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May 25, 2006

Evaluation of Your Small Grains Seeding Operations

 Jochum Wiersma, Small Grains Specialist

 

Taking a stand count early in the season when the crop has just emerged is a good practice. It allows for an evaluation of seedbed preparation and planting operations and whether the intended stand was achieved. The easiest time to do a stand count is probably when the crop is in the two- to three-leaf stage since tillers are not visible yet, making counting easier.

To do a stand count, use one of the following two methods:

  1. Count the number of plants in a foot of row at several locations in the field. Take an average and convert in plants per acre using Table 1.

  2. Take a hula-hoop, let it fall, and count the number of plants inside the hoop. Repeat this at random several times across the field and calculate an average. Use Table 2 to convert the count to an approximate population per square foot or acre.

Table 1. Average number of plants per foot of row for different row spacing and plant densities per acre.
table 1:Average number of plants per foot of row for different row spacing and plant densities per acre

Table 2. Adjustment factors to multiply the number of plants inside a hoop and convert the number in to number of plants per acre.
table 2:Adjustment factors to multiply the number of plants inside a hoop and convert the number in to number of plants per acre


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Last modified on May 25, 2006