Will tight seed supply limit wheat plantings this fall?
John Brink, president of the Illinois Wheat Association, predicted wheat growers this fall will seed an additional half-million acres, or more, of wheat compared to last fall.
Dan Grant
Published: Sep 2, 2010
The fact that wheat growers had such a difficult time planting their crop a year ago could create more headaches for producers this fall.
The supply of wheat seed in the state currently is very tight and producers interested in planting wheat this year, who have not secured their seed supply, have been advised to contact seed suppliers as soon as possible to place orders or get on waiting lists.
“We still haven’t got to planting yet, so we’ll see how things play out, but there’s no doubt there is a limited amount of high-quality seed,” said Ken Martin, GROWMARK soybean/wheat product manager. “Seed supplies probably are very tight across the soft (red) wheat belt” in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio.
Illinois farmers last fall managed to plant just 350,000 acres of wheat, which is one of the lowest wheat acreage totals on record. Farmers the previous year planted a half-million more acres of wheat statewide.
John Brink, a wheat grower from Washington County and president of the Illinois Wheat Association, grows seed wheat so he has an ample supply to plant this year’s crop.
He is somewhat concerned the tight seed supply could challenge some farmers but believes the situation won’t be a “huge issue.”
“Some of the more prominent varieties are unavailable,” Brink said. “So I think there is a shortage now but there possibly could be some seed released in-season from guys who over-bought.”
Martin advised wheat growers looking for seed to contact suppliers as soon as possible.
“Try to at least get your name on the list of suppliers,” he said.
Otherwise, farmers may consider planting thinner stands this fall to spread their seed supply out. Steve Ebelhar, agronomist at the University of Illinois Dixon Springs Agricultural Center, said a slight adjustment to seeding rates can help but advised farmers against slashing seeding rates too low.
“I’d recommend 35 seeds per square foot but you can go down to 30 without hurting yourself too much,” he said. “But I wouldn’t go anything less than 25 seeds per square foot, and that’s into very good seedbed conditions.”
Overall, Brink predicted wheat plantings in Illinois this fall will bounce back closer to the 850,000-mark achieved two years ago but likely will fall short of the 1 million mark, which last was reached in the fall of 2007 when Illinois farmers planted 1.2 million acres of wheat.
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