Variety Selection and Testing

Low Rainfall Variety Trials Complete

Harvest of the WSU Variety Testing low rainfall trials was completed on August 11, 2026, with the Horse Heaven location being the final site harvested. Harvest for low rainfall trials began on July 17, 2026, at the Almira location.

This year, the low rainfall testing program included seven locations, with Kahlotus added as a new site to represent Franklin County. Three locations hosted Hard Red Winter (HRW) wheat trials, while all seven locations included Soft White Winter (SWW) and Traited Soft White (TSW, formerly CLOAX) trials.

Weather and field conditions created some challenges this season. The Ritzville location was terminated prior to harvest because of severe weed pressure. The Kahlotus and Douglas locations experienced poor emergence across many entries. Although those trials were harvested, the data were not included in the preliminary results list.

Overall, trial results showed higher yields, average test weights, reduced grain protein, and earlier heading dates compared with last year.

We sincerely thank our farmer cooperators, both returning and new, for partnering with us and hosting trial locations this season. We also extend our appreciation to the WSU Winter Wheat Breeding Program and the USDA Club Wheat Breeding Program teams for their assistance with planting, trial management, and harvest throughout the year.

Winter Variety Trial Maps

The WSU Variety Testing Program’s (VTP) 2026 winter variety trial maps are available online. The website includes links to Google Maps pins for each of the locations, as well as driving directions and plot schematics. Paper copies of plot maps are available in the PVC tubes attached to the Variety Testing signs at each location.

There were some changes made to locations planted for the 2026 harvest year. The previously named “CLOAX” is now called Traited Soft White Wheat. Fall planted DNS and winter barley trials have been put on an indefinite pause. VTP’s current bandwidth is limited, and we have made the difficult decision to discontinue these trials for the time being. Additionally, based on an analysis of VTP data from 2012-2023, we have chosen to re-organize our dryland trials into two mega-environments to improve data analysis and delivery, low rainfall (<16”) and high rainfall (>16”), in addition to irrigated trials. We dropped the winter Farmington location but added Dayton and Kahlotus locations back to the trials. The Kahlotus location is a replacement for the Connell location dropped in 2025. Due to difficult planting conditions this fall, the Douglas and Moses Lake sites were moved to new locations so please be aware that some sites are not in their “usual” spots.

Spring Variety Trial Maps

The spring variety trial plot maps and GPS coordinates are now available. The soft white spring and hard red spring nurseries are planted at all 11 locations. The spring barley trials are planted at Almira, Dayton, Pullman, Reardan, and Walla Walla.

There are a few changes to the spring variety trials this year. The total number of locations planted has been cut from 18 down to 11. We have cut the trials down to two replications, instead of three, and most of the spring sites are planted in conjunction with the WSU Spring Wheat Breeding Program. This means some of the locations will be in different places than usual. We teamed up with McKay Seeds for the trial at Almira. The Horse Heaven and Bickleton spring sites are still stand-alone sites planted on our usual cooperators’ grounds, and the Lind and Pullman trials are still at the WSU Lind Dryland Research Station and Spillman Farm respectively.

2025 Variety Trial Data

The 2025 variety trial data, including multi-location summaries is available.

Thank you to the Washington Grain Commission for funding that supports the trials and tours as well as the county wheat growers associations and co-sponsors for programs and meals associated with the field days. Finally, a big thank you to the grower cooperators for their time and resources to host the variety trials. We truly appreciate all the continued support.

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Mission

The WSU Extension Cereal Variety Testing Program provides growers and the agribusiness industry with comprehensive information on the adaptation and performance of winter and spring wheat and barley varieties across the different climatic regions of eastern Washington.