EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan wheat growers can get a glimpse of the varieties they might want to plant this year to achieve the best results in terms of disease resistance, quality and yields.

The Michigan State University 2025 Wheat Performance Trial results contained in a 13-page report are now available at miwheat.org.

The results are from the commercial and experimental varieties of wheat tested in 2024-25 at seven sites across the state under the direction of MSU wheat breeder Dr. Eric Olson and MSU wheat systems specialist Dennis Pennington.

This year’s trials included 100 wheat varieties comprised of 55 commercially available and 45 experimental lines supplied from 11 seed companies and MSU’s wheat breeding program.

“Bringing new wheat varieties to market and giving our producers a sense of confidence in new seed lines has been a consistent top priority for Michigan’s wheat farmers,” said Jeffrey Krohn, chairman of the Michigan Wheat Program (MWP).

Krohn is also a wheat producer from Owendale in the thumb section of the state near Lake Huron.

The wheat performance trials have been conducted by MSU for over 30 years.

For over a dozen years, the MWP, a not-for-profit organization using check-off dollars to promote the state’s wheat industry, has contributed funding and other resources for the trials.

The organization provided $44,000 to the program last year, said MWP Executive Director Jody Pollok-Newsom.

She said her office receives a lot of calls each year from producers wanting to know when the trial results will be posted so they can begin deciding the varieties to plant in September and October.

In Michigan, a vast majority of wheat is planted during those two months for harvest during the following summer.

“I think this is a huge help for growers as they’re trying to make those variety decisions,” she said.

Before the MWP became involved, trial results were based on varieties grown without much, if anything, added to the soil.

Nowadays, the trial results also reflect how seed varieties respond to extra nitrogen and other applications or practices typically used by farmers in their own fields to achieve the best results with the dollars provided by the Michigan Wheat Program.

“You can see what the baseline is and what it would do under high management conditions,” she said.

Check off money is derived from fees every grower pays based on yields when selling their crops.

“Investing in this research helps our wheat growers keep advancing in yield and grain quality, which were founding principles for our check-off program,” Pollok-Newsom said.

Trials were also conducted at three other sites in the state, but those results are not reflected in this year’s statistics. Much of the wheat at those locations toppled over from strong winds, hurting the quality and yields of those crops.

“That wouldn’t be an honest comparison,” she said.

Researchers caution that variety selection is best made using at least three years of data because of how results can vary annually depending on weather and location. It’s also important for farmers to select varieties that performed well in areas close to their respective locations.

The MWP, whose priorities include research on wheat production practices and grower education, is funded by about 8,000 farmers growing wheat in at least 78 Michigan counties.

According to USDA, Michigan is forecast to be the tenth leading producer of wheat in the nation this year at 43 million bushels. Kansas is projected to be the top wheat producer in 2025 at 351 million bushels. Washington and Oklahoma are predicted to be next in wheat production at more than 100 million bushels this year, according to USDA.