Comeback Crop: Supply Concerns, High Prices Push for More Wheat Acres
Wheat prices soared to 14-year high this past March based on global wheat supply concerns and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In response, the White House and USDA have plans to encourage farmers to increase double-crop wheat acres through payments and crop insurance.
Prices have cooled, but interest remains high for farmers to increase wheat acres or add the crop back to their mix. For the first time in a decade, Adam Casner planted it on his Carroll County, Mo., farm last fall.
“When we were harvesting, prices were climbing, and I was intrigued by the challenge of raising wheat,” Casner says. “This is the first time I’ve actually raised a wheat crop myself.”
Since they have been adopting more cover crops, Casner saw an opportunity to take that cover crop to harvest versus terminating it before planting.
“We are accomplishing what we wanted — to get more of a rotation than just corn and soybeans, so we won on a lot of fronts with wheat,” he says. “It was $7 wheat last fall that got me excited, then when wheat hit $10 and $11, it turned out to be profitable.”
EQUIPMENT MODIFICATIONS
As Casner’s crew worked to harvest the 2021 crop, he researched varieties that fit his soils, talked to farmers with wheat experience and sourced the seed. Without a drill on the farm, he worked with what he had.
“I bought a set of backer plates to put on my Kinze finger pick-up units and planted 15"-row wheat,” he says. “A lot of our wheat was following a corn crop, so we had a 16/32 Kinze planter, and we went in and split the cornstalks and just no-tilled right in to standing cornstalks. It looks funny and, I get a lot of questions about the 15" wheat, but it worked.”
The key to growing wheat for the first time is being flexible and finding local research that’s relevant to your area, says Phil Needham of Needham Ag Technologies. Then you can factor in production practices, specifically focusing on row width.
“Most research shows the narrower rows the better,” he says. “We‘ve consistently seen 15" wheat outyield 20", and 7.5" wheat would definitely yield 5% to 15% greater than 15" rows.”
SEED DEPTH IS KEY
Focus on seed depth. “If you’re no-tilling into heavy corn residue, set the target seeding depth to as deep as 2", because when you have heavy cornstalks, it may lift the gauge wheels up 1" or more,” he says. “To assure you get a seed in the ground at least 1", you‘re going to have to set the target seeding depth deeper.”
For no-till soybeans or conventional tillage, Needham suggests planting wheat 1" or deeper to reach moisture.
If you plan to add wheat to your farm, talk to seed dealers soon, Needham says, to ensure you can plant the best varieties for your soil.
Tyne Morgan, host of “U.S. Farm Report,” uses her Missouri roots to cover market-related news and stories.
