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Where to find 2025 NDSU crop variety trial data

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NDSU crop variety trials are a useful tool, offering farmers and crop consultants an unbiased source of information as they compare crop varieties and make seed selections for their farm or clients. Online files are uploaded daily as trials are harvested, samples progress through our labs, and data are analyzed. Along with traditional specifications like yield, test weight, straw strength and stem height, notes based on disease resistance have become more prevalent for many crops. To supplement the online tools, comprehensive Extension publications are published and printed for each crop after the last test site is complete.

NDSU maintains two variety trial websites. Both sites offer a more robust experience on a desktop, but the same functionality exists on a mobile device (but the selection toolbars may be stacked above-below instead of left-center-right).

  • The ‘old’ Variety Trial Results (https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/weeds/variety-trials/) webpage lists all crops that have been tested at NDSU on the left side of the page. The center section defaults to a list of the most recent trial results available, with file names indicating crop, location, and dryland or irrigation. Scroll to find specific trials. The right side of the page lists Extension variety trial publications. Most of the publications are from 2024, but the new edition of A1196-25 ND Hard Red Winter Wheat Variety Trial Results for 2025 and Selection Guide is already posted.
  • A newer website, our “Variety Selection Tool” (https://vt.ag.ndsu.edu/list/ ) again lists crops on the left margin but features a toolbar at the top of the page. Users can select by year and location, and add planting and harvest dates. Users can select several trials to compare, and data in each column can be sorted. Information is displayed as text data or charts and can be downloaded. Historical data is available using the “Archive” link from the new page to the old page.

Whether you prefer the “old” reports page or the “new” build-your-own report function, the most critical elements are the statistics at the bottom of the page; this is what gives you the confidence to select one variety over another.

  • “Mean” is the average for all of the varieties in the table within a single column.
  • “CV (%)” or coefficient of variation is a measure of variability between varieties within the trial. Basically, the higher the CV number, the greater the variability in the trial, and the more difficult it is to definitively separate varieties.
  • “LSD (0.05)” and “LSD (0.10)” are indicators of ‘least significant difference,’ where individual variety means within a range less than this value are considered equal to each other.
    • For example: within the 2025 Hard Red Spring Wheat – Dryland – Carrington trial data you will see the LSD for yield is 4.8 bushels/acre (bu/A). Select this column and sort from the highest yielding variety being LCS Trigger at 88.70 bu/A and subtract 4.8 bu/A. The result is 83.9 bu/A. All of the varieties yielding 83.9 bu/A to 88.7 bu/A are statistically similar, meaning these varieties are yielding the same. Therefore, LCS Trigger, Andes, Enhance-SD, Faller, LCS Buster, Brawn-S, and AP Murdock yielded similarly, statistically. All varieties from ND Roughrider and below are yielding statistically less than LCS Trigger.

One final thought: Iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) ratings are available for farmers looking for soybean variety tolerance to IDC. Selecting soybean varieties tolerant to IDC is the best way to manage soybean IDC.

For any assistance in understanding how to obtain, read or use NDSU variety trial data, please contact me.

Jeff Stachler, Ph. D, C.C.A.
Jeff.Stachler@ndsu.edu
Extension Cropping Systems Specialist