For the germination process to begin, wheat seeds need to imbibe (take in) water. With dry soil throughout the state, there are concerns about delayed germination and emergence after planting.
Over the past three years, we evaluated wheat planting date with funding from Ohio Corn and Wheat. Wheat yield was greatest when we planted between the county’s Hessian fly-safe date and about 2.5 weeks after the fly-safe date (Figure 1). Wheat yield declined when wheat was planted 3 to 5 weeks after the fly-safe date, but only by 10-15% compared to the optimum planting date timeframe.
This year, with dry soil, farmers may be concerned about delayed germination; however, our research over the past three years has shown wheat can be planted extremely late (3 to 5 weeks after the fly-safe date) and incur a relatively small yield penalty due to favorable fall weather. We definitely do not recommend purposely delaying planting if challenging weather prohibits timely planting or dry soil prohibits timely germination; however, yields may be impacted less than what we previously thought.
Some other key points to keep in mind:
- If soil is dry, conserve soil moisture by planting wheat without the use of tillage if possible. In addition to soil moisture conservation, excessive tillage may also result in soil crusting and emergence problems following a rainfall event.
- Wheat seed should be planted into soil moisture (if possible), but no deeper than a 1.5-inch depth.
- If you anticipate delayed germination due to dry soil conditions (>2 weeks after your county’s Hessian fly-safe date), you may want to consider increasing your seeding rate to 1.6 to 2.0 million seeds/acre.
