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Crop and Soil Environmental News, September 2005
Wade Thomason, Extension Grains Specialist; Dave Starner, Superintendent Northern Piedmont AREC; Steve Gulick, Technician, Northern Piedmont AREC; Alvin Hood, Technician, Northern Piedmont AREC.
A forage production trial of commercial barley, oat, rye, triticale, and wheat cultivars has been conducted yearly from 1994-2005 at the Northern Piedmont AREC, Orange. Long-term results were published in 2004 and are available on the web at http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/forage/418-019/418-019.pdf.
This report presents the results and precipitation from this trial in the 2004-05 growing season.
Preplant fertilizer of 25-118-40 was applied on Sept 27, 2004. Plots were planted on Oct. 8, 2004 and were seven, seven inch rows wide by 16 feet long. Tiller counts were made on March 7, 2005 and 60 lb. nitrogen per acre was applied on March 10, 2005. The plots were harvested for forage yield at the boot (GS 45) and soft dough (GS 85) stages for barley, oats, triticale, and wheat and at the boot and flowering stages for rye. The entire length of the plots was harvested with a 12-inch Jari sickle-bar mower and weighed with a tripod and hanging (milk) scale. Precipitation for the growing season, compared to the 63-yr average, is listed below.
| 2004 - 2005 | 63 year avg. | |
| October | 0.73 | 3.41 |
| November | 4.56 | 3.37 |
| December | 2.63 | 3.06 |
| January | 3.88 | 2.83 |
| February | 1.44 | 2.58 |
| March | 3.98 | 3.61 |
| April | 3.53 | 3.05 |
| May | 3.19 | 3.85 |
| June 1 - 22 | 0.77 | 3.08 |
| Total | 24.71 | 28.84 |
Results are reported for 35 percent dry matter (DM), DM yield, and nutritive value for oats, wheat, barley, rye, and triticale crops.
Experimental plots vary in yield and other measurements due to their location in the field and other factors which cannot be controlled. The statistics given in the tables are intended to help the reader make valid comparisons between cultivars. The magnitude of differences which may have been due to experimental error has been computed for the data and listed at the bottom of columns as the LSD (.05) (least significant difference with 95 percent confidence). Differences must be greater that the LSD to be believed to truly exist.
Table 1. Small Grain Forage Variety Test Northern Piedmont AREC, Orange, VA 2004 - 2005 Boot Stage |
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Cultivar |
Species† |
Harvest Date |
Height (inches) |
% Ground Cover |
Lodging % |
% Crude Protein |
ADF % |
NDF % |
TDN % |
35% DM Yield (tons/ac) |
DM Yield (tons/ac) |
| Nomini | B | 4/19 | 29 | 100 | 0 | 16.45 | 30.78 | 51.03 | 68.50 | 7.59 | 2.66 |
| Price | B | 4/19 | 27 | 100 | 0 | 17.90 | 29.88 | 48.95 | 70.00 | 7.83 | 2.74 |
| Starling | B | 4.19 | 27 | 100 | 0 | 16.83 | 30.13 | 50.85 | 69.25 | 8.25 | 2.89 |
| Thoroughbred | B | 4.25 | 31 | 100 | 0 | 16.13 | 31.40 | 53.73 | 67.25 | 8.37 | 2.93 |
| SS 76-30 | P | 5/4 | 30 | 90 | 0 | 14.88 | 29.48 | 48.70 | 71.00 | 7.41 | 2.59 |
| Early Grazer | R | 4/7 | 35 | 100 | 0 | 21.98 | 27.85 | 47.35 | 68.50 | 6.17 | 2.16 |
| Wheeler | R | 4/27 | 49 | 100 | 10 | 17.58 | 33.75 | 54.43 | 67.00 | 10.87 | 3.80 |
| RSI01T60042 | T | 5/2 | 38 | 96 | 0 | 15.53 | 36.33 | 59.95 | 62.25 | 8.89 | 3.11 |
| Trical 308 | T | 4/25 | 27 | 89 | 0 | 18.70 | 30.38 | 49.55 | 70.25 | 5.16 | 1.81 |
| Trical 815 | T | 5/2 | 35 | 100 | 0 | 15.00 | 35.10 | 63.00 | 64.00 | 13.05 | 4.57 |
| Trical 2115 | T | 4/25 | 27 | 98 | 0 | 18.30 | 31.10 | 49.33 | 69.25 | 6.43 | 2.25 |
| Trical 2700 | T | 5/4 | 43 | 100 | 0 | 14.25 | 38.70 | 61.20 | 62.75 | 11.72 | 4.10 |
| Trical 336 | T | 4/27 | 35 | 100 | 0 | 15.50 | 33.53 | 56.25 | 66.50 | 12.22 | 4.28 |
| Trical 498 | T | 4/25 | 24 | 66 | 0 | 20.45 | 28.60 | 45.55 | 70.50 | 2.38 | 0.83 |
| Trical RSI 342 | T | 4/25 | 31 | 91 | 0 | 17.50 | 30.28 | 50.78 | 68.75 | 4.71 | 1.65 |
| Featherstone 176 | W | 4/27 | 28 | 100 | 0 | 15.08 | 29.70 | 52.63 | 67.75 | 11.13 | 3.90 |
| Jackson | W | 5/4 | 32 | 100 | 0 | 13.33 | 30.88 | 55.35 | 67.50 | 12.97 | 4.54 |
| McCormick | W | 5/4 | 28 | 100 | 0 | 15.90 | 32.53 | 54.80 | 67.50 | 12.16 | 4.26 |
| Roane | W | 5/4 | 30 | 100 | 0 | 15.18 | 31.68 | 54.28 | 68.25 | 12.24 | 4.29 |
| Sisson | W | 5/2 | 33 | 100 | 0 | 14.53 | 30.43 | 54.43 | 68.00 | 12.93 | 4.53 |
| SS MPV 57 | W | 5/2 | 38 | 100 | 0 | 13.88 | 33.38 | 56.68 | 65.75 | 12.41 | 4.34 |
| VA98W-342 | W | 5/2 | 29 | 100 | 0 | 13.48 | 31.53 | 55.98 | 68.25 | 11.43 | 4.00 |
| LSD 0.05 | 2.04 | 1.26 | 0.44 | ||||||||
| † B - Barley, O - Oat, R - Rye, T - Triticale, W - Wheat | |||||||||||
Table 2. Small Grain Forage Variety Test Northern Piedmont AREC, Orange, VA 2004 - 2005 Soft Dough Stage |
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Cultivar |
Species† |
Harvest Date |
Height (inches) |
Lodging % |
% Crude Protein |
ADF % |
NDF % |
TDN % |
35% DM Yield (tons/ac) |
DM Yield (tons/ac) |
| Nomini | B |
5/27 |
44 |
0 |
6.30 |
39.25 |
63.93 |
55 |
21.47 |
7.51 |
| Price | B |
5/27 |
39 |
0 |
6.45 |
36.40 |
62.83 |
57 |
21.22 |
7.43 |
| Starling | B |
5/27 |
43 |
0 |
6.65 |
38.48 |
62.43 |
54 |
22.56 |
7.90 |
| Thoroughbred | B |
5/27 |
43 |
0 |
7.40 |
36.30 |
64.35 |
56 |
21.10 |
7.39 |
| SS 76-30 | P |
5/27 |
47 |
0 |
9.80 |
33.75 |
56.70 |
63 |
15.46 |
5.41 |
| Early Grazer | R |
5/13 |
72 |
3 |
10.15 |
41.15 |
65.00 |
54 |
19.04 |
6.67 |
| Wheeler | R |
5/13 |
73 |
10 |
12.65 |
42.75 |
67.78 |
59 |
16.34 |
5.72 |
| RSI01T60042 | T |
6/13 |
55 |
16 |
5.83 |
43.60 |
72.30 |
50 |
23.71 |
8.30 |
| Trical 308 | T |
6/16 |
36 |
0 |
6.20 |
40.43 |
69.60 |
51 |
13.20 |
4.62 |
| Trical 815 | T |
6/16 |
52 |
0 |
5.80 |
40.30 |
70.30 |
51 |
28.56 |
10.00 |
| Trical 2115 | T |
6/08 |
41 |
0 |
8.05 |
37.15 |
65.85 |
57 |
21.18 |
7.41 |
| Trical 2700 | T |
6/16 |
63 |
3 |
5.28 |
43.68 |
73.80 |
49 |
26.77 |
9.37 |
| Trical 336 | T |
6/16 |
52 |
0 |
6.33 |
40.28 |
69.00 |
52 |
30.18 |
10.56 |
| Trical 498 | T |
6/16 |
40 |
0 |
5.88 |
41.93 |
71.43 |
49 |
11.50 |
4.03 |
| Trical RSI 342 | T |
6/13 |
52 |
0 |
5.75 |
38.73 |
65.35 |
53 |
20.07 |
7.03 |
| Featherstone 176 | W |
6/10 |
41 |
0 |
6.85 |
35.88 |
63.98 |
56 |
26.74 |
9.36 |
| Jackson | W |
6/10 |
42 |
0 |
6.75 |
36.33 |
62.88 |
55 |
26.40 |
9.24 |
| McCormick | W |
6/08 |
36 |
0 |
8.43 |
35.43 |
65.23 |
58 |
24.63 |
8.62 |
| Roane | W |
6/08 |
39 |
0 |
8.35 |
35.18 |
65.20 |
58 |
25.06 |
8.77 |
| Sisson | W |
6/08 |
38 |
0 |
7.70 |
36.13 |
63.00 |
57 |
25.00 |
8.75 |
| SS MPV 57 | W |
6/10 |
42 |
0 |
6.68 |
35.30 |
61.93 |
55 |
27.10 |
9.49 |
| VA98W-342 | W |
6/08 |
35 |
0 |
6.18 |
36.53 |
65.58 |
56 |
22.31 |
7.81 |
| LSD 0.05 | 1.59 |
3.14 |
1.10 |
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† B - Barley, O - Oat, R - Rye, T - Triticale, W - Wheat. |
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The results from 2005 as well as long-term results and summaries are available in Excel format at http://www.grains.cses.vt.edu/grains/small_grain/SG_grain.htm. Click the link to Small Grain Forage Variety Testing (Excel).
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