Jay Arentz and Wes Messick farm on far different soilscapes, but have the same for-profit mindset when it comes to raising wheat. They go about it differently, though.

Arentz, of Littlestown, Pa., grows about 470 acres of winter wheat along the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. Last year, his wheat yields averaged 86 bushels an acre. Wheat and barley come after corn and soybeans in his rotation, trailed by double-crop beans.

Messick’s Cloverdale Farms operation at Hurlock, Md., raised close to 200 acres of wheat, averaging 77 bushels an acre last year. His preferred cop rotation for this Eastern Shore business starts with wheat, followed by sweet corn, then double-cropped soybeans, then field corn. Irrigation allows this fast-paced cropping plan.

Both are “bottom liners.” Every input must prove and pay for itself. Both fall-apply humic acid products to enhance crop residue breakdown and free up soil nutrients for wheat. That, according to Messick, allows him to skip fall nitrogen application.

Since yield potential is a top variety selection priority, some of what they plant is susceptible to fusarium head blight (wheat scab). That’s why both rely on fungicides.

Management differences
Arentz fall-applies part of his wheat’s nitrogen needs. Some 60% of N goes on at spring green-up along with foliar phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients with Tilt or a rotated fungicide plus Palisade growth regulator. The rest goes on close to flag leaf.

Why a growth regulator? “It makes little difference in straw yields,” he explains. “But the combine monitor can show as much as 130 bushels in standing wheat, then drop to 90 bushels where it lodges.”

For disease control, Messick prefers a more preventive approach. Spring applications include two split-N treatments putting down 78 pounds of actual N, teamed with fungicides plus nutrients. Half goes on in early March as dry fertilizer — a blend of ammonium sulfate and urea. The second N application goes in mid-March with Tilt.

At wheat’s full head stage, Messick follows the same tracks using Prosaro fungicide to close the door on wheat scab and mycotoxins. For extra protection, he teams it with Fungi-Phite, a phosphoric acid formulation.

“At full head, we get much better spray coverage of the leaf and head,” he explains. “In test weight comparisons, Fungi-Phite added 2 to 3 bushels to yield compared to the fungicide alone.”

Arentz loves cover crops — multiple species mixes. He should. “Our corn yields,” he says, “range from 40 to 77 bushels better by planting them after wheat.”

Messick also cover-crops, using ryegrass. But in last year’s “perfect storm,” as he calls it, ryegrass wiped out most of his barley crop.

Most important practices?
For Arentz, it’s getting wheat seed drilled right. “We try to average 1.8 million seeds per acre, depending on the varietal recommendation,” he adds. “Then our profits are controlled 50% by Mother Nature and 50% by the markets.”

For Messick, it’s scouting — “eyeballs in the field and on the web for what’s coming our way. That and staying close to our crop consultants.”

Watch weather coming from the south
Arentz and Messick strongly recommend watching weather coming from the south. It provides clues about north-bound diseases and windows for when spraying can be most effective.

Both stay tuned to the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center, a predictive model developed by Penn State University. Find it on the web at www.wheatscab.psu.edu. Look for it to be up and running for 2017 at least by early March.