Spring wheat
spring-wheat Spring wheat "Triticum aestivum
HOW TO GROW WHEAT
SOWING
Winter-types seed from late summer to early fall in Zone 3 to 7, a few weeks earlier than a rye or wheat grain crop, and from fall to early winter in Zone 8 and warmer. If you are considering harvesting as a grain crop, you should wait until the Hessian fly-free date, however. If cover crop planting is delayed, consider sowing rye instead. Plant at a high rate if seeding late, when over seeding into soybeans at the leaf yellowing stage, when planting into a dry seedbed or when you require a thick, weed-suppressing stand. Seed at a low to medium rate when soil moisture is plentiful.
Spring-types, however, do not require exposure to cold temperatures for normal development and can be planted in spring. Both winter- and spring-types, when properly grown in Minnesota, head in the late spring or early summer and mature by mid- to late-summer.
When selecting a locally adapted variety for use as a cover crop, you may not need premium seed. A Maryland study of 25 wheat cultivars showed no major differences in overall biomass production at maturity.
MANAGEMENT
You needn’t spring fertilize a winter wheat stand being grown as a cover crop rather than a grain crop. That would defeat the primary purpose scavenging nitrogen of growing a small grain cover crop. As with any over wintering small grain crop, however, you will want to ensure the wheat stand doesn’t adversely affect soil moisture or nutrient availability for the following crop.
Mixed Seeding or Nurse Crop. Winter wheat works well in mixtures with other small grains or with legumes such as hairy vetch. It is an excellent nurse crop for frost seeding red clover or sweetclover, if rainfall is sufficient. In the Corn Belt, the legume is usually sown in winter, before wheat’s vegetative growth resumes. If frost seeding, use the full seeding rates for both species, according to recent work in Iowa. If you sow sweetclover in fall with winter wheat, it could outgrow the wheat. If you want a grain option, that could make harvest difficult.
ADAPTATION
Optimum temperatures for wheat, 70-75°F, maximum temperatures 85-90°F, minimum temperatures 30-35°F. Winter wheat is a very drought tolerant crop but high temperatures greater than 85˚F during the grain-filling period, under dry conditions reduce yields somewhat because of the shorter grain-filling period.
TOLERANCE
Winter wheat plants with a good crown root system and two or more tillers can tolerate the cold temperatures better than less developed plants. Also, plants that had time to cold harden properly as a result of temperatures that gradually declined are less susceptible to winter injury.
PESTS
Wheat is less likely than rye or barley to become a weed problem in a rotation, but is a little more susceptible than rye or oats to insects and disease. Managed as a cover crop, wheat rarely poses an insect or disease risk. Diseases can be more of a problem the earlier wheat is planted in fall, especially if you farm in a humid area.
SHIPPING COST
25-lb., 50-lb. and larger sizes ship via ground transportation. Select the appropriate Bulk Shipping option at checkout. We may email you additional shipping costs separately based on your total order weight, zone and palleting costs.
LEARN MORE
SARE and Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3rd Edition.
Days from maturity calculated from the date of seeding. Average 12,000 to 16,000 seeds per pound. Sow average of 60–120 lbs per acre drilled, sow 60–160 lbs per acre broadcast, 3–4 lb per 1000 square feet. Usual seed life: 2–3 years.
Planting Depth 1–2”
Soil Temp. Germ. 39–90˚F
Days to Germ. 5–10
Plant Spacing 3–6”
Row Spacing 6–10”
Days To Maturity 90–120
Full Sun, Moist Well Drained Soil
Spring Seed Count
1 Pound ≈ 14,175 seeds
5 Pounds ≈ 70,874 seeds
25 Pounds ≈ 354m seeds
- 1 Pound$8.00
- 5 Pounds$19.50
- 25 Pounds$92.00
Winter wheat can be planted in the spring as a weed-suppressing companion crop or early forage. You sacrifice fall nutrient scavenging, however. Reasons for spring planting include winter kill or spotty over wintering, or when you just didn’t have time to fall-seed it. It won’t have a chance to vernalize, be exposed...
Winter wheat can be planted in the spring as a weed-suppressing companion crop or early forage. You sacrifice fall nutrient scavenging, however. Reasons for spring planting include winter kill or spotty over wintering, or when you just didn’t have time to fall-seed it. It won’t have a chance to vernalize, be exposed to extended cold after germination, so it will not head out and usually dies on its own within a few months, without setting seed. This eliminates the possibility of it becoming a weed problem in subsequent crops. By sowing when field conditions permit in early spring, within a couple months you could have a 6–10” tall cover crop into which you can no-till your cash crop.Wheat is a soil builder and organic matter source. Wheat is a plentiful source of straw and stubble. Wheat’s fine root system also improves topsoil tilth. Although it generally produces less than rye or barley, the residue can be easier to manage and incorporate.Our variety is Twin. Beardless, medium height (40 to 48") variety released in 1971 primarily grown for hay or forage production. An adequate choice for grain under marginal irrigation or dryland production. Widely grown for hay in Northern California and Southern Oregon. Plant at 100 to 120 lbs per acre on irrigated ground and 75 to 80 lbs per acre on non- irrigated ground. Tags: Specialty: Cover Crop, Season: Spring Fall Winter.
Cultivation of wheat began to spread beyond the Fertile Crescent after about 8000 BCE. Archaeological analysis of wild emmer indicates that it was first cultivated in the southern Levant with finds dating back as far as 9600 BCE. Genetic analysis of wild einkorn wheat suggests that it was first grown in the Karacadag Mountains in southeastern Turkey. The cultivation of emmer reached Greece, Cyprus and India by 6500 BCE, Egypt shortly after 6000 BCE, and Germany and Spain by 5000 BCE. "The early Egyptians were developers of bread and the use of the oven and developed baking into one of the first large-scale food production industries." By 3000 BCE, wheat had reached England and Scandinavia. A millennium later it reached China.
There are six wheat classifications: 1) hard red winter, 2) hard red spring, 3) soft red winter, 4) durum (hard), 5) hard white, and 6) soft white wheat. The hard wheats have the most amount of gluten and are used for making bread, rolls and all-purpose flour. The soft wheats are used for making flat bread, cakes, pastries, crackers, muffins, and biscuits. A high percentage of wheat production in the EU is used as animal feed, often surplus to human requirements or low-quality wheat.
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