Harvest date and conditioned moisture content effects on test weight of soft red winter wheat

Test weight of four cultivars of soft red winter wheat was measured by FGIS methods at different conditioned moisture contents. Test weight generally increased us conditioned moisture content decreased until approximately 13% moisture content (wet basis, w.b.) after which test weight changed little. Test weight and moisture content were shown to have an inverse relationshi p as samples were gently dried. Artificially,increasing the moisture conten t of wheat samples and then gently drying caused test weight to decrease an average of 4.4% for the cultivars tested. The effect of harvest date on te st weight showed that test weight did not dramatically decrease during a th ree-week harvest span during the 1996 season, however progressive harvestin g in 1997 showed a decrease in test weight of 3.4, 5.4, and 1.4% for Madiso n, Jaypee, and Jackson, respectively. These reductions were overall less th an previous values reported for hard red wheat of 5% after delayed harvesti ng. Standard deviation of the individual kernel moisture contents decreased exponentially as harvest moisture content decreased. At or below 14% moist ure content, individual kernel moisture content standard deviations ranged from 0.5 to 0.8%.