The North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station has released new chickpea, field pea, soybean, wheat, oat and black bean varieties.

The new crop varieties were ND Crown chickpeas, ND Dawn yellow field peas, ND Dickey soybeans, ND Frohberg hard red spring wheat, ND Heart oats, ND Noreen winter wheat and ND Twilight black beans. The North Dakota County Seed Increase Program distributed ND Dawn, ND Dickey and ND Heart for the first time in spring 2020 and ND Noreen in fall 2020.

To ensure genetic purity, all varieties are protected under Plant Variety Protection Title V and must be sold as a class of certified seed. All varieties, except for ND Twilight, are licensed to the North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association (NDCISA) for their management and distribution.

Here is a look at the new varieties:

ND Crown Chickpeas

ND Crown was developed by the pulse breeding program at North Dakota State University under the direction of breeder Nonoy Bandillo. ND Crown is a Kabuli type chickpea and has high yield potential in North Dakota environments. The average height of ND Crown is 26.4 inches and the average maturity date is 115 days from planting.

ND Dawn Yellow Field Peas

ND Dawn was developed by the pulse breeding program at NDSU under Bandillo’s direction. ND Dawn large yellow field peas have high yield potential in North Dakota environments and excellent agronomic performance. ND Dawn has a uniform, round seed comparable to DS Admiral, which makes it stand out from other varieties.

ND Dickey Soybeans

ND Dickey was developed by the soybean breeding program at NDSU under the direction of breeder Ted Helms. ND Dickey is a conventional (not resistant to glyphosate herbicide) soybean variety with 0.7 maturity that is intended to replace ND Stutsman. This new variety has high yield potential and resistance to Race 3 of phytophthora root rot.

ND Twilight Black Beans

ND Twilight was developed by the dry bean breeding program at NDSU under the direction of breeder Juan Osorno. ND Twilight has shown competitive agronomic performance compared with other varieties commonly grown in North Dakota. It has an upright indeterminate (short vine) growth habit and purple flowers, and matures in approximately 99 days.

Development of this variety was made possible through checkoff funds provided by the Northarvest Bean Growers Association and North Dakota Dry Edible Bean Seed Growers Association.

ND Frohberg Hard Red Spring Wheat

ND Frohberg was developed by the spring wheat breeding program at NDSU under the direction of breeder Andrew Green. ND Frohberg has good yield potential, strong end-use quality and very good disease resistance. It is medium tall, similar to Barlow, with good straw strength most similar to Glenn.

ND Heart Oats

ND Heart was developed by the oat breeding program at NDSU under the direction of breeder Mike McMullen. ND Heart is a conventional oat line with exceptionally high groat beta glucan and protein concentration. These qualities should allow the production of specialty oat products with unique beneficial nutritional characteristics.

ND Noreen Hard Red Winter Wheat

ND Noreen was developed by the winter wheat breeding program at NDSU under the direction of breeder Francois Marais. ND Noreen hard red winter wheat is intended to replace Jerry. ND Noreen has higher yield potential than Jerry, with similar winter-hardiness, height, maturity and quality. It has shown excellent bacterial leaf streak resistance and intermediate resistance to stripe rust.

For further information about foundation or registered seed availability of these or other varieties, contact an NDSU Extension agent, an NDSU Research Extension Center, the North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association or North Dakota Foundation Seedstocks.

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