Robert Pore's Ag Blog

LINCOLN — With good rainfall in many areas of the state and the highest price for winter wheat in some time, there's increasing interest in planting winter wheat this fall, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln cropping system specialist said.

However, growers seeding after harvest likely will be planting after the recommended planting dates, said Bob Klein, cropping system specialist at UNL's West Central Research and Extension Center at North Platte.

"With wheat prices reaching $5 and still hovering around that, a lot more farmers may be interested in winter wheat production," Klein said.

Late seeding usually is classified as at least a week after the suggested date, Klein said.

Recommended planting dates for Nebraska winter wheat start Sept. 1 and run until Sept. 10 in areas of the Panhandle to around Sept. 15 for a majority of about the northern half of the state. In areas south of that range, dates are from Sept. 25 in east central and south central Nebraska and parts of southwest Nebraska to Sept. 28 in southeastern Nebraska to Oct. 1 in extreme southeastern Nebraska.

However, winter wheat can be seeded up until about Feb. 15 in southeast Nebraska to about March 15 in northwest Nebraska and still give the seed time to vernalize, Klein said. Four to six weeks of freezing nighttime temperatures are required for vernalization. Some varieties have shorter vernalization requirements.

Yields decrease with late seedings after the recommended seeding date in the fall, depending on weather conditions. With higher temperatures than normal temperatures, one could seed later and not give up any yield, Klein said.

Also, late seedings may not produce sufficient growth to reduce wind erosion and in some cases water erosion. This usually is not a problem with no-till.

Usually yields start to decline if planting is more than a week late.

"However, in some situations late-planted wheat can out-yield winter wheat planted earlier, especially if wheat was planted much before recommended dates," Klein said. "This can be attributed to disease and insect problems and the use of extra soil water in the fall."

Several changes can be made to help compensate for the delayed seeding. Klein suggests:

-- Using narrow row spacings. When planting after the recommended date, narrower row spacings of 5 to 8 inches are preferred over the normal 10 to 15-inch row spacings. If using a wider spacing, such as from a 15-inch planting, consider seeding twice with the second pass at a slight angle to the first. Use one-half the seeding rate each time. This works only with disc drills.

-- Increase the seeding rate. Late seeding usually results in less root and tiller development. A general recommendation is to increase the seeding rate 10 to 15 pounds per acre per week after the suggested seeding date in your area. The maximum seeding rate for rainfed wheat is 120 pounds per acre or limit the maximum to about twice the seeding rate used for seeding at the suggested date for your area. For irrigated wheat, the recommended seeding rate is 90 pounds per acre if planted at the suggested seeding date. Increase the seeding rate 15 to 20 pounds per acre for every week after the suggested seeding date to a maximum of 180 pounds per acre.

-- Apply phosphorus with the seed. When seeding wheat late, phosphorus placed with the seed helps improve yield. Use 20 pounds of phosphorus where none is called for by soil tests and increase other phosphorus rates which are over 20 pounds by 20 percent for late seeded winter wheat.

-- Use certified and treated seed. This will increase the success with winter wheat. Seed treatments need to thoroughly coat seeds to give good results and should be applied with seed treating equipment.