What to consider when getting ready to plant wheat

Chabella Guzman Author

08/27/2024 Added

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Wheat growers are getting ready to plant their fields. Cody Creech, Nebraska Extension dryland cropping specialist, says farmers have a lot to consider.

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[00:00:00.000]While harvest is a ways off for many of the Panhandle crops, wheat growers are getting ready to plant their fields.
[00:00:05.700]Cody Creech, Nebraska Extension Dryland Cropping Specialist, joins us.
[00:00:10.200]Cody, tell me a little bit about, you know, we're coming upon planting wheat.
[00:00:15.040]Has anybody started yet, or are they waiting?
[00:00:17.200]So, we'll see, usually our early guys will start going about the end of August, depending on soil moisture conditions.
[00:00:25.840]For most of the Panhandle, the higher elevation areas, we start the first week of September.
[00:00:32.160]And then areas like around Box Butte County, Cheyenne County, those will start around September 10th, are kind of the recommended dates.
[00:00:41.980]So, there are risks if we plant too early, and there's risks if we plant too late.
[00:00:46.800]And so, it's a balance to try to find that right time to plant for each farmer.
[00:00:52.360]Now, the soil, do you think the soil is...
[00:00:55.820]ready? Have we had enough rain?
[00:00:57.580]We can always use more rain.
[00:00:59.620]We've had some really good storms that have come through in the month of August that have really helped.
[00:01:06.260]Hopefully, we'll get a few more as we get more into wheat planting season.
[00:01:12.900]So, I would say that we're optimistic about how conditions are out there in the field right now.
[00:01:18.780]We will probably need a little bit of rain later on to get things fully up and going.
[00:01:23.460]But I think conditions are good.
[00:01:25.620]And tell me, is there anything kind of pressure-wise that the growers need to keep in mind as they go out to plant?
[00:01:33.320]Should they be planting for wheat curl mite, of course, sawfly?
[00:01:37.860]You know, there's lots of considerations.
[00:01:39.880]And it's going to really depend on a case-by-case basis as we go from farm to farm.
[00:01:45.880]There's going to be some farmers that may be dealing with more sawfly pressure.
[00:01:51.300]And when you have sawfly, you want to be able to prioritize.
[00:01:55.420]You really need to think about how you're going to harvest your wheat the coming year and know
[00:02:02.860]that those fields that you're going to harvest last need to have pretty good standability when
[00:02:08.620]it comes to sawfly. And so you'll be looking for wheat varieties that stand up well to sawfly.
[00:02:12.340]You can plant some of those on your later acres.
[00:02:15.260]early acres are usually not as big a concern because you'll be able to harvest them more
[00:02:20.040]promptly and you can maybe focus on some wheat characteristics that are higher yielding.
[00:02:25.720]There might be other farmers that are more concerned with wheat curl mite and wheat streak
[00:02:29.440]mosaic virus that's vectored by those mites. In that case, the biggest risk is planting
[00:02:35.560]early. We can't get the wheat in too early in those situations. If that wheat gets infested
[00:02:41.060]in the fall, our wheat yield can be reduced up to 80%. So if we have green plants around
[00:02:52.100]our wheat field, whether that's volunteer wheat, whether that's a cover crop, a green
[00:02:56.760]corn field, we need to be cautious about planting too early because those mites will move into
[00:03:03.680]our wheat field. So in those situations where we feel like we have a higher risk, it's better
[00:03:09.020]off to delay that planting until we can get the wheat in.
[00:03:11.020]Until the later part of September.
[00:03:13.780]Any other planting tips?
[00:03:15.260]Probably the biggest decision folks have will be picking a variety. And of course we
[00:03:22.000]have a period where prices are down. Maybe we don't want to spend money on seed this
[00:03:29.160]year. We're thinking about using some bin run seed and there's risk with doing that.
[00:03:34.140]We know when we purchase certified seed that we're getting quality. That wheat has been
[00:03:39.860]screened.
[00:03:40.860]That foreign matter, the weed seeds have all been removed and we don't have to worry about
[00:03:48.680]diseases like smut and things like that may be present as much as we would with bin
[00:03:55.820]run seed.
[00:03:56.820]I do encourage growers to always be looking at some certified seed. There's value in it.
[00:04:05.820]There's value in using some of those newer varieties that have higher yield potential
[00:04:08.940]over some of the older varieties.
[00:04:10.700]And so, consider using certified seed. It typically pays dividends down the road.
[00:04:18.940]Thank you, Cody. Again, we've been talking with Cody Creech, Nebraska Extension Dryland
[00:04:23.420]Cropping Specialist. AgWatch has been brought to you by the UNL Panhandle Research Extension
[00:04:28.940]and Education Center.

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Tags:
Nebraska
wheat
wheat stem sawfly
wheat curl mite
certified seed
UNL
wheat planting

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What to consider when getting ready to plant wheat

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