As wheat planting time arrives, farmers have decisions to make about which varieties to plant in what fields.
Ryan Moeller, technical seed agronomist with WinField United, says his company has taken a scientific approach to help guide producers when it comes to choosing which varieties are going to work best for them and their management practices.
“The first big question is: Does this product work for this geographic region?” he says. “It seems obvious, but it really makes a huge difference in performance when the seed you are planting was produced with geography in mind.”
Other help comes from Winfield United Answer Plot system, which has provided “response scores” for several crops, including winter wheat. The score ranks different products based on the response that variety has shown to certain planting and management practices.
Response to population. “Population does matter,” Moeller says. “When we bring out a variety we test for response. We start with a million seeds per acre and two million seeds per acre. What changes with the higher population guides what kind of rating or score we put on it.