Feasibility of a One-pass Seeding and Fertilizing System for Winter Wheat

Evaluate the feasibility of no-till planting of winter wheat in eastern Saskatchewan.

IPNI-1995-CAN-SK14

30 Aug 2001

Justification

    There is a resurgence of interest in the Winter Wheat crop on the Eastern side of Saskatchewan because of: (1) the delayed harvest conditions experienced with spring crops due to cooler and wetter conditions in the past few years, (2) the problem with the wheat midge which caught many producers by surprise, especially during the last year; (3) the problems associated with tombstone is causing producers to look at other cereal crops to try and avoid the problem in southern Manitoba. The recent momentum towards direct seeding means that many producers have the necessary seeding equipment to manage winter wheat well.

    Given all of the above reasons, it is interesting to note that winter wheat can address in whole or in part many of these problems. The brisk sales of winter wheat seeds during the past fall is a strong indication that this crop will be making a come back in many parts of western Canada in the next few years. Ducks Unlimited goal is to get winter wheat acreage up to 500,000 acres in Saskatchewan during the next five years.

    The most commonly asked question regarding winter wheat last fall was whether or not all of the nitrogen fertilizer could be side-banded during the seeding operation. The current recommendations for N-fertilizer management is to broadcast ammonium nitrate fertilizer in early spring. Ammonium nitrate is the most expensive form of N-fertilizer and fertilizer N has to be applied very early in the spring in order to maximize yields. However, this is not always practical and possible.

    Previous work under controlled environment conditions has shown that high rates of N interfered with the cold-hardiness process. However because of the use of nutrient solution culture, it is difficult to determine at what levels of nitrogen the cold-hardiness process is interfered with and how it relates to a field situation. On the other hand, high levels of P tends to increase winter survival, dry matter production, root growth and recovery from low temperature injury. Their study did not determine if the effects of high rates of N could be offset by using higher rates of P. More recently, unpublished work by Gusta (University of Saskatchewan) has shown that high rates of N under field conditions doesn't necessarily affect the cold acclimation process as such but causes a more rapid dehardening of the plants during the January to February time period making it more vulnerable to winter kill at that time. There is a definite need to determine the levels of N that can be safely put down during the seeding operation without adversely affecting the cold acclimation and the level of cold hardiness obtained and whether or not the high effect can be altered with phosphorus fertilizer.