Are Wheat Seeding Rates Important in Soft Red Winter Wheat?.

Wheat producers are always looking for ways to reduce input costs without sacrificing yield.   One potential method of reducing input costs is to reduce wheat seeding rates.  However many producers in Arkansas are reluctant to reduce seeding rates because of fear of not obtaining adequate stands and then having adverse weather conditions later in the planting season that would prevent replanting.  Wheat seeding rate studies were conducted from 2006-2009 in the Mississippi River Delta of Arkansas to evaluate wheat yield response to a range of seeding rates and determine the optimum economic seeding rate.  Results indicate that current University of Arkansas seeding rate recommendations of 26 seeds per square foot (approximately 90 lbs/acre) for drill seeded wheat that was planted in the optimum planting window was adequate to obtain maximum wheat yields and economically most profitable.  In several trials, seeding rate had little to no impact on wheat yield, indicating that inputs such as fertility and timing of inputs play a more critical role in wheat yield potential than plant density.