VARIETAL TRIALS OF FARM CROPS - 1975
 
 Successful crop production depends to a considerable extent on selecting
 the best varieties for a particular farm.
 
 To provide a basis for the selection of varieties, the Minnesota
 Agricultural Experiment Station compares varieties in trial plots.  These
 trials are conducted on the Agricultural Experiment Stations at St. Paul,
 Rosemount, Waseca, Lamberton, Morris, Crookston, Grand Rapids, and Elk
 River, and on farmers' fields.
 
 Recommended varieties, important old varieties and new varieties are grown
 in replicated plots at each location.  These plots are handled so that the
 factors affecting yield and other characteristics are as nearly the same
 for all varieties at each location as is possible.
 
 On the basis of these comparative trials, the list of varieties recommended
 for use in Minnesota is revised each year by the Experiment Station Crop
 Variety Review Committee.
 
 Data for varieties not included in all trials averaged within a table have
 been adjusted so that averages of varieties tested for different numbers of
 years can be compared directly.
 
 The LSD (Least Significant Difference) figures listed under the yield
 columns in the tables are statistical measures of variability within the
 trials.  This statistic is used to determine whether the difference between
 two yields is due to genetic difference in the varieties or to other causes
 such as soil variability.  If the yield difference between two varieties
 equals or exceeds the LSD, one can conclude that the higher yielding
 variety was superior in yield.  If the difference is less than the LSD, the
 yield difference was probably due to environmental rather than varietal
 differences.  The 5 percent significance level used in this report is based
 on odds of 19 to 1 that yields differing by the amount of the LSD were
 truly different.
 
 For crops where recommendations are made, varietal descriptions are
 arranged in order of "recommended varieties", "varieties not adequately
 tested," and "other varieties", and in alphabetical order within each
 group.
 
 Recommended varieties have performed better than other varieties in
 important characteristics in comparative tests.  A variety usually is not
 eligible for recommendations until it has been tested in Minnesota for at
 least 3 years.  New varieties from other public experiment stations and
 private plant breeders but not sufficiently evaluated here are listed as
 "not adequately tested."  Information now available regarding these
 varieties is presented but no conclusions are drawn regarding their
 suitability under Minnesota conditions.
 
 Varieties listed in the "other varieties" category are usually inferior 
 in one or more characteristics, as demonstrated in comparative tests.
 
 These trials are designed for variety and not crop (species) comparisons,
 because the various crops were grown on different fields or with different
 management.  The data should only be used to compare varieties within a
 table.
 
 Relative maturities of varieties are indicated in the tables as date
 mature, heading, or blooming; days to mature, heading, or blooming; or
 moisture percentage at harvest.
 
 Author of the hard red spring wheat is R.E. Heiner; Information on the
 reaction of varieties to specific pathogens was largely obtained by D.V.
 McVey, A.P. Roelfs, and R.D. Wilcoxson. Field work on the variety trials at
 Waseca, Lamberton, Morris, Crookston, and Grand Rapids was supervised by
 W.E. Lueschen, J.H. ford, D.D. Warnes, L.J. Smith, and D.L. Rabas,
 respectively.