Drop Dead Date for Seeding Winter Wheat

Given our 7- day weather outlook and the fact that the winter wheat we planted on October 1^st is barely spiking it is obvious that the drop dead date for trying to get the rest of our winter wheat planted in 2009 is quickly approaching. Unfortunately assigning a strict calendar date to end planting is difficult given the fact that we don’t know what the weather will be like from now until Christmas or the ground freezes (whichever comes first). What we do know is:

• From our data at our Arlington and Lancaster winter wheat sites we see significant yield loss as planting date is delayed from mid-September to mid-to-late October (Table 1)

Table 1. Planting date effect on grain yield and winter survival at Lancaster and Arlington WI, 2009.

• At this point of the season crop insurance coverage is reduced to 60% of the original guarantee (see Recommendations for Winter Wheat Establishment in 2009 for more details).

• A warm November or December can do wonders. Our winter wheat variety trial was planted at our Janesville location on November 8^th 2006 and averaged 76 bu per acre whereas our Arlington site was planted on September 28^th 2006 and yielded 78 bu per acre. However given our record cool season I would not mortgage the farm on a warm November/December.

• If a grower is still planning on planting winter wheat it is likley for reasons other than just yield (i.e. manure ground, straw, setting up a rotation, etc.). To ensure the best possible success given our planting and growing environment:

1. Plant “new seed

2. Plant fungicide treated seed

3. Plant a minimum of 1.75 million seeds per acre (more would be better, up to 2.2 million)

For additional information regarding wheat establishment please see Recommendations for Winter Wheat Establishment in 2009