RESULTS OF SPRING WHEAT VARIETIES GROWN IN COOPERATIVE PLOT AND NURSERY EXPERIMENTS IN THE SPRING WHEAT REGION IN 1993 The year 1993 was the 65th in the history of the uniform regional testing program. Data summarized in this report were obtained from (1) the uniform regional hard red spring nursery, and (2) the uniform regional durum nursery. NEW VARIETIES Hard Red Spring Wheat - NONE SPRING WHEAT PRODUCTION Spring Wheat Other Than Durum. Growers produced an estimated 579 million bushels (15.6 million metric tons), down 23 percent from the 1992 production and up 15 percent from 1991. Yield averaged 34 bushels per acre, down 8 bushels per acre from 1992. Area harvested totaled 18.2 million acres (7.1 million hectares), 3 percent less that the 18.7 million acres (7.32 million hectares) in 1992. Seeding of the spring wheat ranged greatly from early in some of the drier areas to later than normal. The early seeded wheat encountered reasonably good growing conditions until mid-June. Cool wet weather followed in July, August and September in Minnesota and the eastern portions of North and South Dakota. Fusarium head blight attacked wheat from the southern to the northern growing areas, including Manitoba, Canada. The results were devastating for both yield and quality of the grain. About 300 samples of wheat in Minnesota were evaluated for DON and averaged higher than the acceptable limit for human recommended guidelines (2ppm). Wheat planted somewhat later often escaped produced good yields with higher test weight and acceptable DON levels. Leaf rust was also present in epidemic proportions, but most of the spring wheats grown have adequate resistance. Loss estimates from scab due decreased yield and quality to the just the Minnesota wheat crop were estimated to exceed $300 million. The 1993 Spring Wheat Crop The Statistical Reporting Service, USDA, preliminary report: SPRING WHEAT OTHER THAN DURUM Acres (1000) Yield (BU/A) Bushels (1000) ----------------- ------------------ ------------------------ State 1991 1992 1993 1991 1992 1993 1991 1992 1993 Minnesota 2,070 2,800 2,500 31 50 33 64,170 137,500 75,900 Montana 2,400 2,560 2,750 34 30 34 81,860 73,500 90,100 North Dakota 6,850 9,200 9,700 31 42 32 212,350 282,200 291,200 South Dakota 1,750 2,700 2,200 28 34 27 49,000 85,000 54,540 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USA 15,875 15,100 18,698 33 42 34 504,565 755,218 579,060