisture. A “percentage of test average” calculation for 2023 is included to aid in comparing entries at each location. The yield average is provided for varieties that were also trialed in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Rainfall and temperature data were accessed from the nearest weather station from each trial location.[6]
Across all sites and varieties, the average yield was 42.6 bu/ac in 2023, lower than the yield averages of 2022 and 2021 but similar to those in 2020 and 2019 [1-4].
Precipitation in 2023 fell far below the 10-year averages at all sites. As in previous years, the highest yielding varieties across all sites and at Boone, Kanawha and Nashua individually were Bono, Receptor, Serafino and Tayo, all hybrid varieties [4]. At Greenfield, Tulus, another hybrid variety, was the highest yielding variety and yields of other varieties were statistically similar. Yields of all varieties at Greenfield were much lower than those at the three other sites. Over the five years of variety trials, hybrid varieties have out-yielded open-pollinated varieties by about 30 bu/ac and are consistently shorter in stature as well as far less prone to lodging [4]. ND Dylan and ND Gardner, two open-pollinated varieties, were consistently the tallest varieties and suffered the most lodging at all four sites.
In 2023, hybrid varieties out-yielded open-pollinated varieties by about 17 bu/ac and were on average about 12 inches shorter. Of the seven open-pollinated cereal rye varieties trialed, Aroostook, Danko and Hazlet were the top yielding varieties across all four sites.
Funding Acknowledgement
This work is supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, grant number F9000315202081 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
We would also like to express our gratitude to Albert Lea Seed House, Green Cover, North Dakota State University and KWS for donating seed for these variety trials.
References
- S. Gailans, “Cereal Rye Variety Trial 2019,” Practical Farmers of Iowa Cooperators’ Program, 2019. Accessed: Jun. 27, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://practicalfarmers.org/research/cereal-rye-variety-trial-2019/
- S. Gailans and L. English, “Cereal Rye Variety Trial 2020,” Practical Farmers of Iowa Cooperators’ Program, 2020. Accessed: Jun. 27, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://practicalfarmers.org/research/cereal-rye-variety-trial-2020/
- S. Gailans and L. English, “Cereal Rye Variety Trial 2021,” Practical Farmers of Iowa Cooperators’ Program, 2021. Accessed: Jun. 27, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://practicalfarmers.org/research/cereal-rye-variety-trial-2021/
- S. Gailans, “Cereal Rye and Triticale Variety Trial 2022,” Practical Farmers of Iowa. https://practicalfarmers.org/research/cerealrye-and-triticale-variety-trial-2022/ (accessed Jun. 27, 2023).
- J. Wiersma, “Winter Rye Field Crop Variety Trials,” 2022. https://varietytrials.umn.edu/winter-rye (accessed Jun. 27, 2023).
- Iowa Environmental Mesonet, “Climodat Reports,” 2023. http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/climodat/ (accessed Jun. 12, 2023).