Aldura, Westbred Turbo and Westbred 881 were grown in four sites in three counties (Graham, Greenlee and Cochise) in southeastern Arizona to determine which would produce the largest income per acre. At an assumed 75 cent premium for Westbred 881 over a base of $5.25 per hundredweight, Aldura and Westbred Turbo generally out produced Westbred 881. Relative yields of the three varieties are shown for all locations.

Sixteen winter wheat varieties (including three hybrids) were evaluated in a randomized, complete block experiment, with four replications. Stephens, the standard variety grown in the area, was outyielded by four of the winter wheat cultivars, including two of the hybrids. The highest yielding cultivar was a hybrid, Bounty 100, which yielded 5853 pounds per acre (23% higher than Stephens).

Planting date is an important consideration when growing small grain varieties under reduced water use conditions. The objective of this study is to document interactions of planting date and varieties grown with a single irrigation near planting. Field studies were conducted at the Maricopa Agricultural Center during the 1988, 1989, and 1990 growing seasons. Six barley, durum, and wheat varieties were compared at four planting dates from November to February. Early November or early December planting dates were optimum. The relative performance of the varieties differed depending on the year and planting date. The highest yielding varieties over most planting dates were Solum and 6-39-1-1 (barleys), Mexicali (durum), and B85-277A and M83-39-18 (wheats). Improvement of barley, durum, and wheat genotypes for reduced water use conditions continues at the University of Arizona, and notable progress in durum and wheat performance has been achieved recently.

Yield trials were conducted at the Maricopa Agricultural Center during the 1990 -91 growing season. Barley, Durum and Wheat varieties as well as experimental lines from various seed companies were tested for yield performance. Gustoe and Sunbar 409 barleys, Turbo and Aldura durum wheats; and 911 and Klasic bread wheats were the highest yielding commercial varieties in this yield trial.

Planting date can have a tremendous effect on small grain yield. The purpose of this study is to document the interactions of planting date with current small grain varieties. Field studies were conducted at the Maricopa Agricultural Center over the 198$ 1989, and 1990 growing seasons. Six barley, durum and wheat varieties were compared at four planting dates from November to February. WestBred Gustoe was among the highest yielding barleys and WestBred Turbo was among the highest yielding durum regardless of planting date. The highest yielding wheat was WestBred 911 at the November plantings, Klasic at the December and January plantings, and Topaz and Klasic at the February plantings. The varieties also responded differentially to planting date in terms of plant height, kernel weight, heading and maturity date, but not test weight. This study demonstrates the importance of planting date in choosing a small grain variety.

A 12-inch row spacing is commonly used to evaluate small grain varieties at the Maricopa Agricultural Center and other experiment stations. The objective of this study was to document the interactions of varieties and row spacings. Sir barley, durum, and wheat varieties were planted in the 1989 and 1990 growing seasons at the Maricopa Agricultural Center at four planting dates (November, December, January, February) and 6 and 12-inch row spacings. At the December planting date, which is near optimum, WestBred 881 and Topaz performed best at a 6-inch row spacing while Gustoe, Aldura, Klasic, and WestBred 911 performed best at a 12-inch row spacing. Caution must be exercised when interpreting variety trials planted in 12-inch rows anti, in addition, conducted under growing conditions different from commercial practice.

This experiment was conducted to quantify herbicide carry -over effects on wheat, after plowing the cotton down with conventional and reduced tillage systems. Cotton layby applications of cyanizine, diuron, and prometryne at 1.5 lbs/Ac active ingredient did not result in wheat yields that were significantly different from the untreated checks within any of the tillage systems.

Small grain varieties are evaluated each year by University of Arizona personnel at one or more locations. The purpose of these tests is to characterize varieties in terms in terms of yield and other attributes. Variety performance varies greatly from year to year and several site years are necessary to adequate characterize the yield potential of a variety. The results contained in this report will be combined with results from previous years in a summary available from Arizona Cooperative Extension.

Sixteen varieties of barley were tested at the Safford Agricultural Center in 1997. Nebula, a new variety from Western Plant Breeders, was the highest yielding variety in the trial with a yield over 5100 pounds per acre. Nebula also had the highest bushel weight of the varieties tested.

The highest wheat yields in the world are obtained using a growing system called intensive cereal management (ICM). High yielding varieties are planted at high seeding rates, treated with foliar fungicides, plant growth regulators are applied to control lodging, and high nitrogen fertilizer rates are used to obtain high yields. The ICM system adapted to Arizona does not include fungicide treatments due to our lack of leaf diseases. We tested the effect of ICM on yield, grain protein, and other characteristics at three commercial farms in Arizona. ICM resulted in higher protein in one case due to increased nitrogen application and reduced height in another case due to the plant growth regulator. However, in most cases, we were not able to detect an affect of ICM on the crop, and the increased input cost was not paid for by increased crop performance. Intensive cereal management does not appear to hold much promise under our conditions except perhaps in cases where lodging is predictable or yields do not reach their potential.