Don’t Call Me an Expert - This is just the way I do things.....
Managing No-Till Winter Wheat -- The Most Profitable Crop on my Farm

By Marty Visto

Visto Farm is a family-owned and operated farming business started in its present location in 1946 by my grandfather, John Visto.  Today I manage the farming business along with my father Marshall and my brother Mike.  Together we operate nearly 2,500 acres of spring wheat, winter wheat, corn, soybeans and edible beans in southeastern North Dakota.

Marty and Deanne Visto, daughter Haley and son Dylan.

I am a firm believer in continually building a management team to help explore all of the opportunities that are emerging in the farming industry.  My natural tendency is to avoid change, especially in those areas of my operation that I am not very good at.  By working with other people, I have been encouraged to bring new ideas into my operation that have become very profitable. 

In 1996, I went on a no-till tour of the Dakota Lakes research farm in Pierre, S.D. and returned thoroughly amazed at how much crop could be grown on so little water.  The chemical inputs were also considerably less than what I was currently using. This information was directly contrary to what some had been saying about no-till.

Over the next couple years, I continued to study the concepts of no-till farming, which resulted in major changes being made in my thought processes on how I should be operating. 

In 1999, I completed switching the farm over to no-till and at that time I also implemented winter wheat into our rotations. After only a couple years of fine-tuning, winter wheat became the most profitable crop in my operation.

And in 2003, I again enhanced the productivity of my winter wheat by bringing people and information from both Ducks Unlimited and Opti-Crop intensive wheat management services into my team.

Several times in the past my family had unsuccessfully tried to raise winter wheat. On those occasions, we were still trying to use tillage to prepare a seed bed, and even with winter hardy varieties, we experienced way too much winterkill for the crop to be viable. Winter wheat did not become the profitable crop that it is until the benefits of standing crop residue and snow cover was given to me by no-till farming.  But no-till winter wheat is a completely different farming system, and did require many changes to be made to my system before it was successful.

First and most importantly is that the residue from the previous crop must be spread uniformly and across as much of the entire width of the cut as possible.  I typically plant winter wheat into spring wheat stubble, because of the excellent residue left behind to protect the young seedlings through the winter. 

Barley, oats, flax and canola stubble would also be excellent residues for winter wheat.  But if you have not done a thorough job at spreading your residue from the combine, then common problems like hair-pinning and poor uniformity of seeding depth are greatly increased, and will lower the winter survivability of the winter wheat crop.  This is still one of the easiest modifications that can be done to enhance all of your crops, not just the winter wheat, yet is still one of the most ignored management changes that I see today.

I also make sure to control all of the grassy weeds and volunteer crops so that I have at least a two-week period before planting the winter wheat to eliminate host plants that harbor the wheat streak mosaic disease. This disease is spread by the wheat curl mite and by eliminating the “green bridge” provided by the host plants; I will break the life cycle of the mite and reduce the chance of the disease being spread into my winter wheat crop.

Phosphorus key early nutrient
Immediately after the spring wheat harvest, I soil test the fields specifically looking at where my soil phosphorus levels are.  Phosphorus is especially important to winter wheat in that it can directly affect the fall development and winter survivability of the crop. 

Marty Visto says phosphorus is important to no-till winter wheat establishment.  Here’s how he explains this phosphorus test plot: “The wavy grain (in the foreground) is a phosphorus application on 15 inch centers two falls prior to this picture.  The tall grain in the back perpendicular to the wavy grain is phosphorus at 35 units with the drill at planting, and the shorter grain is phosphorus 10 units with the drill at planting.”

With no-till I am limited in how to apply phosphorus so that it is in the soil and yet have the bands remain fairly close together.  I have found that 15 and 30 inch bands of phosphorus are too far apart to consistently provide the phosphorus needs in future crops.  And broadcast applications without tillage will just accumulate the phosphorus in the top one-half inch or less. So to try to compensate, I am increasing the amount of phosphorus being applied in-furrow with the wheat seed in 7.5 inch bands.  At the same time I will be limiting the amount being applied for soybeans, and only using a minimum maintenance program on the corn. 

If I apply 125 pounds of 11-52-0 with both the spring wheat and the winter wheat, I will have applied 130 units of phosphorus to aid in supplying the needs of both the wheat crops and also future crops. I have also found that phosphorus is most important to be applied to the cool season crops, especially under cold damp no-till soils.

Temperature is what drives the microorganism populations that will provide the natural soil fertility to the crop.  If the soil microorganisms are slow to increase in the spring due to the soil being cold and damp, so will the natural soil fertility be slow to release, and deficiency problems can develop in the early season crops like winter wheat.

The winter wheat crop is planted with a Case-IH SDX air drill (single disk opener) into the standing stubble sometime in mid-to-late September. One of the benefits of the no-till residue is that variety selection can focus more on the yield potential and disease package of the plant than on the winter hardiness.

The varieties that I am currently using include Wesley, Millenium, and Jagalene planted about 1-1.5 inches deep at a population of 325 seeds per square yard or about 1.6 million pure live seeds per acre. My seeding rate has increased to help compensate for potential winterkill losses due to the hair-pinning and seeding depth problems described earlier. Along with the seed, I also apply about 30 total units of nitrogen along with the phosphorus fertilizer.  I am also experimenting with low amounts of liquid in-furrow fertilizers with micronutrients to see if I can improve yield.

Strategic post-dormancy inputs
As the crop comes out of dormancy in late March or early April, the stand is evaluated and a nitrogen recommendation is arrived at, based on how much tillering is required to achieve an adequate stand.  The more losses that I have due to winterkill, the more nitrogen is required to promote tillering to compensate.  This nitrogen is then applied with streambars using 28% UAN at about 10-20 gallons per acre or 30-60 units of nitrogen. 

A second application of nitrogen is applied at Feekes 5-6 to complete the nitrogen requirements. At this time I try to determine what the maximum potential yield can be based upon the year so far, and then tailor the total nitrogen rate that will be required. I appreciate the flexibility that split nitrogen applications can give me to be able to reduce my total nitrogen requirements if possible.  Another 10-20 gallons per acre will then be applied as UAN with the streambars.  The amount of nitrogen fertilizer for the crop will fall somewhere between 90 and 150 total nitrogen units with yield expectation of 60 to over 100 bushels per acre. 

How to get the total nitrogen requirements of the wheat crop applied with minimal losses has always been one of my biggest obstacles in no-till farming .  The use of streambars and 28% UAN have so far exceeded all of my expectations.  Another one of the benefits of streamed nitrogen is that the crop is very uniform in color all the way across the field, and this becomes very easy to pick out as compared to a fall or winter nitrogen application. 

As the winter wheat crop approaches Feekes 3-4, the fields need to be scouted to determine what fungicide and herbicide requirements might be needed to be applied at Feekes 4-6.  Since I plant my winter wheat into spring wheat stubble, I immediately assume that I will require an application of fungicide at this time. I typically apply a half rate of Stratego (5 fl oz/A) for its dual modes of action and wanting to have the option to use Headline at a higher rate at flag leaf if needed.

I have never had to spray for grassy weeds in the winter wheat, and only about half the time will the broadleaves need to be controlled.  Many times a perimeter spray with a little spot spraying is all that is required to control the weeds. If I do need a herbicide, the products I would normally use would be either Starane or Bronate Advanced at labeled rates.  Tissue tests are also done at Feekes 3-4 and any potential micronutrient deficiencies can be corrected at this time as a foliar spray tank mixed with the fungicide and herbicide.

Once the flag leaf has emerged, an intensive scouting program is implemented to determine if a second fungicide application is required.  If disease is discovered at flag leaf but before flowering, and the option is not there to wait for the Feekes 10.51 application, then Headline at 6 oz. per acre would be applied.

But Headline has also been shown to increase the overall greenness and health of the plant even if a disease problem isn’t prevalent. I have been experimenting with this application to determine if this will follow through to an economic yield response.  If the potential for scab is a problem, then a Folicur application at 4 oz. per acre will be applied at early flowering or Feekes 10.51.

Realizing the advantages
Harvesting is always the best part of farming for me.  Being able to see large areas of the field yielding 120-140 bushels an acre on the yield monitor is just incredible and tells me that all the extra management involved has really paid off.  I have had several quarter section field averages over 90 bushels per acre.  The last items I need to be watching are to make sure that residue is being spread as uniformly as possible, as discussed earlier, and then control the volunteers so to minimize the risk of the wheat streak mosaic disease to the next crop.

There are a few very important advantages in my operation that winter wheat gives me that I have not discussed so far. One advantage is that winter wheat opens up an additional planting and harvesting window to help me better manage my time.  Even with no-till, time seems to be extremely short during the critical planting and harvesting seasons, and winter wheat is able to give me a head start on those seasons.

A second advantage is that I and many other no-till farmers who have brought wheat crops into our rotations have experienced a mellowing of the ground due to the fibrous root systems reaching down as far as 5-6 feet in the soil profile.  It is phenomenal to watch how the wheat crops will change the soil structure by increasing soil aggregation, control soil erosion, and improve water infiltration. 

And lastly, as a farmer who is genuinely concerned about our wildlife and environment, no-till farming and winter wheat help increase nesting habitat for ducks and other birds, provides cover for many other animals, reduces rainfall runoff into lakes and streams, keeps nutrients and pesticides on the fields where they belong, and also greatly reduces the fuel and energy costs associated with farming.

Winter wheat has all of these benefits along with being the most profitable crop on my farm. Increasing management in my wheat crops has truly turned out to be a winning combination.  Give winter wheat a good hard look and see if it could possibly fit into your operation.  

The June issue of Prairie Grains – the annual “dashboard” edition that focuses on crop production information – will include perspectives from two winter wheat growers near the Canadian border, as well as winter wheat variety information and performance recommendations.