Wheat farmers are interested in a variety of management practices. However, implementing these practices on-farm can be risky, costly, and time-consuming. In fall 2023, with funding from the Ohio Small Grains Marketing Program, we started a new project called the ‘Wheat To Beat’, giving farmers an opportunity to test management practices at three Ohio State University research farms- Wooster Campus, Northwest Agricultural Research Station, and Western Agricultural Research Station.
Prior to planting wheat, we organized nine teams, corresponding to each Ohio Small Grains Check-Off districts (Figure 1). Each team selected management practices and products to be applied to wheat. We also had a ‘people’s choice’ team where wheat farmers selected treatments via survey distributed through the CORN newsletter. These 10 teams were compared to a standard wheat practice of 1.5 million seeds/acre seeding rate and a nitrogen rate of 90 lb N/acre applied in the spring.
For each set of management practices, we identified the teams with the greatest yield, profitability, and quality. The full Year 1 project report can be found here: https://stepupsoy.osu.edu/sites/hcs-soy/files/Wheat%20To%20Beat%20Year%201%20Report%202.pdf
Across the three research locations, Team #7 and Team #10 selected wheat management practices that resulted in the greatest yield (105 and 102 bu/acre, respectively). For comparison, the control treatment yielded 85.6 bu/acre. Treatments included:
Team 7
- Seeding rate = 2.0 million seeds/acre
- Fall application of 30 lb S/acre
- Spring N (60 lb N/acre + 45 lb N/acre + 25 lb N/acre) as split application
- Plant growth regulator
- Fungicide to flag leaf and at anthesis
- Insecticide
Team 10 (People’s Choice)
- Seeding rate = 1.5 million seeds/acre
- Fall application of 30 lb N/acre + 15 lb S/acre
- Spring N application of 122 lb N/acre
- Fungicide to flag leaf and at anthesis
Control Treatment
- Seeding rate = 1.5 million seeds/acre
- Spring N application of 90 lb N/acre
However, highest wheat yield did not translate into highest economic return. Across the three locations, teams with the highest (and statistically the same) economic return included Team 8 (partial return of $419/acre), Team 9 (partial return of $404/acre), and Team 5 ($397/acre). For comparison, the control treatment had a partial return of $404/acre and had statistically the same partial return as Team 8, 9, and 5. Partial return was estimated by subtracting costs of practices that varied among the teams from the gross return. Gross return was calculated by multiplying wheat yield (adjusted to 13.5% moisture) by the $6/bushel. Product costs and application costs were estimated from university enterprise budgets and custom rate surveys.
Team 8
- Seeding rate = 1.5 million seeds/acre
- Spring N application of 90 lb N/acre + 40 lb S/acre
- Foliar fungicide at anthesis
Team 9
- Seeding rate = 1.3 million seeds/acre
- Fall application of 20 lb N/acre + 15 lb S/acre + 10 lb Zn/acre
- Spring N application of 100 lb N/acre + 9 lb S/acre
- Fungicide to flag leaf
Team 5
- Seeding rate = 1.4 million seeds/acre
- Spring N application of 100 lb N/acre
- Foliar fungicide at anthesis
For grain quality, we considered factors that may result in a discount (test weight, moisture, shrinkage, and vomitoxin). Teams with the lowest quality discounts were Team 3 ($7.49/acre), Team 6 ($8.78/acre), and Team 2 ($8.96/acre). As a comparison, the control treatment had a discount of $9.92/acre.
Team 3
- Seeding rate = 1.0 million seeds/acre
- Fall application of 10 lb S/acre and 10 lb N/acre
- Spring N (30 lb N + 90 lb N) as split application
- Foliar fungicide to flag leaf
Team 6
- Seeding rate = 1.0 million seeds/acre
- Fall application of 20 lb N/acre and 5 lb S/acre
- Spring N application of 90 lb N/acre
- Foliar fungicide to flag leaf
- Plant growth regulator
Team 2
- Seeding rate = 1.0 million seeds/acre
- Fall application of 10 lb S/acre and 10 lb N/acre
- Spring N (30 lb N + 90 lb N) as split application
- Foliar fungicide to flag leaf
This trial will be repeated during the 2024-2025 growing season.