44 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta THIS annual publication provides information on cereal and oilseed variety performance in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. Important agronomic characteristics and disease resistance information is provided for varieties of wheat, barley, oat, rye, triticale, flax and canola. The Alberta Regional Variety Testing program for cereals and flax is coordinated by the Alberta Regional Variety Advisory Committee (ARVAC) and Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AAF). Funding for the program is provided by: • Alberta Agriculture & Forestry • Alberta Wheat Commission • Alberta Barley Commission • Alberta Oat Growers Association • Alberta Seed Growers • Alberta Seed Processors • Prairie Oat Growers Association • Entry fees for the varieties being tested Data for this publication come from various sources, including: • Alberta Agriculture & Forestry • Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada • British Columbia Grain Producers • CPS Canada • University of Alberta • Alberta Innovates Technology Futures • Farming Smarter • SARDA Ag Research • Battle River Research Group (BRRG) • Chinook Applied Research Association (CARA) • Gateway Research Organization (GRO) • Lakeland Applied Research Association (LARA) • McKenzie Applied Research Association (MARA) • Northern Peace Applied Research Association (NPARA) • Prairie Grain Development Committee • Canola Council of Canada The following individuals are the Regional Variety Trial and crop specific coordinators: • Alex Fedko, Regional Variety Trial Coordinator • Spring wheat, Drs. H. Randhawa, D. Spaner and S. Strydhorst • Barley, J. Anderson • Oat, Dr. J. Mitchell-Fetch • Triticale, Dr. H. Randhawa • Winter Wheat, Dr. R. Graf • Fall Rye, Dr. J. Larsen • Winter Triticale, Dr. J. Larsen • Flax, M. Hartman Sincere thanks are extended to all individuals and organizations that contribute to this publication. Varieties of Cereal and Oilseed Crops for Alberta Yield Results and Reporting Variety choice should never be based solely on yield performance, as it is only one factor that affects net return. The genetic yield potential of a variety is often masked by numerous factors, some of which can be controlled through variety choice and others through astute agronomic management. Producers are encouraged to consider other characteristics such as maturity, plant height, lodging and disease/pest resistance when deciding which varieties to grow. Long-term satisfaction with a variety is often related to non-yield characteristics. New for 2018 On a trial basis for 2018, the yield data for CWRS wheat are reported in two ways. The first method is the traditional manner that has been used since 2010 (see below). New for 2018 is an alternative method that reports head-to-head comparisons of all varieties on the annual trials within a five-year timeframe. This new method retains low and high yield test categories based on the average yield of AC Barrie (60 bu/ac), the long-term check. The advantage of this method is that all comparisons within a column are statistically valid, rather than only to the check. An Overall Yield column is also presented, but in this case all data are reported resulting is a dataset with varying numbers of comparisons over different years. Thus, for the Overall Yield Column, the only valid comparison is back to common check, as has been the case in the traditional method of reporting. Statistical differences among the varieties are also reported for the Overall Yield column. We welcome for comments on this new data reporting format. Also new for 2018 is the inclusion of “benchmark” varieties. Producers have asked for additional checks in the regional variety trials that reflect more commonly grown varieties. To accommodate this request, two additional varieties are now grown as “benchmark” checks and reflect the two most popular varieties for the crop or within a market class during the previous year, based on crop insurance data. These checks will change as the popularity of varieties change. Traditional Yield Reporting Method Exercise caution when making yield comparisons among varieties. Variety yield should only be directly compared to the standard reference check. Actual head-to-head yield comparisons between other varieties may not have occurred. Small plot agronomic trials are expensive to grow and new varieties are registered every year. It is simply impractical to grow all varieties at the same time. Following several years of data collection, the yield performance for a particular variety stabilizes relative to the check and further testing is no longer required. It is for these reasons that the check varieties are grown every year (e.g. AC Barrie for CWRS wheat, AC Metcalfe for barley) and that changes to these checks are infrequent. The “Overall Station Years of Testing” column provides an indication of the unbalanced nature of the dataset.