North Dakota Dry Pea Variety Trial Results for 2024 and Selection Guide

In recent years, North Dakota’s dry pea production has experienced fluctuations in both acreage and yield. After a significant drop in acreage and production in the early 2010s, the state’s dry pea industry began to recover in the latter part of the decade. In 2023, North Dakota planted 270,000 acres of dry peas, yielding 600.3 million pounds (or 600,300 hundredweight) with an average yield of 2,300 pounds per acre. This marked an improvement over 2022 when 230,000 acres were planted and 544.9 million pounds were produced, although yields were slightly higher in 2022 at 2,390 pounds per acre. In 2024, production rose significantly due to an increase in acreage to 310,000 acres with production estimated at 741,000 hundredweight and a slightly higher yield of 2,470 pounds per acre. This rebound in both planted acreage and production indicates a renewed confidence in dry pea farming, reaffirming peas as an important crop in the state’s agricultural landscape.

This selection guide summarizes dry pea variety performance at the various North Dakota State University Research Extension Centers. Give special attention to dry pea yield results of those trials nearest to your production area when evaluating varieties in these trials. Also, attempt to view yield averages of several years rather than using only one year’s data as a determining factor. In addition, consider other agronomic characteristics — such as maturity, lodging score and protein percentages — if available.

The agronomic data presented are from replicated research plots using experimental designs that enable the use of statistical analysis. The least significant difference numbers beneath the columns in tables are derived from the statistical analyses. If the difference between two varieties exceeds the LSD value, it means that with 95% or 90% probability (LSD of 0.05 or 0.10), the higher-yielding variety has a significant yield advantage. If the difference between two varieties is less than the LSD value, then the variety yields are considered similar.

The coefficient of variation is a measure of variability in the trial and is expressed as a percentage. Large CVs mean a large amount of variation that could not be attributed to differences in the varieties. Only compare values within the table and look for trends for the desired trait among different experimental sites and years.

Variety trial data from all NDSU Research Extension Centers for all crops can be found at
www.ag.ndsu.edu/varietytrials and the variety selection tool at https://vt.ag.ndsu.edu/.

Research specialists and technicians contributed to the fieldwork and data compilation., Secretaries in entering data into the respective sections of this document. We greatly appreciate the assistance provided by everyone involved.

Presentation of data for the varieties tested does not imply approval or endorsement by the authors or agencies conducting the tests. NDSU approves the reproduction of any table in this publication only if no portion is deleted, appropriate footnotes are given, the order of the data is not rearranged and NDSU is credited for the data.