08/07/07 Benefits from non-uniform wheat stands

Farm and Ranch August 7, 2007 Washington State University winter wheat breeder Steve Jones isn't so focused anymore on ensuring that a new wheat variety has a nice uniform height or table top appearance. Jones: "What we are finding out through experiments, and we are in our third year into it, is that a little height is really beneficial there in terms of yield and things like that. There is ample sunlight above the canopy and in many years, maybe not this year, but in many years and many parts of the state there is plenty of moisture down there too and nutrients. So what we were asking could we capture that extra sunlight and get something out of it. And what we have shown is we can get about a five percent increase by having a field that isn't as neat as we are used too. Most of the growers I talk too say that is just fine. I know we are all used to pretty even fields but I am convinced that in the future we are going to see a lot more variation out there." Jones believes it is beneficial to have that diversity in the field for its own sake as well as for the improved yields. He says he is not aware of any other breeding programs in the country which have focused on the benefits on non-uniform height. Jones: "We are publishing a paper on it within a few months. We have talked to some of the older breeders and they thought it was a good idea too. People may have messed around with it in the past but we are not really aware of that." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.