UWRF University of Wisconsin-River Falls Upper Midwest Forages

Wheat

Scientific name:Triticum aestivum L
Cultivars:Many classes of wheat:
  • Hard red spring wheat (mainly in northern Great Plains; high quality bread)
  • Hard red winter wheat (mainly in WA, MT, CO KS, NE)
  • Soft red winter whea (KS, MO, IL, IN,OH)
  • Soft white wheat (Oregon, Washington, Idaho)
  • Durum wheat: has low gluten, not for bread making, used for pasta (semolina), (ND, SD, MT, MN)
    • Origin:South East Turkey
    Growth Habit:Bunch type; Upright tillers; long-day plant, where long days speed time to flowering
    Life Cycle:Annual
     
    Use
     
    Production:1-4 tons DM by next spring (winter wheat) for grazing or hay.
    Nutritive Value:
  • Good as long as harvest is not beyond hard-dough stage
  • Limited moisture favors protein concentration, 11.5 to 14%
    •  
    Identification
     
    Seed Head:Spike; awns not as straight as in Rye or Barley
    Seed:
  • ribbed front, and smooth back
  • 60 lb/bushel
  • 20,000-24,000 seeds/lb
    • Shoot:Hollow stems at internodes; nodes can be pubescent (hairy) or not (glabrous)
    Leaf:Leaf blades are smooth near the base
    Auricles:Prominent (less than barley) and hairy
    Ligule:Membranous
     
    Adaptation
     
    Soil:
  • Well drained, silt and clay loam
    • pH:7 to 8.5; does not tolerate acid soils well
    Moisture:
  • Grown in < 30 inches (in US); it can grow from 10 to 70 inches
  • No tolerance to flooding
    • Temperature:
  • Adapted to cold well, but it can grow in hot climates if humidity is not too high.
  • Plants with 2 or more tillers and good crown will tolerate cold better
  • > 50°F at crown will loose winter hardening hardiness
  • Warm, humid conditions favor disease development
  • Winter kill of crown at 3 to 4°F
  • May winter kill at 10-20°F without snow
  • With snow cover it may withstand
    • Other:
     
    Establishment - Management
     
    Seeding rate:100 lb/acre (1.6 bu/acre)
    Seed cost:
    Planting date:
  • Spring wheat: early in the spring; winter wheat: early in the fall for good establishment before winter.
    • Planting depth:
  • 1.5 to 2 inch
  • Planted too shallow crown will develop too close to soil surface and becomes susceptible to winter kill
  • Crown should develop 1 inch below soil
    • Frost seeding:Spring wheat, not winter wheat.
    Fertilization:
  • N provides the greatest response and determines N concentration
  • 40-100 lb N/acre are common; too much N will delay maturity, cause plants to lodge, and decreasing yield
  • P and K fertilization according to soil test
  • Spring wheat: at planting; winter wheat: split application is used, with some N, all P and K applied prior or at planting, and rest of N in grown season to guarantee good N levels during blossoming (for adequate protein)
    • Grazing:
    Hay:Used as emergency crop when alfalfa and clovers fail.
     
    Notes
  • Straw after combining is valued for bedding
  • Preferred by horses over oats
    •  
    Photos


    Wheat seedhead (spike)


    Wheat field late July


    Wheat combine harvest for grain, late July