Kansas Wheat: Goodland Farmer Talks Pre-Plant Yield Strategies
07/29/2010 08:15AM
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For Goodland farmer Mike Sieck, when it comes to optimum wheat yields, the devil is in the details.
Sieck farms with his father, Melvin and brother, Mark, and was one of four farmers addressing the audience at the ProfitMaximizer Wheat Summit July 20 in Wichita.
The event was held by Bayer CropScience, Kansas Wheat, the High Plains Journal and KFRM.
He farms several thousand acres in a family partnership, with the crop rotation focusing on wheat, dryland corn and fallow. Corn is no-tilled into wheat stubble the spring after wheat harvest; after the corn crop is harvested, the land is chem-fallowed, then tilled. As wheat seeding season draws near, the seedbed is carefully prepared.
Goodland farmer Mike Sieck pays close attention to details at wheat seeding time, and with fertility management. The efforts pay off with above average yields.
"I like a very firm seedbed to enable the stands to be more uniform and adequate for seeding depth," Sieck explains. "We actually use a packer the last two operations, in conjunction with a field conditioner at a shallow depth, to conserve moisture in the top few inches."
Goodland farmer Mike Sieck pays close attention to details at wheat seeding time, and with fertility management. The efforts pay off with above average yields.
A consistent seedbed ensures even emergence, with seeding depth depending upon moisture availability. His fertilizer program features a pre-plant application of phosphorous, followed by application of nitrogen and sulfur in January or February via ground sprayer equipped with stream banders. He uses 28-0-0-5, the quantity of which depends upon what the soil needs. Using a spray rig allows quick, timely application of fertilizer.
"With a sprayer, you can get across so many extra acres than you can sweep anhydrous on," he says. "Plus, it gives the crop an extra boost coming out of the winter. With our drier climate, we need to get it on earlier just to allow the moisture to go ahead and incorporate the nitrogen."
Sieck, who sells Agseco wheat seed, applies Gaucho XT seed treatment to all his own seed prior to planting. The product combines fungicide and insecticide to give better control of aphids and Hessian fly in the fall. Even if the variety is resistant to Hessian fly, the seed treatment seems to improve plant stem strength, resulting in better standability at harvest. Routinely, fungicides also are applied in the spring.
"In the worst case scenario, they'll at least pay your money back. In the heavy pressure years, the return can be pretty tremendous," he explains.
All these factors combine to yield above-average harvest averages for Sieck and his family members. The last four to five years, his yields have averaged at least 55 bushels per acre; the last two years, average is in the mid-70s. Some of the success comes from help with Mother Nature; some of it is due to crop rotation, which helps reduce weed and disease pressure. But above all, it's fine-tuning key management practices.
"We're not doing that much extra. It's that we pay extreme attention to detail at ground prep and in seeding depth," he says.
Source: Kansas Wheat Scoop issue no. 1673