When wheat is used only for grazing, the desired planting date should be much earlier than when planting wheat for grain production. Profitability of grazing usually depends on providing the earliest pasture for grazing in the fall and winter, so planting dates are often pushed by producers to as early as the end of August or early September.
When fields are planted earlier, soil temperatures are higher and soil moisture is usually limiting, therefore:
• Higher soil temperatures limit the length of the emerging shoot (coleoptile) of the plant so planting depth should be very shallow (<1 inch).
• In freshly planted clean-till fields hard rains can cause the seed bed to crust over hindering emergence of the wheat plant.
• Earlier seeding makes it difficult to control cools season broadleaf and grassy weeds, so rotation of crops or seeding dates becomes necessary to clean up these issues.
• Insect pests, such as grasshoppers and fall army worms, are a bigger issue for early planted wheat, so scouting and control are important.
• Seeding rates for early planted wheat are recommended to be higher than later planted wheat at 1.5 to 2 bushels per acre (90 to 120 pounds per acre).
Compared with tilled seedbeds, no-till fields with good residue cover have cooler soil temperatures, improved moisture retention, and less soil crusting potential. The cooler soil temperatures slow seedling emergence for late fall plantings but can be of benefit for early planted wheat.
Resent research showed that fall forage production in no-till wheat plantings in mid-August and early September were similar to forage production of clean-tilled fields in early September. When planting was delayed until mid-September, fall forage production in tilled fields was better than in no-till. Stocker calf gains were the same for early planted no-till and clean-tilled fields. When planting dates were delayed no-till fields had later stocking dates and lower calf gains than clean-till fields.
There is a lot of give and take when planting wheat and other cool-season annuals for pasture. Each year is different, but when aggressively pursuing the earliest planting dates for maximizing fall forage production, producers must be ready to intervene if crusting occurs and control pests … or replanting may be necessary. — Paul Beck, Oklahoma State University Extension beef nutrition specialist
