Wheat Production Facts

Roy Thagard, Jr.
Extension Agent, Agriculture - Field Crops
Greene County, North Carolina

Wheat

With prices for grain continuing to go down, many farmers may be thinking of not planting wheat this fall. A fun fact to know is that you can control as much as 60% of yield by the decisions you make before you plant. For those of you considering how to make the best bang for your buck, allow me to offer these to guide you in deciding about your wheat production practice this year.

• Variety. This decision is critical in knowing your situation. Choose a relatively high yielding variety that has some tolerance to diseases, particularly head scab, rust, and powdery mildew. Using certified seed is a great start in making this decision.

• Planting date. We don’t want to plant too early or we run the risk of hessian fly developing. And we can’t plant too late or we run the risk of the winter cold retarding tiller growth. Ideal beginning planting date for Greene County is around October 25 according to the wheat production guide. For those of you planting large acreage, ideally research has shown that you want wheat planted by mid-November. This gives wheat the best chance at good germination and tiller growth before winter.

• Planting rates. With many of you broadcast seeding, row spacing doesn’t matter as much. Generally growers plant 110-130 pounds of seed per acre, giving them 30-35 seed per square foot. If you are drilling into no-till situations, due to lower soil temperatures it’s ideal to increase this seeding rate by 10%.

• Control weeds. Keep competition for nutrients, water, and sunlight down by keeping winter weeds at bay. Plan to spray at planting and also at spring warm-up.

• Nutrient management. Due to the large amount of rainfall we have had this year, we are recommending soil sampling before planting wheat. Nutrients such as potassium and sulfur are leachable, and it’s good to make sure your soil pH is at an ideal level so nutrients are plant available. Be sure to add N at planting, as the wheat crop will need 25 pounds for fall growth.

Source : ncsu.edu