The 2023 Kansas Performance Tests with Winter Wheat Varieties report is now online. The Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station annually compares both new and currently grown varieties in the state’s major crop-producing areas. These performance tests generate unbiased performance information designed to help Kansas growers select wheat varieties suited for their area and conditions.
In this report, you will find a recap of the 2022-23 wheat crop, with a detailed discussion of weather conditions from planting through grain filling. The 2023 winter wheat crop in Kansas had a rough start to the season due to a number of factors. During an entire week in late December, temperatures dropped well into negative values, which, combined with the drought, led to widespread winterkill damage in north central Kansas. From a regional perspective, the worst crop conditions occurred in far southwest Kansas, where many times the wheat did not emerge until sometime in May and led to crop termination. From a cropping systems perspective, the extreme drought caused large differences in the yield potential of the wheat crop as a function of the previous crop and the presence of a fallow period. A summary of insect pressure and diseases is also included.
Producers and crop consultants can use this resource to help select wheat varieties for their operation by checking for varieties that show consistently good performance in their region. One-year or one-location results can be misleading because of the possibility of unusual weather or pest conditions. Be sure to keep extenuating environmental conditions in mind when examining test results.
The online version of the 2023 variety performance report is available here: https://bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/SRP1179.pdf
Performance test results from previous years are available at https://www.agronomy.k-state.edu/outreach-and-services/crop-performance-tests/wheat/
