Rock and Roll Agronomy

Intensive Wheat Management

Concept Can Work in the Northern Plains, But Be Prepared to Go to the Next Level

By Jason Hanson
Certified Crop Advisor
jlhanson@agriliance.com

There’s been some attention on intensive wheat management lately. But can this concept really work here in the Northern Plains, and take the performance of our wheat fields from Division II into the big leagues?

The interest in this concept has come from parts of the country where there has been great success in raising wheat yields with intensive management. The concept jumped the pond from innovators in the United Kingdom to parts of winter wheat production areas such as Kentucky, Maryland and Ohio.

Make no mistake, this concept is intensive wheat management, and involves many more things than just split applying nitrogen at different stages or using fungicides. Going from least cost per acre to least cost per unit of production is an entirely different level of management.

A number of agronomic practices of intensive wheat management do make sense. It gets back to things that Dr. Ed Vasey, professor emeritus of soil science at North Dakota State University, used to talk about with wheat development and tillering. But I also take note that not much of this management program has been done in this part of the world, in our growing environment, and with spring wheat (most intensive wheat management practices employed in Europe and the Kentucky area is with winter wheat). Spring wheat is not winter wheat from the standpoint of time it takes to totally develop. We are concerned with early planting, conserving moisture (particularly west of the Red River Valley), and spraying on time. Winter wheat gives you the opportunity to have more time to look, and make those decisions along the way.

Bear in mind too that this is a very time-consuming venture. When growers hear intensive wheat management pros explain all the things that are involved with the program—increased seeding rates, only using certified seed, seed treatments, soil testing, in-season fertility management and timing, crop staging, using tramlines, split applying nutrients, spraying herbicides, applying fungicides several times, night spraying, pre-harvest management, post-harvest residue management—most growers start to pick the things they like to do or the things that won’t cost that much. This á la carte approach will help, but it really should be treated as a total management system approach, and in this part of the world, mother nature can challenge that approach in a hurry.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that this system can and will work in certain parts of our area with the right mix of dedication, management, and assistance. This leads me to the biggest issue in dealing with this whole concept: finding the right consultant or company to help you with this. Make sure he/she/they are familiar with our growing season, our agronomic practices, and with spring wheat and northern-grown winter wheat (which is different than European or Kentucky-grown winter wheat) as well as our other northern-grown crops. 

The consultant should mesh with your management style, and your management style should mesh with this concept.  Talk to your local input dealer or co-op about your interest or intentions in intensive management. They may have the person and plan to do just that. Also, they will need to get prepared for some of the practices that you are intending to implement. A dealer just doesn’t put in 28% liquid nitrogen tanks overnight on the chance that somebody might want to try this. Working together on new concepts makes for smooth transitions.

Here are some other things to consider about an intense wheat management plan:

•  You probably won’t get there with a very low phosphate soil test level. Start a fertility plan to build levels on the whole farm with your rotation.

•  Soil test for nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, sulfur, pH, organic matter, chloride, and micronutrients every year. Start to develop a database to compare against yield results.

•  Use the best seed available and be very picky in variety selection. Find out which varieties respond to fungicide more, tiller more, have certain disease tolerances, and look at lodging score.

•  Be prepared to spend a lot of time in a sprayer and also scouting fields, or be prepared to pay somebody to do so.

•  Be prepared to spend money on tramlines or use existing GPS and possible other seeding equipment.

•  Keep accurate records of everything you do from tillage passes, to weather conditions and pesticide applications.

•  In the right conditions, the use of fungicides and insecticides pay very well. Be proactive and aggressive in the use of these products.

•  Look at crop stages to help with the best timing of burn-down applications of herbicides to get wheat off earlier than normal.

The best teams in the NFL usually have a good coaching staff, key players, and a sound game plan with solid defense and a good offense that gets them to that next level of excellence. Do the same if you decide to try to take your wheat to the next level. Get in with the right attitude, develop a good plan, find a very good agronomist and follow through.