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October 20, 2020
In This Edition:
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Planting wheat in late October or early November? Follow these tips.
By Ricardo Costa, MSU Extension educator, and Dennis Pennington, MSU wheat specialist
 In a perfect world, wheat should be planted right after the Hessian fly-free date (the standard fly-free-date is during the first week of September in the northern Lower Peninsula, around mid-September in mid-state areas, and approximately the third or fourth week of September for southern Michigan).
Highest yields are often attained when seedlings emerge within two weeks following the posted fly-free-date, assuming heat unit accumulation is near average in October and November. The goal is to plant early enough to achieve two to three tillers produced before the winter vernalization period.
That being said, planting early isn’t always possible. More often than not, weather conditions and the harvest of preceding soybeans make it very difficult to plant wheat on time.
The recommended seeding rate for wheat is to plant between 1.2 and 2.2 million seeds per acre. If you are planting within a week of the hessian fly-free date, you should use seeding rates on the lower end of the range to avoid overly thick stands that can promote disease development and increase the likelihood of lodging the following season.
As the calendar advances, seeding rates should become progressively higher. If planting continues into the third week of October, you should increase your seeding rates to 1.8 or 2.0 million seeds per acre or more (28 or more seeds per foot of row).
Also, planting shallower (around 1 inch or less) will allow the seedlings to emerge more quickly and start tillering.
If planting in early November, these seedlings may not emerge until next spring.
As the fall progresses, late-planted wheat seeds might be slower to emerge due to lower temperatures; in order to protect the vulnerable seed from soil-borne diseases, fungicide seed treatments should be considered.
If you plan to plant wheat in late October or even early November, make sure to apply approximately 20 pounds per acre of Nitrogen fertilizer this fall, hoping that an extended fall season may allow some tiller development. To further promote tillering, apply some or all of next spring’s nitrogen early during green-up.
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Notes from Pennington
The YEN and the yang of it. More about the new Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN)
By Dennis Pennington, MSU wheat specialist pennin34@msu.edu
Thanks to funding from the Michigan Wheat Program, a wildly successful program in the United Kingdom is now coming to Michigan. The Yield Enhancement Network is being launched right here in the Great Lakes Region.
 The Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) concept was conceived and established within ADAS, the United Kingdom’s largest independent agricultural and environmental consultancy. The goal of a YEN is to be able to benchmark your crops’ performance against other participants and network with other experienced farmers, agronomists and scientists.
The YEN in the United Kingdom has been wildly successful and has grown to over 400 farmers participating in the eight short years since it went live. Objectives of the YEN include:
- Identifying and verifying high crop yields, through an annual wheat yield competition
- Facilitating crop analysis, to pinpoint and explain causes of yield gaps and yield enhancements
- Organizing and encouraging research into innovative ideas that may enhance crop yields
- Estimating wheat yield potential and yield gaps
Yield gap is a term that explains the difference between the theoretical maximum possible yield and the actual yield realized. This project will quantify the yield gap for each field entered in the contest.
The goal of this project is to develop the Great Lakes YEN (Ontario, Michigan now; adding Ohio and New York in the future). This will help Michigan wheat growers improve wheat yields. By joining you will learn from experts and other regional growers about what practices work on their farms to produce higher yields.
The goal is to develop a set of top producers who are willing to share information and help each other reach higher plateaus in wheat yields. By collaborating with Ontario and ADAS, we are able to bring additional expertise to the project.
Participants will enter one field in the new Michigan yield contest. You will be encouraged to enroll the same field in the National Wheat Yield contest at the same time.
All of the data described above will be collected and entered into the online registration system. Harvest and quality data will be entered and tabulated. You will be provided with a comprehensive report, detailing how your crop performed and where improvements could be made.
This report will contain the theoretical yield, achieved yield, yield gap, water availability, radiation use efficiency and nutrient status of the grain sample.
A gathering of all participants will take place when everyone has received his/her report to allow sharing of the parameters, range in yields, range in climate conditions and yield gap so that farmers can learn from each other as well as experts about how to improve yields and profitability. This may be done virtually depending upon travel restrictions at the time of the event.
If you are interested in participating in the Great Lakes YEN, please contact Dennis Pennington at pennin34@msu.edu or 269-832-0497. Click here to visit the UK YEN.
By participating, you will learn more about how to grow high yield wheat and what the potential causes are for lower yields on your farm. You will be able to talk to farmers, agribusiness and scientists in MI, Ontario and the United Kingdom. This international perspective should help us learn from each other about key agronomic and management aspects of wheat production.
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Manage bean residue for good wheat planting seedbed
By Dennis Pennington
 As I travel across the state planting wheat research plots, it has become more apparent that we are not doing a particularly good job managing bean residue left behind the combine. Equipment capacities are growing to improve harvest speed, which is good, but we have to make sure the equipment can meet all of our objectives.
Up to 45-foot grain tables are being used to harvest beans and small grains.
From a wheat planting perspective, we need to create conditions that are conducive to good stand establishment and uniform emergence. In order to achieve that, we must be uniformly distributing crop residue across the whole width of the combine header.
What I’m seeing in the field is strips of heavy residue in each combine pass with the outer edges receiving little or no residue.
Particularly for no-till farmers, planting wheat directly into the thick residue is a challenge. Even when tillage occurs, it often is not enough to break up the residue and distribute it evenly. We are leaving yield on the table when we plant wheat into these conditions.
Make sure you check your chopper/spreader and set it to chop and distribute residue the full width of the combine header.
Click here to view the Real Agriculture video of Phil Needham explaining how to set up a combine for optimal residue management.
Caption: Soybean field that has been tilled to prepare for wheat planting. Note you can still see the heavy residue strips.
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Attention Michigan grain and field crop producers, agribusinesses and ag stakeholders: MSU Extension needs your input!
 Every three years, the statewide MSU Extension Field Crops Work Team asks Michigan field crops producers to help us understand the current needs and interests of their industries. We do this by preparing a short questionnaire and seeking responses from farmers, processors, ag suppliers and support organizations.
We use the information we receive from throughout Michigan to assure that current MSU Extension programs are on-track, and to develop new programs that will be meaningful to the people we serve. Your individual response will be confidential.
This year, to encourage participation, you have the option to be included in a drawing for a $100 gas gift card. Three cards will be awarded to randomly selected people who complete the online questionnaire and “opt-in” for the drawing.
To complete the online MSU Extension Statewide Field Crops Needs Assessment Survey, please visit https://tinyurl.com/2020FieldCropSurvey or use this QR code to access it on your smart phone. Thanks a million!
Phil Kaatz may be reached at kaatz@msu.edu or at (810) 338-5242.
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Nominations due November 15!
Michigan Farmer magazine seeking Master Farmer nominees
 Do you know a farmer who consistently demonstrates outstanding farm management, innovation, conservation and leadership?
For many years, Michigan Farmer has bestowed the prestigious Master Farmer award on individuals who have demonstrated how to farm more effectively, efficiently, environmentally and economically.
Because the efforts of farmers often go unnoticed, the Michigan Master Farmer award is a sincere effort to honor top Michigan farmers who have generously devoted their time and energy to building stronger communities and better agriculture.
Master Farmers are awarded plaques from Michigan Farmer magazine and a Carhartt jacket, donated by Carhartt. Videos are developed by Nicole Heslip and Shannon Yokley of Brownfield Ag News to help tell their stories. They also receive a $1,000 check, made possible by sponsors Michigan Agricultural Commodities, Greenstone Farm Credit Services and Wilbur-Ellis.
The awards are normally presented at the end of January at the Great Lakes Crop Summit in Mount Pleasant. However, because of COVID, that event has been canceled and awards will be presented at a future time. The winners will be featured in the February issue of Michigan Farmer. Nominations are due Nov. 15.
Supporting letters for the nominees from a pastor, county MSU Extension agent, banker or other agricultural or civic leaders will strengthen the nomination. These letters will be forwarded to the judges for viewing.
Click here and scroll to the DOWNLOAD button following the article, to download the self-nomination form. Send completed nomination form and supporting letters to Jennifer.Kiel@farmprogress.com. Or mail them to: Jennifer Kiel, 710 W. Park St., St. Johns, MI 48879.
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Calendar of events
 The Michigan Wheat Program currently has an empty winter calendar. Good luck with harvest! Check back here around November, as we hope more events – virtual or in-person – show up for the 2020-2021 winter meeting season.
- March 17, 2021 – MICHIGAN WHEAT PROGRAM ANNUAL WINTER GROWER MEETING, Keynote Speaker: Peter Johnson; MSU Saginaw Valley Research & Extension Center, Frankenmuth.
- June 9, 2021 – MICHIGAN WHEAT PROGRAM SUMMER FIELD DAY, MSU Pathology Farm, Lansing.
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