What a difference a new year can bring. Last year, early October 2019 brought 24” or more of snow and shut down fall harvest. Fall 2020 has been almost perfect for harvest as hardly any moisture has fallen since the middle of July. This season’s fall surprise was an early September 8-9 frost that shut down growth on row crops. This frost will likely cause lower germinations as some soybeans were still green and not fully mature.

Beyond fall field work, current preparations include lining up seed for next season. Our seed stock program has produced and harvested a diversity of crops including new varieties that will present more options for spring. Listed below are the foundation varieties that the CREC has available for 2021.

• Spring Wheat: Faller, ND Frohberg, Glenn, Shelly, MN Torgy, MN Washburn and ND VitPro
• Durum: Divide, ND Grano, Joppa and ND Riveland
• Barley: AB Advantage, CDC Bow, ND Genesis and Pinnacle
• Field Pea: ND Dawn
• Flax: AAC Bright, Omega and York
• Soybean: ND Benson, ND Dickey, ND Rolette and ND17009GT
• Buckwheat: Manor
• Winter Rye: ND Dylan and ND Gardner

CREC releases include two new spring wheats, a field pea, two Canadian barleys and a Canadian flax. These varieties will be protected under Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Title V. They must be sold as a class of certified seed.

ND Frohberg is a new NDSU spring wheat release. The seed possesses high quality comparable to Glenn and ND VitPro. ND Frohberg is a variety with good standability and good yield potential along with a good disease package. It will be released and distributed through the counties in 2021. ND Frohberg is licensed and managed through the ND Crop Improvement and Seed Association. 

MN Torgy is a 2020 spring wheat release from the University of Minnesota.  It has a good combination of yield and protein. It has a shorter than average height with good straw strength and a good disease package. MN Torgy can be purchased directly through the CREC.

AB Advantage is a tall six-row smooth awn forage/feed barley from Alberta. It has high yield and high forage potential. Yield is comparable to or higher than Celebration. AB Advantage is licensed and managed through the ND County Crop Improvement and Seed Association. 

CDC Bow is a two-row malting barley variety released in 2018 by SeCan. CDC Bow is a high yielding, average protein barley. It has a high percentage of plump kernels and strong straw strength. CDC Bow is licensed and managed through the ND County Crop Improvement and Seed Association.

ND Dawn is NDSU’s first new yellow seeded pea, released last year. It has DS Admiral as a parent background. The seed is large and smooth. ND Dawn has good yield potential and good standability. ND DAWN is licensed and managed through the ND Crop Improvement and Seed Association. 

ND Dawn is a yellow-seeded pea.

AAC Bright is yellow flax released by SeCan. The seed coat has a very bright yellow appearance and the seed contains a high oil percentage. It has a high yield potential with good standability. The variety is tall and long maturing. AAC Bright is licensed and managed through the ND Crop Improvement and Seed Association.

If you are interested in these varieties, call the Carrington REC at 701-652-2951, e-mail myrna.friedt@ndsu.edu, or call Dave Copenhaver at 701-652-5853. Other cultivars and additional quantities may be available from other NDSU Research Extension Centers and the Agronomy Seed Farm. The NDSU Foundation Seedstocks Pricing Committee will set seed prices for this year’s seed soon and the prices will be published in the near future. Within the NDSU Foundation Seedstocks program, seed orders received by December 1 will be given preference and priority when allocating foundation seed.

Dave Copenhaver
David.Copenhaver@ndsu.edu
CREC Seedstocks Research Specialist