Practices to Better Pinpoint Wheat Profitability

These management tips, which are basically good agronomic fundamentals, may increase your wheat returns for less than $1 per acre

By David Boehm

Rising input costs have many wheat growers looking for answers or thinking of other crops. Before you send wheat to the dog house on your farm, however, keep in mind that it was a star performer for many growers in 2003 and 2004 (when a number of row crops were in the dog house). The fact remains that it is a solid hedge against weather in years that favor small grain production, such as ’04. Wheat returns per acre, in fact, are still above the 5 and 10 year averages. And one cannot ignore the long-term benefits of wheat to broadleaves in the crop rotation, including weed control and herbicide rotation.

For those who do plant wheat this year, the objective will be simple: minimize input costs, maximize profitability. To that end, here are a few management tips that go beyond managing fertilizer and energy costs. And these management tips, which are basically good agronomic fundamentals, may cost you very little or nothing at all.

Maximize Plant Population
Make sure there are as many heads per acre as possible up until the level that could pressure plants to lodge. University research continues to show that most wheat varieties hit maximum grain yield when you have 1.2 – 1.4 million plants/ac after emergence.  Lower seeding rates will reduce the yield potential of the field, while higher seeding rates will increase the likelihood of field lodging.  Varieties with strong straw strength can be seeded at higher rates, while varieties with less straw strength may need to be seeded at lower rates.  If you plant early into good soil moisture, you can also reduce rates as you will take advantage of tillering.

I already know what the next question is:  “How many bushels or pounds of seed equals 1.2 million plants?” I get asked this question frequently and I can’t answer it unless I know what your seed size and germination are. Believe me, this can make a big difference.  Smaller seed and seed with higher germination will result in more plants/ac. If you don’t know your seed size or germination, it’s impossible to hit your planting target.  Many growers say “I seed 120 lbs/ac, isn’t that good enough?” Although it may get you in the ballpark, if your seed count and germination are significantly different than 13,000 seeds/lb or 95% germ, you could be over/under seeding by 20-30%. 

Let’s look at the following example. Let’s say your seed sample happens to be 97% germ and you expect a 10% stand loss. If you had 11,500 seeds/lb, you would need 139 lbs/ac to reach 1.4 million plants/ac. If you had 14,500 seeds/lb, you would only need to plant 110 lbs/ac to achieve the same population.  If you didn’t know your seed count and planted the usual 120 lbs/ac at 95% germ, you would have a difference of 342,000 plants/ac!  This could lead to thin stands or lodged grain fields.  It’s safe to say your grain saved as seed could be anywhere from 80-95% germination and 11-15,000 seeds/lb, possibly causing plant populations of 1 to 1.5 million plants/ac, a 30% difference. Therefore the common two bushels per acre seeding rate may not be accurate because of kernels per pound.

How do you know your seed count and germ?  If you purchase certified seed, you have these answers on the bulk transfer or certified seed tag.  Otherwise, you can send your conditioned grain to a seed testing lab to find out. Keep in mind that scab damage has reduced germinations in the 2005 crop in some areas, so you’ll want to know how sound your grain is if you use it for seed. The key here is to plant “good seed” and know how much you are planting. 

A rough way to determine seed count is to take a representative sample to a local elevator and weigh one gram of wheat. Then count how many kernels are in this gram sample and multiply by 454 to determine kernels per pound of seed. The following equation for determining seeding rates from Jochum Wiersma, University of Minnesota extension small grains specialist:

Match Fungicide Use with Variety
The 2005 growing season taught us that heavy disease pressure needs to be suppressed.  But remember that spending money on fungicides may not cure every variety or pay returns for every variety.  The key here is to know the strengths and weaknesses of each variety you grow pertaining to disease tolerance. If the variety is very good against tan spot, the fungicide application at 4-5 leaf stage may not pay you back.  Equally, if the variety is very good against leaf rust, the later applications of fungicides may not be necessary.

Varieties with a Moderate-Resistant (MR) rating for scab will not pay returns from Folicur in many years, although 2005 showed applications still had positive responses due to heavy pressure. The $5-10/ac for foliar fungicides and the roughly $16/ac Folicur costs can only be saved if you plant varieties with good disease tolerance. Varieties that are not tolerant may need fungicide applications every year or at least scouted to help make the proper decisions. Extension educators and agronomists can help determine where and how heavy the disease pressure might be.

The key here is to eliminate “blanket treatments” from your management.  I have seen two fields of the same variety on one farm where scab heavily infected one field while the other was unaffected. Therefore, consider each variety and field separately, and spray only varieties and fields where you have a better chance of getting a return on your investment.

Consider multiple varieties with different maturities to spread out flowering dates, the time wheat is susceptible to infection.  Also, make sure you have even planting depth (this can be done simply by slowing down the planting speed) so plants emerge and therefore flower evenly across a field.  This will make fungicide timing more effective, if treatment is warranted. Any rotation with soybeans or legume crops will also reduce wheat disease infection.  Never follow wheat on corn stubble, as the risk of scab infection will increase dramatically. 

Soil Fertility and Grain Protein
I cannot stress the importance of soil testing enough. It’s a standard practice that seems to be talked about ad nauseam, yet an estimate from the NDSU Extension Service reported less than 25% of farmers soil test their fields.  How else will you know the proper amount of nitrogen to apply? Can you really afford to guess, and apply too much? 

Soil tests can cost from $0.20 to $1.00 per acre, depending on how many samples are tested per field and how much information you want. If your field has variable soil types you should take as many samples as possible to give you good information on the field. The generally recommended nitrogen rate is 2.5 lbs of available N for each expected bushel of grain produced per acre.  Again, the point I want to make is not to look at a “blanket treatment” across the entire farm. “100 lbs of N on all my acres” is not cost effective when you know that certain fields are more/less productive then others, and certain varieties have higher/lower yield or protein potential.  The key again is to manage at the field level, not the farm level, and considering each field x variety potential to help you maximize your N efficiency while getting better yield and protein. Your local agronomist can help you get good random soil samples.

Pinpoint for Profitability
The more you know about your fields, seed, and variety, the better you will be at reducing costs and increasing returns.  The traditional rules of thumb including 120 pound seeding rate, 100 pounds of N across wheat fields, and one fungicide program for my farm, may not be the best way to control input costs or help increase yields.

And the thing of it is, these practices to better pinpoint profitability cost little to accomplish.  Let’s estimate the cost of a soil test and germ/seed size test for a 160 acre field of wheat:

Soil test for N ($12 x 5 samples) = $0.38/acGerm and seed size test
= $0.16/ac

For five or six dimes an acre, can you afford not to consider these key management practices for your wheat crop? 

Boehm is regional business manager for AgriPro Wheat. He is a member of the Minnesota wheat checkoff-funded Minnesota Small Grains Research and Communications Committee, with a master’s degree in plant breeding from NDSU. He can be reached by email at david.boehm@agripro.com. 

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Soil & Germination Tests

Following are several public sources for soil sampling, pH, seed count and germination sample analysis.  Local agronomists, certified crop advisors, and co-ops are also an excellent resource for these types of services.

ND State Seed Department, 701-231-5400, www.state.nd.us/seed

SDSU Seed Testing Lab, (605) 688-4589, plantsci.sdstate.edu/seedlab 

NDSU Soils Testing Lab, 701-231-8942 or 231-9589, www.soilsci.ndsu.nodak .edu/Testing/soiltesting/soiltesting.html

MN Soils Testing Lab, 612-625-3101, soiltest.coafes.umn.edu