Winter Wheat Works Initiative for East and South Central Nebraska

Winter Wheat Variety Trial near Fairbury in Jefferson County

Positioning your farm to manage manure, control tough weeds, and improve soil health are just some of the advantages to growing winter wheat in east and south central Nebraska. 

Learn more about the Winter Wheat Works Initiative in a this recent Market Journal TV Episode!

What’s on this page?

  • Stripe and leaf rust tracking map
  • Top reasons to grow winter wheat in east and south central Nebraska
  • Important wheat resources for winter wheat for east and south central Nebraska
  • What’s Up This WHEAT (Week)? Signup and archive of past updates
  • Seeding rate calculator
  • Evaluating winter wheat stands publication
  • Recent presentations given at conferences
  • Soil health benefits of wheat
  • Step-by-step guide to growing winter wheat for new growers
  • Wheat Flag Leaf Nutrient Survey (2023)
  • Winter Wheat Variety Selection: Videos, tables, digital tours, variety profiles &more

Nebraska Wheat Stripe and Leaf Rust Tracking Map

  • We have launched a new effort to track the movement of stripe and leaf rust by county across Nebraska in 2020.
  • Starting in spring of 2024, please complete the quick survey as the growing season progresses at https://go.unl.edu/nebraska-wheat-rust-tracking-survey  We do ask you to complete the survey even if you have not observed stripe or leaf rust too.
  • You will answer several questions and upload a high quality photo(s) as a part of this survey to track the distribution of stripe and leaf rust in Nebraska by county. Once you have completed the survey, you can see and download a PDF copy of what you submitted in your web browser and you will receive a confirmation email too. Thank you for your help in tracking the movement of stripe and leaf rust in Nebraska!
  • The last (June 16, 2023) weekly distribution map resulting from this survey is posted on the Disease Management of Wheat page on CropWatch.

Why grow winter wheat in east and south central Nebraska?

The winter wheat varieties planted in east and south central Nebraska today can yield 120 bu/ac to 140 bu/ac under intensive management and good weather. If you haven’t planted wheat in several years, consider today’s advanced genetics, many of which were developed through research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While the potential for top yields is important, it’s not yield alone that makes winter wheat profitable. Growers can add value through increased revenue, reduced costs, improved pest management, and spread out their workload. Adding or keeping wheat to your east and south central Nebraska cropping system can offer many other benefits:

  • Additional revenue in utilizing or selling the straw (1 to 2.5 tons per acre)
  • Added profit potential by growing more late summer and early fall forage crops
  • Longer planting window for cover crops
  • Selling grain at elevators with good basis in eastern Nebraska, often above Kansas City futures in Fremont (Scoular) and Lincoln (ADM)
  • Reducing herbicide cost and options for troublesome weeds like marestail, waterhemp, and Palmer amaranth, in short, disrupting weed cycles
  • Increases in yield and yield stability in corn and soybeans. Higher corn (10 bpa) and soybean (3 bpa) yields in 3-yr rotations in western Illinois
  • Increase in nitrogen used efficiency within the cropping system
  • Opportunity to minimize compaction during the summer by not driving on wetter soils during manure application in the fall and spring.
  • Opportunity to contract with feedlots/barns for manure application in the summer months
  • Reduce soil erosion and nutrient loss during high risk months of April, May, and June.
  • Improved soil health, soil structure, and infiltration due to wheat in rotation with corn and soybeans that may provide long-term profitability
  • Option to distribute workload on the farm differently
  • Possible higher cost share for conservation work during the months of July, August, and September.
  • Higher USDA CSP ranking score for planting winter wheat resulting in additional revenue
  • Demonstrated local success at obtaining high yields (100 bushel/ac)

Important wheat resources for winter wheat for east and south central Nebraska

What’s up this WHEAT? Weekly newsletter that highlights resource for producing winter wheat in east and south central Nebraska

Nathan Mueller sends out a weekly to monthly newsletter that highlights resources that are timely and relevant to growing winter wheat in east and south central Nebraska. The subject line in your email will be “What’s Up This Wheat?” and it covers five main areas:

  • Weather
  • Highlights in the News
  • Economics
  • Agronomics
  • Tips

You can signup for this newsletter by registering at: What’s up this Wheat?

This is part of the Winter Wheat Works Initiative, a local Nebraska Extension effort to encourage and support growers in east and south central Nebraska to move from a strict corn-soybean rotation to a successful flex-rotation where some winter wheat acres are considered each year and strategically integrated into their cropping system.

2021-2022 Growing Season Newsletters

2020-2021 Growing Season Newsletters

View Archive of Past Newsletters from 2017-2020

Visual Guide: Winter Wheat Development and Growth Staging

Visual Guide – Winter Wheat Development and Growth Staging

Herbicide Application Timing Guide

Crop Tech Cafe Winter Wheat Seeding Rate Calculator

Evaluating Winter Wheat Stands/Plant Populations

2021 Presentation: Series of Shorter Videos

Presentations (pdf version)

Soil Health Benefits of Wheat

CropWatch Article: Adding Winter Wheat to a Crop Rotation

Step-By-Step Quick Guide for New Wheat Growers

Tour of winter wheat varieties for east and south central Nebraska

2023 UNL Statewide Winter Wheat Variety Trial Locations

UNL Winter Wheat Variety Trial Results

Results by Location, Region, and Multi-year analysis

Wheat Variety App


AgriMaxx

Picture taken June 15, 2020 at the UNL Variety Trial in Jefferson County

AM Cartwright – AgriMaxx – Released 2020

  • Tech Sheet
  • Company placement includes southeast and south central Nebraska
AM Cartwright

Highlights

  • Variety developed out of the Kansas State Breeding Program
  • Moderately resistant to stripe and leaf rust

Management Suggestions


Husker Genetics and NuPride

Ruth
Picture taken June 15, 2020 at the UNL Variety Trial in Jefferson County

Ruth – Husker Genetics – Released 2015

  • Company placement includes northeast, southeast, and south-central Nebraska
Ruth

Highlights

  • Broad adaptability in Nebraska
  • Excellent winter hardiness
  • Top-performing variety in UNL Eastern Region 3-Year Averages (2020-2022)
  • 3rd most planted variety in Nebraska in 2022

Management Suggestions

  • Moderately susceptible to leaf rust and Fusarium head blight, so scout and spray fungicide if needed

Siege
Picture taken June 15, 2020 at the UNL Variety Trial in Jefferson County

Siege – NuPride – Released 2020

  • Company placement includes northeast, southeast, and south-central Nebraska
Siege

Highlights

  • Great yield record across south central and eastern Nebraska.
  • Excellent test weight, protein, and seed size that can deliver good revenue per acre at elevators with incentives for test weight and protein.
  • Moderately tall variety with very good standability
  • Good resistance to bacterial leaf streak and stripe rust

Management Suggestions

  • Replacement for Overland and Freeman.
  • Moderately susceptible to Fusarium head blight so use fungicide at flowering in moderate to high risk year

Croplan by Winfield United

Picture taken June 15, 2020 at the UNL Variety Trial in Jefferson County

CP7017AX – Croplan – Released 2020

  • Tech Sheet
  • Company placement includes northeast, southeast, and south-central Nebraska
CP7017AX

Highlights

  • CoAXium variety for grass control herbicide option
  • Top yielding variety in Jefferson County Two-Year Average (2021-2022)
  • Top rateed variety for Fusarium Head Blight in the Croplan lineup in south-central Nebraska

Management Suggestions

  • Available in Nebraska as certified seed from Luhrs (Imperial, NE)
  • Has not been evaluated in the UNL east region variety trials (Lancaster and Saunders counties)

WestBred

Picture taken June 15, 2020 at the UNL Variety Trial in Jefferson County

WB4401 – WestBred – Released 2020

  • Tech Sheet
  • Company Video (Length 5:34 minutes)
  • Company placement includes northeast, southeast, and south-central Nebraska
WB4401

Highlights

  • Good milling and baking quality
  • Intermediate resistance to Fusarium head blight
  • Good protein and high yield potential
  • Good stripe rust and soilborne mosiac resistance

Management Suggestions

  • New variety targeted to replace WB4458, WB Grainfield and WB4303 in east and south central Nebraska

Picture taken June 15, 2020 at the UNL Variety Trial in Jefferson County

WB4699 – WestBred – Released 2019

  • Tech Sheet
  • Company Video (Length 4:30 minutes)
  • Company placement includes northeast, southeast, and south-central Nebraska
WB4699

HighlightsWatch UNL MediaHub Video (Length 0:44 minutes)

  • One of the best varieties for Fusarium head blight
  • Great overall disease package for the area
  • Top yielding variety in 2019 in Jefferson and Clay County trials
  • Excellent standability

Management Suggestions

  • Manage nitrogen program for protein
  • Strong consideration if you need to plant after corn silage or seed corn

Syngenta AgriPro

Picture taken June 15, 2020 at the UNL Variety Trial in Jefferson County

SY Wolverine – AgriPro – Released 2019

  • Tech Sheet
  • Company placement includes western portions of northeast and southeast, and south-central Nebraska
SY Wolverine

Highlights

  • Medium-early variety
  • Broadly adapted
  • Moderately resistant to leaf rust
  • Genetic background includes SY Wolf and Everest

Management Suggestions

  • New variety, so balance acres with more proven varieties

Kansas Wheat Alliance

KS Providence – Kansas Wheat Alliance – Released 2022

  • Tech Sheet
  • Company placement includes southeast and south central Nebraska
KS Providence

Highlights

  • Great yield performance record in UNL 3-year trials
  • Moderately-resistant to Fusarium Head Blight
  • Good overall disease resistance package for east Nebraska
  • Excellent test weight

Management Suggestions

  • Intended as a replacement for the variety Everest
  • Average drought tolerance, don’t place on extremely low water-holding capacity soils without irrigation

Limagrain Cereal Seeds

Picture taken June 15, 2020 at the UNL Variety Trial in Jefferson County

LCS Valiant – Limagrain Cereal Seed – Released 2019

  • Tech Sheet
  • Company placement includes rainfed acres in southeast and south central Nebraska, but has performed well in northeast Nebraska too.
LCS Valiant

HighlightsWatch UNL MediaHub Video

  • Previously listed at NE10478-1 in UNL Variety Trial results
  • Excellent 3-year yield performance in UNL trials
  • Excellent protein and desirable end-use quality

Management Suggestions

  • Moderately susceptible to stripe rust, scout and spray fungicide if needed.
  • Suggested for rainfed acres, not irrigated

Thanks for visiting the Winter Wheat Cafe for east and south central Nebraska!

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