Field and Garden: ND Stampede – coming soon to a field near you

If your ancestors homesteaded in North Dakota, they likely grew Red Fife wheat.

Believed to have originated in Ukraine, this variety was the most widely cultivated wheat across the Northern Plains in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

While Red Fife was prized for its excellent baking quality, it came with significant shortcomings, including late maturity, susceptibility to lodging, a tendency to shatter and vulnerability to stem rust.

In 1890, North Dakota established its first Agricultural Experiment Station at the North Dakota Agricultural College, now NDSU. One of its primary goals was to develop a wheat variety superior to Red Fife.

In 1892, NDSU released its first new variety, Power, and the work has continued ever since.

Over the years, plant breeders at the university have introduced 56 more wheat varieties, many of which have been widely adopted across the state.

My brother-in-law tells me that Faller is his favorite NDSU wheat.

Released in 2007, Faller is considered a relatively old variety, yet my brother-in-law continues to plant it every year. “It’s not always the best,” he says, “but it’s always good.”

This year, NDSU is introducing a new wheat variety called ND Stampede.

Extensive testing has shown that this new variety offers high yield potential and excellent adaptability across our state and beyond.

Compared to Faller, ND Stampede delivers similar yields, improved straw strength, shorter height, earlier heading dates, better leaf rust resistance and superior end-use quality.

Additionally, ND Stampede shows moderate resistance to Fusarium head blight and leaf and stem rust, though it remains susceptible to stripe rust.

Will we see ND Stampede growing in Foster County fields soon? How can farmers gain access to this new variety?

The North Dakota Seed Increase Program exists to distribute and rapidly scale up the production of new field crop varieties developed by plant breeders at the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.

Here’s how the program works:

The Foster County Ag Improvement Association, which is made up of local farmers, evaluates new crop releases and decides if any would be beneficial for producers in our county.

If so, the association selects a grower to manage the seed. To be eligible, the grower must have a proven history of seed certification within the last three years.

I submit the association’s request to the allocation committee of the Agricultural Experiment Station. The committee reviews applications from all North Dakota counties and distributes the seed based on availability.

If our county is allocated seed, the grower signs a contract agreeing to follow specific guidelines that ensure the production and distribution of high-quality certified seed.

After harvest, the grower is responsible for conditioning the seed and selling it, with priority given to Foster County farmers.

If you would like more information about ND Stampede, the Seed Increase Program or the Foster County Ag Improvement Association, please contact me in the Extension office at 652-2581 or [email protected].