Management Practices to Improve Winter Wheat Productivity and Winter Survival In North Dakota.

Winter injury frequently causes serious stand and yield losses in winter wheat sown in regions like North Dakota that have severe sub-freezing winter temperatures.  While the winter hardiness of a cultivar is genetically controlled, management practices can also influence winter survival. Field experiments were established in the Fall of 2010 in Fargo, Prosper, Lisbon, Hettinger and Williston, ND.  In Fargo, Prosper and Lisbon, winter wheat was sown into previous standing wheat or canola stubble or into previous soybean or pea stubble that contained little erect stubble to capture snow and insulate the soil during the winter months. At all locations, experiments were established to determine winter hardiness of two cultivars (Jerry and Hawken) and their response to optimal and later than optimal planting date with five fertilizer additions placed with the seed (P, K, P+K, 75% max P, 75% max K). Prior to fall freeze-up, wooden stakes marking 60 cm were placed in each plot. Winter wheat plants were counted in the fall and spring for the staked area and represented the survival percentage. As expected, the optimal planting date at Fargo and Hettinger returned the highest survival at 106 and 100%, respectively. At Williston, cultivar Jerry had significantly higher survival than Hawken (110% vs 95%). In Prosper, the fertilizer addition of 75% max K resulted in 101% survival, significantly higher than all other treatments.  Additionally, adding 75% max P with the seed provided the poorest survival (70%). With a colder than average winter and above average snowfall, winter survival of winter wheat in North Dakota was high and therefore did not produce constant significant differences between treatments.