Wheat test plot tour participants forced inside by Friday night storm

McCOOK, Neb. -- While the thunder cracked, the lightning flashed, and the hail pounded, close to 50 area farmers clustered inside Randy Peters' spacious seed production building last Friday evening, hearing a pre-harvest update from plant breeders and seed company representatives.

The annual Wheat Plot Tour -- featuring the University of Nebraska's leading plant breeder, Dr. Steve Baenziger -- turned into a Wheat Plot Talk, as the mid-June rainstorm kept the crowd indoors. Despite the quick-hitting storm, which sprung up just before the meeting started, Randy Peters, the event's host, said the gathered group was still treated to a good update, with information shared by five different speakers.

Even though it was hard to hear -- because of the rain peppering the roof and the thunder popping loudly outside -- the speakers had some encouraging, although not immediately impactful, news to report.

Dr. Baenziger, the headliner, announced what many from this area already knew: the wheat plot on the Peters' farm is the best in Nebraska, qualifying it as the only "elite nursery" plant breeding site in the state.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Wheat Plot in Southwest Nebraska is placed annually on the Peters' farmland, but it is moved each year to test how the new varieties do in land with different soils, contours and rotational situations.

This year's plot -- planted Sept. 10, 2015, by the UN-L Husker Genetics' crew directed by Der. Baenziger -- is located on the Red Willow-Hitchcock County line, approximately 31⁄2 miles due south of U.S. Highways 6-34.

Although this year's attendees didn't get to see the plot -- because of the pounding rain -- they were assured by Baenziger that it is thriving, once again verifying this region's wheat production potential.

Replicated wheat plots, used by university researchers and seed wheat companies to test the quality and productivity of new varieties, are just small strips, typically about five feet wide and six feet long. Although very small, the test plots are exceptionally revealing because the researchers pack them with up to 20 varieties which they place in different order in each row, multiplying the results and giving the plant breeders added insights about the seeds' adaptability to different conditions.

The wheat test plot tests -- whether they are managed by university breeders or seed companies -- are entirely handled by the test teams, who do the planting, treating, fertilizing, spraying, harvesting and, if irrigated, the watering of the plots.

Once again, the 2015-16 wheat plot tests look promising, with great growth and lack of disease, despite insect threats which were averted with treatment at planting time and the timely application of fungicide.

In addition to Dr. Baenziger's encouraging report, the group gathered at the Peters' seed barn also received updates from Matt Keating, a Syngenta representative from Kearney; Drew Hendrickson, a Lima Grain representative from Fort Collins, Colorado; Chris Hansen, a WesBred representative from Salina, Kansas; and Joe Westoff, a Colorado Plains Gold representative from Wiggins, Colorado.

"The seed company reps not only had valuable insights to share," Peters said, "but they also had facts and figures to back up their findings, using charts to show the true cost of seed wheat compared to the use of bin-run plantings."

Of major importance, according to Peters and the speakers, is the treatment of seed at planting time. "It helps protect against insects and the weather challenges that all crops face," Peters said, adding that, "With prices like they are, those of us in the wheat-growing business need every advantage we can get."