WARDEN — A Warden wheat grower reports this week that a hard red wheat variety called Norwest 553 is yielding well.

WARDEN — A Warden wheat grower reports this week that a hard red wheat variety called Norwest 553 is yielding well.

“I have been raising it for three years  now,” said Josh Gross, a grower with the Warden Hutterian Brethren, on Tuesday. “I think it’s the best variety out there. We have quite a few of the other varieties and I am sold on that one right now.”

The farming operation raised about 10 different varieties of seed last year and has about 3,000 acres of Norwest 553 planted on irrigated land.

Gross said they decided to replant the variety after growing a seed field for Tri-State Seed Company in Connell.

Most of the wheat they raise is of the same yield.

With Norwest 553, the variety is selling for 50 cents more per bushel.

It costs slightly more to buy seed, but the sales prices make up for that.

They expect to start harvest during the third week of July.

Dryland crops of Norwest 553 would need between 12 and 15 inches of rainfall to do well.

Gross said his field receives between 6 and 8 inches of rainfall, but compensates for the low rainfall with irrigation.

Dana Herron, owner of Tri-State Seed Company, said the Norwest 553 seed became available to the business two years ago.

Gross’s seed field was planted on Nov. 1, 2008.

“We have got quite a bit of acres out and he has a lot of it,” Herron said. “We can get it through the winter. It yields well.”

“Every variety has its good points and bad points,” he explained.

Herron commented that the variety’s standablity performed well under extreme pressure.

He recently returned from a Washington State University Variety Trial at Walla Walla, where there was a substantial rain storm and wind.

The variety showed a strong disease reaction to stripe rust.

“It also happens to be a yield monster,” he said.

The yield was 151.66 bushels per acre.

One weak point is winter hardiness.

If the crop is dryland, it’s best not to grow the variety too far north.

“As long as you know this going to the dance, you are good,” Herron said.