Planting Date Matters

Ontario’s winter wheat planting recommendations were established in the 1990s using research trials conducted across the province. This research led to the development of the Ontario winter wheat planting date map (Figure 1). This research found that by every day planting is delayed beyond the optimum planting date for a region, 1.1 bu/ac of yield potential is lost. However, with newer genetics and a changing climate, many wondered about the yield potential of later planted wheat and what really leads to increased yields in earlier planting dates. These questions have been answered thanks to new research conducted by Emma Dieleman at the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus, under the supervision of Dr. Dave Hooker and Dr. Joshua Nasielski, which provides greater insights into why early planting is so important to maximize winter wheat yield potential.

Four planting dates and two management regimes were assessed and crop biomass accumulation, radiation interception, grain filling rate and duration to compare crop growth and yield formation were measured. The research found that early winter wheat planting increased yields by 10.4 – 50.7 bu/ac (Figure 2). Much of the yield increases could be attributed to an increase in the number of productive heads with early planted wheat having an average of 284-383 heads/ m2 more than the late planted wheat across all locations, regardless of management strategy (Figure 3). Kernels per head and test weight were strongly influenced by environmental conditions during the grain fill period.