Barley Cultivar Ranking Under Contrasting Tillage Systems In the U.S. Great Plains.

Barley production is shifting westward in the North American Great Plains because of persistent disease pressure in eastern regions.  High-residue farming practices are replacing conventional tillage methods in this dryland semiarid region because of soil water conservation and, as a result, more barley is being grown in conservation-tillage systems than in the past.  Our objective was to determine if barley cultivar ranking changes when switching from low to high-residue farming systems.  Six barley cultivars were grown under clean- and no-till management in southwestern North Dakota during 2009, 2010, and 2011. An interaction between tillage systems and cultivars was not detected for grain yield (P = 0.89).  Similarly, yield was unaffected by tillage system and averaged 3961 kg ha^-1.  Mean grain yield for the two-rowed cultivar Pinnacle was 5484 kg ha^-1, which was comparable or greater than yields produced by the five other cultivars (P < 0.01). Kernel weight may explain partially the relative yield advantage of Pinnacle, which was heavier than that of all other cultivars, except for the 2-rowed cultivar Conlon.  Kernel weight was heavier in no-till than clean-till plots during 2011, but an interaction between tillage systems and cultivars was not detected (P = 0.17).  Similarly, interactions between tillage systems and cultivars were not detected for other barley traits considered in this study, except for grain moisture content at harvest, which was higher under no-till for both Conrad and Pinnacle than other cultivars.  Results of this study indicate that barley recommendations based on cultivar adaptation in low-residue environments can be extended to high-residue environments in western portions of the Great Plains region and similar dryland semiarid areas.