Grain Values:
Rye $3.50/bu. Soft Wheat $2.50/bu.
Triticale $2.25/bu. Hard Wheat $2.70/bu.
Oat $1.60/bu.

Forage Value: $3.30/cwt. for oven-dry forage.

Assumptions:
Stocker calves
Average Daily Gain (ADG) = 2 lb.
Consumption = 3% (.03) of body weight.
Average weight = 600 lb./calf

Calculations:
600 lb. x .03 = 18 lb./head/day
2,000 lb./ton ¸ 18 lb. = 111 animal days
2 lb. ADG x 111 animal days = 222 lb. gain
$0.30 = custom rate for one pound of gain
222 lb. x $0.30 = $66.60/ton = $3.30/cwt.

NF numbers are Noble Foundation experimental strains and are not commercially available.

Table 2. Grain Yields and Estimated Gross Returns from Samll Grain Varieties, 1997-98, Burneyville, OK
					Estimated Gross Returns/Acre
		Variety	Yield: Bu/Ac	Test Weight: Lbs/Bu	Grain	Forage Produced by Jan. 28	Total Grain & Forage	Total Forage,* No Grain Harvest
Rye:	1.	Maton	66.6	58.8	233.10	66.93	300.03	227.47
	2.	Bonel	57.6	58.3	201.60	58.11	259.71	193.91
	3.	NF 28	54.5	57.4	190.75	127.15	317.90	245.59
	4.	TRT-2000 (blend)	53.7	55.9	187.95	63.23	251.18	184.31
	5.	Wintermore	51.5	57.3	180.25	84.32	264.57	207.01
	6.	NF 94	49.9	58.2	174.65	114.84	289.49	232.16
	7.	NF 65	48.4	57.7	169.40	105.47	274.87	223.15
	8.	NF 39	48.3	57.7	169.05	111.80	280.85	231.03
	9.	Bates	48.3	57.9	169.05	93.59	262.64	214.70
	10.	Barr Blend	48.2	57.9	168.70	86.36	255.06	204.83
	11.	Wrens Abruzzi	48.2	56.6	168.70	97.78	266.48	220.08
	12.	Wintermore 96	46.2	57.2	161.70	95.90	257.60	206.22
	13.	NF 58	46.0	57.0	161.00	106.36	264.36	213.94
	14.	Wintermore 95	45.4	55.9	158.90	74.68	233.58	212.78
	15.	Oklon	44.5	56.6	155.75	100.88	256.63	226.55
	16.	NF 51	44.1	57.0	154.35	109.76	264.11	213.35
	17.	Wrens 96	43.3	57.2	151.55	114.54	266.09	223.34
	18.	Wintergrazer 70	42.9	57.4	150.15	138.47	288.62	243.21
	19.	Elbon	42.8	55.9	149.80	60.16	209.96	193.91
	20.	Wheeler	27.3	52.5	95.55	75.87	171.42	191.66
Wheat:	1.	2137	67.8	63.2	183.06	8.12	191.18	126.65
	2.	Lockett	66.4	59.2	178.95	19.34	198.29	132.17
	3.	Coker 9663 (soft)	66.0	60.1	165.00	30.99	195.99	134.18
	4.	Tonkawa	59.5	63.2	160.65	13.63	174.28	132.66
	5.	Coker 9134 (soft)	58.9	58.3	146.66	26.33	172.99	131.01
	6.	NF 4	56.2	61.3	151.74	32.70	184.44	144.87
	7.	2174	56.1	62.9	151.47	14.95	166.42	131.84
	8.	Coker 9543 (soft)	54.9	60.9	137.25	25.58	162.83	122.79
	9.	Coker 9803 (soft)	53.4	62.7	133.50	19.70	153.20	128.87
	10.	Tomahawk	53.1	60.9	143.37	9.74	153.11	117.22
	11.	Custer	50.5	61.4	136.50	14.62	151.12	128.87
	12.	NF 165	50.4	61.1	136.08	33.73	169.81	134.21
	13.	Longhorn	50.1	60.8	135.27	25.51	160.78	131.57
	14.	2163	49.9	60.8	134.73	14.29	149.02	121.37
	15.	NF 35	48.9	59.2	131.79	34.19	165.98	140.25
	16.	NF 134	48.3	61.3	130.41	21.81	152.22	115.34
	17.	2180	44.9	59.3	121.00	18.78	139.78	121.44
	18.	Coronado	43.5	60.5	117.45	21.88	139.33	119.69
	19.	Florida 302 (soft)	41.4	56.3	100.19	33.79	133.98	118.70
	20.	Jagger	36.4	60.5	98.28	28.22	126.50	117.28
Oat:	1.	Ozark	86.4	37.7	138.24	41.28	179.52	174.31
	2.	Dallas	79.6	36.5	127.36	36.66	164.02	164.67
	3.	NF 188	76.4	36.7	122.24	53.30	175.54	185.76
	4.	833	75.0	36.7	120.00	38.48	158.48	164.93
	5.	Harrison	73.1	35.4	116.96	44.29	161.25	150.28
	6.	Chapman	71.3	34.0	114.08	48.94	163.02	143.35
	7.	La. 604	69.8	36.0	111.68	41.02	152.70	167.11
	8.	811	67.4	37.0	107.84	49.37	157.21	148.43
Triticale:	1.	RSI 2+7 (blend)	63.5	50.8	142.88	27.32	170.20	141.21
	2.	Presto	60.1	54.7	135.23	30.86	166.09	144.90
	3.	Trical 2700	55.3	52.2	124.43	46.43	170.86	142.69
	4.	NF 57	51.8	49.8	116.55	46.46	163.01	134.48
	5.	Trical Stan I	51.5	53.9	115.88	23.20	139.08	135.30
	6.	NF 11	45.1	50.3	101.48	50.69	152.17	148.70
	7.	NF 87	39.9	49.8	89.78	56.96	146.74	145.66
	8.	Trit II (blend)	38.7	51.1	87.08	15.61	102.69	148.70
* Forage yields and influencing factors are reported in NF FOR 98-02.

Grain Values:
Rye $3.50/bu. Soft Wheat $2.50/bu.
Triticale $2.25/bu. Hard Wheat $2.70/bu.
Oat $1.60/bu.

Forage Value: $3.30/cwt. for oven-dry forage. See Table 1 for assumptions and calculations.

NF numbers are Noble Foundation experimental strains and are not commercially available.

Table 3. Two Location Grain Performance Comparison of Commercial Small Grain Varieties, 1995-98
		Bushels/Acre
		Ardmore (silt loam)				Burneyville (sandy loam)
	Variety	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98		1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
Rye:	Bates	41.6	18.7	37.5		25.2	12.4	48.3
	Barr Blend	39.4	15.9	27.6		27.0	13.1	48.2
	Bonel	37.5	19.3	40.4		27.3	17.2	57.6
	Elbon	39.7	13.2	30.1		28.7	8.2	42.8
	Maton	41.6	23.0	51.2		30.5	14.7	66.6
	Oklon	36.0	18.4	36.5		27.6	16.5	44.5
	Wintergrazer 70	38.4	14.5	29.2		30.1	10.4	42.9
	Wintermore	35.2	13.4	38.5		30.4	11.6	51.5
	Wrens Abruzzi	37.1	15.0	35.9		20.0	13.8	48.2
	Wintermore 95	-	17.0	28.8		-	12.7	45.4
	Wintermore 96	-	16.3	28.5		-	12.6	46.2
	Wrens 96	-	13.9	35.0		-	15.8	43.3
	Average	38.5	16.6	34.9		27.4	13.3	48.8
Oat:	Chapman	43.6	39.2	111.0		30.4	80.3	71.3
	Harrison	43.5	39.8	100.7		19.4	51.7	73.1
	Ozark	86.7	52.7	102.7		58.4	88.8	86.4
	811	40.6	52.4	91.8		30.7	98.5	67.4
	833	61.6	54.5	94.4		35.2	89.5	75.0
	Average	55.2	47.7	100.1		34.8	81.8	74.6
Wheat:	Coker 9134 (soft)	47.4	0	71.6		27.9	0	58.9
	Coker 9543 (soft)	63.0	0	64.7		38.7	0	54.9
	Coker 9803 (soft)	46.3	0	59.8		32.7	0	53.4
	Custer	53.4	4.2	66.1		36.8	0	50.5
	Florida 302 (soft)	28.9	11.2	57.2		11.6	0	41.4
	Jagger	48.7	0	49.2		26.4	0	36.4
	Longhorn	42.5	49.8	51.7		33.0	43.6	50.1
	Tomahawk	45.1	49.2	61.3		36.4	47.9	53.1
	Tonkawa	47.7	7.9	52.5		31.3	0	59.5
	2180	44.3	0	47.5		24.6	0	44.9
	2163	53.7	9.5	62.1		28.7	0	49.9
	2137	-	12.5	69.3		-	0	67.8
	Coronado	-	0	59.2		-	0	43.5
	Average	52.1	12.0	64.4		32.8	7.6	55.4
Triticale:	Presto	50.4	13.5	42.5		23.3	16.5	60.1
	Trical Stan I	39.6	53.6	44.1		14.3	55.9	51.5
	Trical 2700	26.0	57.1	46.9		7.2	38.7	55.3
	Trit II	30.5	38.5	23.9		15.1	32.5	38.7
	Average	36.6	40.7	39.4		15.0	35.9	51.4
	Overall Average	46.1	22.6	56.1		28.9	24.3	55.4

Discussion
Early Small Grain Variety Trials

Considering the dry soil conditions in April and May, grain yields and test weight were good to excellent in the small grains variety tests at Ardmore and Burneyville in the 1997-98 season (Tables 1 and 2). An abundant accumulation of soil profile moisture during the winter and early spring was apparently sufficient to carry the crops through the late, dry grain fill period.

At Ardmore, the overall grain yield average of 53.8 bushels/acre was the highest since the 1976-77 season. Wheat yields were probably the best overall since the small grain variety testing program was initiated in 1967-68. The ryes produced the most variable yields in the test, ranging from 1.2 to 51.2 bushels/acre. The ryes and a few of the early maturing wheats and triticales suffered some degree of damage as a result of the low temperatures during March 10-12.

Overall grain production at Burneyville was almost identical to Ardmore at 53.9 bushels/acre. However, rye and triticale yields were higher and wheat and oat yields were lower at Burneyville. March freeze damage was most evident on the early maturing wheat and triticale varieties, rather than ryes. The oats produced the most uniform yields in the test, ranging from 67.4 to 86.4 bushels/acre.

The estimated gross returns as shown in Tables 1 and 2 were calculated on the basis of values at the bottom of the tables. If they do not agree with prices in your situation, your values can be substituted. The gross income estimates are shown to encourage the calculation of possible returns and profit from various varieties and management in your particular situation.

Table 3 shows the grain yields of commercially available varieties that have been tested at both Ardmore and Burneyville over the last three growing seasons. Keep in mind that grain yields are taken after the varieties have been clipped for forage production prior to jointing or first hollow stem. Generally the "cut-off" date for clipping varies from year to year because of temperatures and moisture during the winter months, planting dates, and varieties within each crop. The early maturing varieties are likely to suffer the most grain yield reduction due to delay in the "cut-off" clipping in the spring. In 1995-96, winter damage was very evident on most oat varieties at both locations. Notice the excellent yields of the Ozark variety and the stability and consistency of yield over the entire three-year period. In 1996-97 the April freeze caused varying degrees of damage in all small grains. However, the damage to the wheats was most catastrophic. The earliest maturing varieties were damaged more severely than the late maturing varieties. Note that Longhorn and Tomahawk were consistently at the top at both locations. Maton, a mid-maturity rye variety, has been the most dependable rye over the three-year testing period. Under our forage clipping regime, early-maturing varieties such as Oklon and Wrens Abruzzi are often penalized for grain yield because of early jointing.

Small Grain Varieties – Comparison of Planting Dates
Planting dates during the 1997-98 season were September 30 and October 29 at Ardmore and October 6 and 29 at Burneyville. The grain yields of both plantings at each respective location are shown in Table 4.

At Ardmore, the overall grain yield of the late planting (62.1) was 2% greater than the early planting (60.9). However, eight varieties produced more grain from the early planting. Jagger wheat, Bates rye, and Presto and NF 87 triticale responded much better under the late planting regime. It appeared that these varieties might have suffered tiller damage in the early planting as a result of the March 10-12 freeze.

At Burneyville, overall grain yields were much higher (44%) for the late planting. All twelve varieties produced more grain from the late planting. The March 10-12 freeze may have contributed to some yield loss on all varieties in the early-planted test as a result of damage to primary tillers.

A multi-year comparison of grain production from early and late fall planting at both locations is shown in Table 5. Note that grain production of rye and triticale has averaged higher for the late fall planting each year at both locations. Oat grain yields have been the most variable for planting date from year to year. This is probably due to the fact that oats are more subject to winter damage than the other small grain crops.

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