EDMONTON — It will be a few years before Alberta farmers can produce big wheat yields because the province’s varieties stink, says an Ontario cereal specialist.
“Western Canada has the least genetic progress of any wheat in the world,” said Peter Johnson, a cereal specialist with Ontario’s agriculture ministry.
Wheat acres will stagnate until western Canadian farmers and breeders dump varieties focusing on quality and move to high-yielding varieties, he added.
“To heck with quality. Get with the program. Grow bushels and it really will make a difference,” Johnson told packed sessions at FarmTech 2013.
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In Ontario, corn yielding 200 bushels per acre is pushing wheat out of the rotation.
“If we can’t make massive increases in wheat yields, they will quit growing it,” said Johnson, who has focused on increasing wheat yields in Ontario over the past few years.
Wheat yields in Ontario have increased by at least one bushel per acre per year, boosting production in that province to 950,000 acres from 550,000 to 650,000 acres in 2002. Some fields are reaching 188 bushels per acre.
“I challenge you to do same with Alberta wheat varieties.”
He said Ontario producers are boosting wheat yields using winter wheat varieties rather than spring wheat varieties.
He also said producers in that province have learned important lessons:
- Start with effective herbicides.
- Use semi-dwarf varieties with proper genetics.
- Use effective fungicides.
- Don’t be afraid to use high rates of nitrogen, at least 150 pounds per acre.
Johnson said fungicides are key to helping plants use nitrogen by keeping them healthy until they can set seed.
He also said farmers who want to increase yields need to focus on the basics using fungicides, good genetics and nitrogen fertilizer.
“Forget about chasing the wonder dust because it doesn’t work,” said Johnson, referring to gimmicks that provide only minor yield boosts.
“Put the focus back on the basics (nitrogen and fungicides).… That is where you have to go to move the bar forward.”
Johnson recommended farmers apply fungicide as late as possible to achieve the highest yield increase.
Alberta farmers won’t achieve the same yields with hard red spring wheat as Ontario farmers do with winter wheat, but Johnson said the same basic rules of good genetics, high nitrogen and fungicide apply.
Other keys to producing high wheat yields are:
- Ensuring a uniform job of spreading combine residue.
- Seed wheat early to allow wheat to take advantage of long summer growing days.
- Use seed treatment.
- Seed an even one-inch depth.
- Use a narrow row spacing.
