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Several grain varieties catching the eyes of farmers

The cold and harsh winter in northcentral North Dakota had an impact on every aspect of life this year.

The farming industry was no different.

And while the planting season is still a ways off, due to large amounts of snow still on the grow, farmers are already starting to take notice of the different types of grains for the upcoming planting season.

According to Chad Anderson, a seed production specialist with the North Dakota State University North Central Research Extension Center, there are about a half dozen or so grains that are gaining in popularity among farmers.

Anderson says Elgin-ND, SY Soren, SY Valda, WB 9507, Faller Spring Wheat and ND Vitpro are grains that are on the rise.

“They’ve got good yield potential,” he said. “And they got a good test in weight and protein.”

According to the NDSU research foundation website, Elgin-ND was created by the Hard Red Springs Wheat Breeding Program at NDSU and was released by the university’s agricultural experiment station in 2012.

The website also says Elgin-ND is similar in conventional height with Faller and Glenn.

According to the website www.syngenta.com, SY Soren was among the top two spring wheat varieties planted in North Dakota during 2016. SY Soren and SY Ingmar were planted on a combined 26.9 percent of the 6.30 million aces of land dedicated to spring wheat.

According to the same website, SY Valda is a red spring wheat variety and offers a strong disease package. It is widely adapted and is well-suited for growing conditions in the Northern Plains.

Anderson says there have been new six companies looking into the surging grains.

“There are so many players in the wheat grain (industry),” Anderson said.

He also says that is a higher number than in previous years.

Anderson isn’t sure why there are more companies looking into different grains.

“We’ve been trying to figure that out,” he said.

He suspects that with new technology coming down the road, companies may be trying to stay on top of change.

Despite the large amount of snow, it likely won’t have an impact on the planting season.

“It hasn’t,” Anderson said. “The smaller grain has such a wider planting window.”

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