Listen to this week’s extension corner:
This is Dr. Nathan Mueller, your local agronomist with Nebraska Extension for Dodge and Washington counties. I have been getting calls from producers across eastern Nebraska about interest in planting wheat for the first time or bringing it back into the rotation over the past year. Last month I discussed reviewing your corn and soybean herbicide programs for rotation restrictions on fields you may want to plant wheat in this fall.
The most recent calls that I have received this week have been in regards to stand or population evaluation and yield potential. Due to late planting and a record cold April, wheat is behind in maturity or growth stage compared to normal. Wheat growth stages currently range from tillering (Feekes 3 to 5) to early jointing (Feekes 6-7) in Eastern Nebraska. For late planted wheat still in the tillering stages, we need to determine the number of plants per acre or square foot and tillering to assess the yield potential. Recent research done in Kansas has shown that 18 to 22 emerged plants per acre can maximize yield depending on the variety and extent of tillering.
As a general rule of thumb, and assuming we end up with at 3 productive tillers plus the main shoot that will produce heads (these are similar guidelines as University of Wisconsin):
- 22 or more plants per square foot is ideal
- 15 to 22 plants per square foot will allow us to reach our yield goals
- 12 to 15 plants per square foot likely means we have high variability in our stand, these fields, depending on yield goals and extent of thin spots can still be produce adequate yields. Depending on current soil moisture, consider terminating and planting a spring crop, grazing, or haying it later
- Less than 12 plants per square foot means you need to consider alternative crops or uses for the wheat such as grazing or haying
There are many methods for estimating yield potential from various universities and private industries. The fundamental components of yield includes heads per acre, seeds per head, and seed weight. The ability of winter wheat to compensate or flex when it comes to the amount of tillers, seeds per head, and seed size creates multiple avenues to achieve then same final yield from year to year and field to field (download & use the Excel spreadsheet below).
To listen to this radio message again and to get more information on estimating winter wheat yields, you can also visit our local website at croptechcafe.org or give me a call at 727-2775. Know your crop, know your tech, know your bottom line. This is Dr. Nathan Mueller, your local agronomist for Nebraska Extension on KTIC radio.
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