MORDEN, Man. – Deciding when to plant, picking the right seeding depth and avoiding winterkill are among the topics that crop up when producers gather to talk about their experiences growing winter wheat.
Three Manitoba farmers offered their thoughts on those kinds of issues at a winter cereals school held this fall in Morden.
For the most part, they agreed the best time to plant is in late August or early September, which gives the crop plenty of time to establish and harden off before winter.
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Kevin Archibald of Killarney prefers to seed winter wheat between Aug. 25 and Sept. 7. He’s convinced that early crop establishment in the fall gives him a greater likelihood of higher yields the following year.
Late seeding affects winter hardiness, he added, and has the potential to delay when the crop flowers the following year, which could push the flowering stage into the window when fusarium head blight is a threat. Delayed crop development can also move harvest into the time when spring-seeded crops need to be taken off.
While a dry fall can sometimes prompt growers to delay seeding until moisture prospects are better, Doug Martin of East Selkirk does not let that sway him from trying to plant between Aug. 28 and Sept. 10.
Experience has shown him the crop doesn’t need a lot of moisture to germinate.
“Whether it goes into dry ground or wet ground, it doesn’t matter. It’s going to come up,” he said.
Rick Rutherford, a pedigreed seed grower from Grosse Isle, has successfully planted winter wheat as early as Aug. 25 and as late as the end of September, but still advised seeding early.
“The earlier you can seed, the better off you are.”
He told growers who seed later to make sure there is ample stubble in the field to trap snow, which insulates the crop from the cold of winter and helps alleviate the risk of winterkill.
Canola stubble is one of the most popular options for seeding winter wheat because it’s a good snow catcher and does not pose the same disease concerns that farmers would face if they seeded into a spring cereal.
Rutherford planted his winter wheat on pea stubble this year, partly to take advantage of the nitrogen that the legume crop fixes into the soil.
He has seen other growers in his area have success with that approach, despite the fact that a pea crop tends to leave less stubble than canola.
Archibald, on the other hand, said he avoids seeding into pea stubble.
Seeding depth goes hand in hand with avoiding winterkill. A winter wheat crop planted too deep in the fall will take longer to emerge, giving it less time to get established and gain cold hardiness before winter.
“If it gets to that inch or an inch and a half, you’re getting too deep,” Archibald said.
Martin likes to plant winter wheat at about the same depth as canola. As an added precaution against winterkill, he decided this year to increase seeding density to 21/2 bushels per acre from two. That way, if there is some winterkill, the odds are greater that he will have a satisfactory stand in the spring to compete against weeds.
Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium all are important to winter wheat development. While nitrogen is critical, there also needs to be a balance of the other two nutrients to get the greatest growth and yield potential.
Over the past couple of years, Martin has leaned toward applying more of his nitrogen for winter wheat in the fall. That’s because he’s in an area that tends to have abundant moisture, creating a risk that he might have difficulty getting onto the field in early spring to apply nitrogen.
Rutherford prefers to apply most of his nitrogen for winter wheat in the spring with a high clearance sprayer. He likes to see some growth coming out of the ground before applying so that there is less chance of the nutrients leaching away if heavy rain follows the fertilizer application.
The growers had other tips for winter wheat growers:
- Rutherford said winter wheat prefers higher ground. He recommended avoiding lower areas because of the risk that water will accumulate in those areas and drown the crop.
- Martin never swaths his winter wheat. He has learned that the crop tends to sprout if it becomes wet in the swath.
“I think this stuff would probably sprout standing.”
- Archibald said farmers need to be on top of their seeding preparations. Not all farm supply retailers are up to speed with the crop, he added, so growers need to book their seed or make arrangements for seed cleaning as early as possible.
Equipment should also be made ready well in advance to avoid missing the window that promises the best crop performance.
“Be prepared,” he said. “It’s absolutely critical.”
