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Don't get burned by planting wheat too earlyby Richard C. Snell Barton County Extension Agent, agriculture Kansas In football, the worst thing that can happen to a defensive back is to get "burned" on the deep pattern. That means a wide receiver ran past you and got behind you for a big gain or a touchdown. Sometimes that happens when the defender gets too aggressive at the wrong time and goes for the interception. You don't want that to happen to you as a farmer. How do you avoid this--don't plant early. Unfortunately, farmers' memories are short and they only remember what happened the previous year. The problem is that usually we get quite the opposite condition from one year to the next. So, just because planting later may have not worked out so well last year due to the dry weather, don't forget the spring freeze of the previous year when the taller wheat got hurt worse. I will almost guarantee you, with all the hail we had this year, the seed that shattered out is producing a tremendous crop of volunteer which usually means a buildup of curl mites and lots of wheat streak mosaic virus. That is my biggest concern with early planting, although Barley Yellow Dwarf and Hessian fly are two others. What is too early? Well that depends on where you are and what the Hessian fly free date is. For Barton County it is Oct. 4. Does that mean that if you plant after that date you will never have Hessian fly or wheat streak? I only wish it was that easy. The fly free date is just an estimate based on the first average freeze date in the fall. Our first freeze is on average about Oct. 14. So they figure by the time the wheat is emerged, the fly egg laying will be over. Some years it may be Veterans Day before this happens in reality and occasionally it will be late September. So, when should you plant? In the sand, you have my permission (not that you need it) to plant earlier. My wife's uncle, who is a long time sand farmer always said he would rather face the Hessian fly than the sand fly. He feared waiting may cause the loss of moisture and if the wheat did not emerge in the fall, wind erosion would take it and it would blow out. I have seen this happen. In the sandy soils along and south of the Arkansas River as well as south of Claflin, on the east side of the Cheyenne Bottoms, I would not fault you from starting Sept. 15, especially if you have good soil moisture like this fall. In the heavier soil, meaning the clay loam and silt loams which is what most of our county consists of, I might start planting Sept. 29 if I had quite a bit of wheat to plant and the moisture was there to plant into. The very end of September and the first week of October is where the best yields have been. On the other hand, it's really not too late until Thanksgiving, as long as you increase your seeding rate each day later you go. I have had some terrific yields planted from Nov. 4 to 10, when I planted at least 100 pounds per acre and maybe 2 bushels. Naturally, the farther north and west you get from the Great Bend area, the earlier you can plant and the farther south and east, the later you can plant just based on freeze dates. How much seed should you plant? All farmers go by pounds but the preferred method would be by seed count. Some varieties like Overley have huge seed and thus fewer seeds per pound. Also, the heavier the test weight the fewer seeds it takes to weigh 60 pounds. Assuming 15,000 seeds per pound, at 50 pounds that is 750,000 seeds per acre and at 60 pounds per acre that is 900,000 seeds per acre. That is plenty because tillering will offset any reduction from crusting or the fact that the germination may be only 80 percent. At the lower seeding rates, plants will tiller more, unless the panting date is real late. I do not buy into the idea that planting thick from the get go will get you more yield. Wheat will add and sluff off tillers and adjust itself. Tillers do not yield significantly less unless they are late spring tillers. Especially in dryland, you can get it too thick. In the seeding rates studies I have seen, you can lose half of your stand and only have about a ten percent yield drop. That is going from say 60 pounds down to thirty pounds. Once you get up to an adequate stand level, all you do by increasing it is cause lodging and so thick a canopy that more disease will set in. What is he really saying? Start with 50 pounds if you are planting in September. For varieties like Overley, bump it up ten percent if you are going by pounds per acre. By Oct. 10, most varieties should be up to 60 pounds. Now remember, I am assuming you are planting into moisture. If you are planting into dry soil, the seeding rate must go up because you don't know when emergence may happen. I would probably increase my seeding rate by 20 pounds if you aren't getting the seed into moisture. I would also increase my seeding rate if I am no-tilling. I might increase it 5 pounds after wheat and 10 pounds after corn or soybeans. With no-till after sorghum, which I am not necessarily advocating unless you are going to completely kill the milo stubble and any re-growth, I would increase rate 15 pounds per acre. By Oct. 20, I am using 75 pounds for a base rate. By Oct. 30, I am up to 95 pounds. Nov. 10, I am at 120 pounds. Finally, control your volunteer wheat. Either, spray it right now and get it killed by the end of September or till it and kill it. With glyphosate, it takes about 10 days for it to die, so you should do it now. As my friend Ron Cunningham would say, "plant some," if you are planting on time. Just because we have good moisture, don't get carried away planting too early. 9/22/08 Date: 9/18/08
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