Wheat

Soybeans

Corn

by Chris Reberg-Horton,George Place, and Carrie Brinton, NC State University

The organic OVT was started in 2010 with wheat to try to identify varieties that performed well under organic production conditions in North Carolina and could be recommended to farmers. We conducted organic variety trials in 3 locations in North Carolina in 2010-2011.

In Rowan County, wheat was planted on October 18, 2010 on a Cecil/Pacolet, certified organic. In March, the wheat was top-dressed with 4 tons of chicken litter to deliver 120 pounds of N per acre. Wheat was harvested at this location on June 15, 2011.

The Chowan County site was planted on November 10, 2010 on a Norfolk fine sand, certified organic. Wheat was top-dressed in March with 5 tons of chicken litter to deliver 150 pounds of N per acre. Wheat was harvested at the Chowan site on June 6, 2011.

Wheat was planted at the Lenoir County site on October 25, 2010 on a Leon sand, on land under organic management for 10 years. Soybeans were used as a green manure at planting, and were estimated to provide 150 pounds of N/acre. Wheat was top-dressed with feathermeal to deliver 30 pounds of N/acre, and was sprayed with Manganese to deliver 0.5 lbs of Mn per acre. Wheat was harvested at the Lenoir site on June 4, 2011. No sites had irrigation.

The results below come from only one year of trials.  Since this is only one year of results, growers should examine NCSU’s 2011 Wheat Variety Performance and Recommendations for a more complete set of test results and production recommendations. The publication can be found at:  https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/2011-wheat-variety-performance-and-recommendations

Wheat quality data for each variety was analyzed as well, with results below. The falling number measures the effect of enzymes on wheat quality and gives an indication of sprout damage in a sample. Low falling numbers indicate more sprouting and a lower quality sample. Protein is the percent protein in a sample, also a quality indication. Again, these results are from only one year of trials.

2011 Organic Wheat Variety Trial

This fall, Dr. David Marshall, with the USDA-ARS wheat breeding program at NCSU, will be planting his Uniform Bread Wheat Trials two certified organic locations. Next year, we will have organic hard wheat and barley data to add to the soft wheat OVT results.

The Organic Official Variety Test (OVT) began in 2009 through grant funding from the USDA Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI). This project seeks to test non-GMO varieties of corn, soybean, and wheat in organic production conditions (both on organic farms and at research stations with organically managed land) in order to provide NC organic field crop producers with more information about how available varieties may perform in organic conditions. The Organic OVT also provides crop breeders an opportunity to test advanced crop lines and discern what genetic backgrounds may outperform in organic conditions.

The primary challenge for organic soybean producers is weed control. Many of the advanced lines that breeders enter into the test are thought to produce a large canopy very early in the season. Previous research has shown that soybean varieties with a larger leaf area at two weeks after planting are better able to reduce weed biomass. Comparing crop variety performance in weedy conditions is a difficult research target because if weed pressures are minimal, varieties that compete well with weeds may not stand out. Additionally, if weed pressures are too great, differences between varieties in ability to compete with weeds can be impossible to detect because of the overwhelming crop yield losses and non-uniform nature of weed populations.

The 2011 soybean organic OVT results for Wayne and Lenoir county are presented in table 1. In Lenoir county, soybean was planted on May 9 on Leon sand soil with no irrigation. Rows were bedded on 38 inch row spacing with a target population of approximately 165,000 plants per acre. Weed control management included two rotary hoeings in the first two weeks and four cultivations between week two and week five. Harvest took place on Nov 2. In Wayne county, soybean was planted on May 11 on Kalmia loamy sand soil with no irrigation. Rows were on 38 inch row spacing with a target population of approximately 165,000 plants per acre. Weed control management included two rotary hoeings in the first two weeks followed by two weekly cultivations. Harvest took place on Nov 15.

Organic corn production has a number of challenges including access to non treated, non GMO seed. There are few organic seed options for NC organic field crop producers. For this reason, the organic corn OVT has fewer entries than the soybean test and many of these hybrids come from the Midwest. NC State corn breeder, Dr. Major Goodman, is currently working on the development of a gametophytic barrier corn hybrid for organic production. The gametophytic barrier would prevent the cross contamination by neighboring GMO corn hybrids.

The 2011 corn organic OVT results for Chowan and Lenoir county are presented in table 2. In Chowan county, corn was planted on April 25 on Norfolk fine sand soil with no irrigation. Five tons of turkey litter was applied before planting to provide 150 lbs of N per acre. Rows were on 36 inch row spacing with a target population of approximately 36,000 plants per acre (high population was planted in anticipation of rotary hoe losses). Weed control management included three rotary hoeings in the first two weeks and three cultivations. Harvest took place on September 12. In Lenoir county, corn was planted on April 18 on Leon sand soil with no irrigation. 2.5 tons of pelleted feathermeal was applied before planting to provide 150 lbs of N per acre. Rows were on 38 inch row spacing with a target population of approximately 36,000 plants per acre. Weed control management included two rotary hoeings in the first week followed by four cultivations cultivations. Harvest took place on August 25.

Below are the yield results for this first year of testing. Please use caution with this data as it is only one year of data, and therefore not very robust.

2011 Organic Soybean Variety Trial

2011 Organic Corn Hybrid Trial