Wheat Farmers Top County Yields
Wheat Growers Top County Yields in National Contest
DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- Wheat may have nine lives, as the saying goes. But can it be managed for its best life while holding a line on return on investment (ROI)?
That is Greg Messer's goal. He, along with his southwestern North Dakota farming partners, use the National Wheat Yield Contest as a nudge to try new inputs and management strategies with an eye on productivity, protein and profitability.
It paid off this year as the farmer took top honors in the dryland spring wheat above county average category -- producing 106.65 bushels per acre (bpa) of WestBred WB9590, a solid 166.49% above the Stark County average of 40.02 bpa.
The winter wheat dryland above county average winner was David Ebers of Wellston, Oklahoma. Growing WestBred WB4422, his 136.2 bpa entry was 350.52% above the Lincoln County average of 30.28 bpa.
This category of the contest levels the fields for farmers producing wheat in areas that have more challenging growing conditions and gives them a barometer for their improvements. It compares dryland entries on the percentage by which their measured yield exceeds the most recent five-year Olympic average for the county where the crop is grown.
Now in its ninth year, the yield contest organized by the National Wheat Foundation (NWF) is designed to encourage wheat growers to strive for high yield, quality and profit while trying new and innovative management strategies. DTN/Progressive Farmer is the official media outlet of the competition.
Read on to learn more about the winning entries in this contest category.
SATISFYING SPRING RESULTS
It was late April before the 2024 spring wheat got planted on Messer Beaver Creek Ranch near Richardton, North Dakota. Cool temperatures slowed spring's start. A somewhat rainy June turned out to be a blessing for Messer's wheat when a 10-day hot and dry spell hit the crop during early reproduction. Daytime temperatures pushed 100 degrees, and nighttime temperatures were equally miserable. Many spring wheat fields in western North Dakota took a beating from the heat in July.
While kernel development might not have been ideal for Messer's fields during this stretch, a few lucky showers arrived to help the crop hang on through the stress.
One thing crops on this farm don't suffer from is lack of opinions. Greg farms with his brothers, Mark, Jerry and Scott. Greg's sons, Travis, Josh and Jadon; all bring various aspects of agronomy and precision agriculture expertise to the family farm fields. For this DTN interview, Travis Messer provided supporting information about the tactics deployed, but he speaks for the entire group. It takes everyone working together to plan and carry it out, he said.
"We knew we still had a good wheat crop," said Travis. "But we were hoping for more. The in-season sampling showed everything was at sufficient levels. We were trying to get to that 125 to 150 (bpa) range, and the cards were in place to do it. But that week or so of heat really took the top end off every field."
One of the biggest challenges this farm faces is it exists in an extremely arid climate. The region averages about 14 inches of seasonal rainfall and lack of water at crucial growth stages is common. Several years ago, they began turning to biological products to mitigate some of those stresses.
"These products have proven to be a tremendous addition to building soil biology on our farm. They've helped long-term on water-holding capacity and root development, which both aid in increasing the crop's ability to withstand stress. The wheat yields we can achieve here has a lot to do with improvement of soil health," Travis said.
The fertility program for the 2024 contest field, as well as the rest of the farm, began with zone soil sampling and management zones created with Agronomy 365 Baseline RX maps and soil, water, topography (SWAT) maps. Zone sampling results in map-based prescriptions run through John Deere 1895 drills that specifically place nutrients throughout the field.
All wheat seed on the farm was treated with Environoc ST biological seed treatment from BW Fusion to enhance nutrient availability -- especially phosphorus -- throughout the growing season. Carbon-based TerraNu fertilizers from Midwestern Bio Ag, made from dairy digester by-product, have been part of the farm's management program for several years. Using variable rate technology (VRT), TerraNu Hi P Ignite was placed in-furrow at an average rate of 81 pounds per acre. TerraNu K+ was also VRT applied through the mid-row bands at an average rate of 40 pounds per acre to address some specific potassium needs in various areas of the field.
The primary application of nitrogen (N) was anhydrous ammonia applied VRT through the mid-row bands at an average rate of 90 pounds per acre at planting.
In-season management included an application of Nachurs Finishline to add a fulvic acid along with some micronutrients. They also added an application of BW Fusion AmiNo, an amino acid nitrogen-based product to help reduce nitrates in the plant and increase nutrient efficiency.
"After some in-season tissue and soil samples with Agronomy 365, we decided to go out at flag leaf and apply BW Full Sun to increase root reserves in the plant prior to reproductive stages as well as create a larger leaf membrane," Travis noted. "Our last application of fertility for the season was a second application of BW Fusion AmiNo applied at Feekes 10.5 along with fungicide."
In total, 117 pounds of actual N was applied to the field. Travis estimated this was an average N rate for the area. "The standard recommendation for our area is around 2.5 pounds of N per bushel. Our goal is to maintain quality and yield at around 1.2 pounds of N per bushel applied, and hence we believe we are getting some efficiencies with these products," he added.
Information guides input decisions. Tissue samples and soil samples are pulled by zone right before tillering. Another set of samples is taken by zone at jointing and at flag leaf. A soil sample at grain provides a benchmark to give an indication of what's lacking or what's left -- and what they might tweak for next year.
Pouring on products to see what the crop will yield isn't the goal for the Messer farm. "It's tough enough to make money growing wheat. Increasing wheat yield and quality while doing it efficiently and economically is always the question," Travis said.
The winning field was corn in 2022 and field peas in 2023. "We love that rotation. Our highest ROI every year," Travis said. "This field has always had a history of high response to intense management. Our soil tests not only test for nutrients but also the soil's biological activity. So, we can predict preseason which fields will more than likely give us the highest response to high yield management."
The farm uses John Deere Operations Center and Harvest Profit Software to see which zones in the field ultimately had a positive return on investment (ROI) and to parse out differences. They have been experimenting with using the air seeder to place multiple varieties of wheat by prescription -- much like they do with hybrid corn. For example, this year they tried planting WestBred WB9606 as a defensive variety on the hills and areas that tend to stress and put WestBred WB9590 in other areas of a field.
"The 9590 has way more on the top end and able to maintain higher protein on that top end yield," Travis said. "When we looked at the harvest data on that field, multiple variety planting blended the protein up one point and yield up by 13 bushels (per acre)."
"That's the envelope we need to work in. We can't just raise 100-bushel (per acre) wheat that has 10% protein. No one wants it. Finding ways to answer that through variety placement and using them to their best advantage is something we plan to continue," he added, noting the farm likes to maintain spring wheat protein at 14% or higher.
WINTER WONDERS
Farming about 40 miles east of Oklahoma City, David Ebers returned to growing wheat in 2023 after missing the rotational benefits of the crop. He scored a fifth place in the above county average winter dryland category last year with a contest entry yield of 114.88 bpa.
The 2024 season, though, was an eye opener as he watched yields as high as 165 bpa cross the yield monitor. "This year, I saw a different level of yield than I thought was possible in central Oklahoma. My fields are not that consistent, so for me to have a 130-plus bushel contest entry, I need a lot of 150-bushel wheat out there," said Ebers.
At 37, the first-generation farmer likes to think he learns something new every season. This year was enough to convince him that the certified varieties have made a step-change in performance and that wheat breeders are doing a good job of bringing value to the field.
The 2024 winter wheat season started dry last fall, and the ground remained hard and cracked through most of the winter, he noted. "It looked rough, and we were thinking we'd taken the top end of the yield off. But rains started about when we reached reproductive stage, and we had ample rain throughout the rest of the season," Eber said.
"But we never drowned out any wheat and never flooded -- so never an excessive amount of moisture. And we had a gradual shift in temperatures and never anything terribly hot, which helped grain fill."
He was worried about having enough tillers going into spring after the dry winter, but he plants heavy (25 seeds per row foot on 7.5-inch spacings) and the head count was good.
"What stood out was the 63 pounds per bushel test weight at harvest. The berries were really big," he said.
Cotton and corn are mainstay crops for Ebers. Wheat follows corn in the rotation. Two applications of fungicide kept diseases away. He split applies nitrogen (N) -- putting 40 units of N and sulfur in the fall. In the spring, he uses nitrogen starter with zinc in furrow and follows with around 90 units of N, 100 pounds of AMS and 100 pounds of potash and some boron. He went a little heavier on nitrogen this year since the corn crop was better and he didn't have as much of a credit to apply. Tissue analysis helps pinpoint what might be lacking. This year he never had a tissue sample come back that was outside of the sufficient range.
The big question going forward is will he have a contest entry for 2025? Not a drop of rain fell in October, and Ebers kept his seed in the bag. Big buckets full of rain came in November and set up a period of wet conditions.
"I've never planted wheat in late November or later. I've cut my planting intentions back because we are so late. I'm not sure how much tillering we'll get, and I'm assuming top end yield potential is already lost on whatever I do get seeded," he said. "On the other hand, the good news is I didn't have anything seeded because I'm not sure it could have lived through everything we've had."
Participating in the contest requires some extra time, but both farmers see it as a learning tool. "The yield contest provides insights into some outside the box ideas and/or practices that maybe we would not consider to be normal," said Travis Messer.
"We analyze what we have learned and what has worked well and implement several of those practices into the rest of our production acres. Each year, we choose to enter the contest and go into the growing season with new ideas and an intentional plan to use what we have learned from previous years. We continuously try to improve on it and try to improve not just yield, but quality as well."
Find DTN's coverage of the National Wheat Yield Contest here: https://www.dtnpf.com/…
For individual profiles of the 2024 Bin Buster winners go to:
For more information on the National Wheat Yield Contest rules and how to enter go to: https://www.wheatcontest.org/…
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SPRING WHEAT DRYLAND ABOVE COUNTY AVERAGE WINNERS:
-- First Place: Greg Messer
Richardton, North Dakota
Variety: WestBred WB9590
Yield: 106.65 bpa, 166.49% above Stark County, North Dakota, average
-- Second Place: Austin Kautzman
Mott, North Dakota
Variety: WestBred WB9590
Yield: 90.13 bpa, 147.01% above Grant County, North Dakota, average
-- Third Place: Jordan Christman
Hettinger, North Dakota
Variety: WestBred WB9590
Yield: 87.36 bpa, 137.40% above Adams County, North Dakota, average
WINTER WHEAT DRYLAND ABOVE COUNTY AVERAGE WINNERS:
-- First Place: David Ebers
Wellston, Oklahoma
Variety: WestBred WB4422
Yield: 136.42 bpa, 350.52% above Lincoln County, Oklahoma, average
-- Second Place: Koby Dickerson
Vernon, Texas
Variety: Limagrain Cereal Seeds Steel AX
Yield: 102.80 bpa, 305.69% above Wilbarger County, Texas, average
-- Third Place: Tom Hill
Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Variety: Limagrain Cereal Seeds Warbird AX
Yield: 135.64 bpa, 282.72% above Kay County, Oklahoma, average
-- Fourth Place: Dylan Lindsey
Lamont, Oklahoma
Variety: Limagrain Cereal Seeds Atomic AX
Yield: 130.05 bpa, 270.51% over Grant County, Oklahoma, average
-- Fifth Place: Cheryl Lindsey
Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Variety: PlainsGold Kivari AX
Yield: 130.32 bpa, 267.71% above Kay County, Oklahoma, average
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Pamela Smith can be reached at pamela.smith@dtn.com
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