Lack of a suitable previous crop and the risk of winterkill are two main reasons why winter wheat acreage has historically been very small. However, winter wheat offers a number of advantages over HRSW. First, inclusion of winter wheat in the crop rotation allows for more efficient use of labor and equipment by spreading out the labor film. Thus, inclusion of winter wheat in a crop rotation has the potential to reduce fixed cost per acre in both winter wheat as well as the other cereals, improving the profitability of those enterprises indirectly. Winter wheat also offers the potential to reduce the need for crop protection inputs. The canopy of winter wheat establishes much earlier than HRSW. Thus, winter wheat may be able to out-compete annual broadleaf and grassy weeds. This eliminates the need for a selective herbicide, and lowering the variable inputs per acre. Thirdly, winter wheat may have a higher grain yield potential because the crop is already established in the spring and growing when HRSW still needs to be planted. This may also mean that the period of grain fill occurs earlier than HRSW and by (partially) escaping the summer heat, the grain yield potential may be higher.

The risk of winterkill can greatly be reduced if and when a snow cover can protect the dormant wheat seedling. Even a few inches of snow greatly reduces the risk of winterkill (Table 1). No-till cropping systems, that maintain as much standing stubble as possible, greatly enhance the ability to trap snow and thus can provide the needed protection for the winter wheat. In addition, no-till systems offer the advantage of preserving soil moisture at planting which enhances the odds that germination and emergence will be faster and more even. No-till production systems have steadily allowed winter wheat acreage to increase in the Canadian provinces in the past decade.

Table 1 The insulating effect of snow as measured by the temperature at crown depth at two ambient temperatures.

Source: Winter Wheat Production in North Dakota. NDSU Extension Service

The recommended seeding dates for winter wheat are the middle to later half of the month of September in the southern half of Minnesota and the first week of September in northern part of the State. Planting after the recommended dates can reduce winter survival and grain yields (Table 2). Planting prior to the recommended date unnecessarily depletes soil moisture reserves, increases the risk of diseases, and may reduce winter survival (Table 2)

Table 2 The effect of planting date on winter survival of winter wheat following summer fallow from 1967 through 1973 in Williston, ND.

Source: Winter Wheat Production in North Dakota. NDSU Extension Service

To reduce the risk of fungal diseases, winter wheat should not be planted into either wheat or barley stubble. Summer fallow, abandoned alfalfa stands, or canola stubble are three possibilities for planting winter wheat.

North Dakota State University has an excellent winter wheat production manual with additional details about how to raise winter wheat, including details on fertility and disease management. The manual can be found on the Internet at the following address:
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/smgrains/eb33w.htm

To possibly further increase the appeal and possibilities of winter wheat in Minnesota the University of Minnesota has the past two years evaluated whether soybeans can serve as a previous crop to winter wheat in northwest Minnesota. At the recommend planting date, the soybean crop generally has not matured yet. If soybeans are to serve as a previous crop to winter wheat in northwest Minnesota, planting of winter wheat will need to be delayed by about month to the first week of October.

To determine the feasibility of soybeans to serve as a previous crop to winter wheat the following experiment was conducted at Fosston and Plummer in 2002 and 2003. At each location the trial was planted immediately following the soybean harvest on the first of October each year, using a split plot design in which the tillage treatment was the main plot and four winter wheat cultivars that differed in winter hardiness were the split plots. The no-till plots were directly seeded with an air seeder. The tilled plots were first chisel plowed and prepared with a field cultivator. The first year’s results indicate that winter wheat established successfully following soybeans despite planting four weeks later than currently is recommended.

No effect of tillage or interaction between the winter hardiness and the tillage treatment was detected in the first year. This means that the standing soybean stubble and the no-till seeding did not reduce winter kill that year. The most winter hardy cultivars showed the least winterkill, the most spring vigor, and best stand (Table 3). Cv. ‘Ransom’, which has a moderately high winterhardiness, showed 2% winterkill. Cv. ‘Tandem’, rated moderate winter hardy, showed 28% winterkill that first year.

Table 3 Simple correlation coefficients between the winter hardiness rating of the tested winter wheat varieties and percent winterkill, initial stand in the spring, and vigor of the winter wheat in the spring.