The 2016 Colorado Wheat Field Days will be held June 9-15 at eleven different variety trial sites throughout eastern Colorado. The field days are jointly hosted by the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee (CWAC), Colorado Association of Wheat Growers (CAWG), Colorado Wheat Research Foundation (CWRF) and Colorado State University (CSU) Cooperative Extension and Agricultural Experiment Station.

CWAC President Dave Anderson of Haxtun encourages all wheat farmers to attend.

“Wheat Field Days are rapidly approaching. Please try to attend the one nearest to you to see how the old favorites look and how the new varieties in the breeding pipeline compare in your area. Hope to see you at one or more!” said Anderson.

The field days will highlight new hard red and hard white winter wheat varieties developed by CSU and other public and private breeding programs in the Great Plains region. Attention will also be given to variety selection, special areas of emphasis in wheat breeding at CSU and progress and plans with CWAC funding for CSU wheat research.

This year’s wheat field day program will include plot tours at eleven trial locations that will each last about an hour. All field day locations will include refreshments or a meal.

Each location will feature a yield contest, in which participants will guess which variety will yield the most bushels. The tie breaker will be the number of bushels the variety yields. Prizes will be $25 in cash.

CSU Extension Agronomist Dr. Jerry Johnson will review results from the 2015 testing program and highlight critical areas of emphasis related to agronomic production management. Dr. Johnson will help farmers compare public versus private varieties, and discuss the characteristics and traits related to each.

CSU Wheat Breeder Dr. Scott Haley will discuss each variety and experimental line in the trials as well as wheat-related research issues including: hard white wheat development, the CWRF Ultragrain® Premium program, Wheat Stem Sawfly resistance, Clearfield® wheat, progress on new wheat research initiatives at CSU, and exciting new hard red and hard white experimental lines in the pipeline.

The trials include the “mainstay” varieties with which farmers are familiar, in addition to an exciting group of new entries from public and private breeding programs throughout the region.

Rick Novak, Director of Seed Programs at Colorado State University, encourages farmers to plan ahead by contacting their seed suppliers and discussing seed treatment options as well as wheat variety selection. He will review certified seed sales from last fall, and discuss the certification process with farmers. Novak will also be discussing the Plant Variety Protection Act, and the benefits and impacts to farmers that it imparts.

All wheat farmers are urged to attend at least one of the Colorado Wheat Field Days. For more information, visit www.coloradowheat.org or call 1-800-WHEAT-10.