Importance of Bickleton Wheat Trials with Michael Pumphrey

PNW Ag Network recently attended a wheat field day hosted by WSU in Bickleton. Here we spoke with Mike Pumphrey, spring wheat breeder and professor in Crop and Soil Sciences at WSU, to learn more about the event.

Mike Pumphrey: The main goal of these variety trials is to get growers information that's regionally specific across the state. This is one of about 30 winter wheat sites and 18 spring wheat sites that we have these trials to measure variety performance. It's an opportunity for us to come and talk to growers, update them on new materials and review performance of varieties that have existed in the marketplace.

PNW Ag: How did you pick this location?

Mike Pumphrey: Bickleton's plateau is really a unique region due to the elevation, the precipitation pattern, and seasonal timing. We need to have trials in this location. The soils are different here. They're much shallower than the eastern part of the state where they're deeper. There's underlying rocks, so it's a different look at how wheat's going to perform in a much different environment than the bulk of our wheat growing area of the state.

PNW Ag: Is there any other country or area in the world that has similar conditions as here?

Mike Pumphrey: You could probably find it, but you might have to go to Siberia or some remote place. With the combination of this high elevation plateau, low rainfall, fairly short growing season, and shallow soils, it's a place we need to test to see how wheat's gonna tough it out.

PNW Ag: How many years have you had a trial here?

Mike Pumphrey: The trials in Bickleton have been going on since long before I started 15 years ago. I think there have been trials in this region at least 20 or 30 years beyond that. In addition to the variety trials, other WSU researchers have done various agronomic and soil science and other studies in this area for years.

PNW Ag: For those that missed this event, what's the most important thing you want them to know?

Mike Pumphrey: The reason we go to all this effort to do the trials is that it's grower funded, it's grower focused, and it's to give them one more tool available to make the best decisions on variety selection or opportunities on their farm. When we have years and years of data - not just how it performs here in Bickleton, but also in regions like Horsehead Hills or other low rainfall regions - you can tell the wheats that are tough and that tend to produce. My main message as a breeder and geneticist in these extension trials is to give growers that information so that they can make one of the best choices possible out of the literally dozens of varieties now available.

PNW Ag: What's the best way to get a hold of you?

Mike Pumphrey: We have a really good strong group called the WSU Dryland Small Grains Extension Team. Our website is a nice portal that takes you to information related to variety performance, to quality, to diseases, to soil science, to insect management. That's really our one-stop shop and everybody's contact information is available through there.