Antelope seems especially well-adapted to western Nebraska irrigated production. In university irrigated variety trials from western Nebraska, the five-year average yield for Antelope from 2001 through 2005 was 91.2 bushels per acre. Only Wesley, with a five-year average of 93.4 bushels per acre, yielded more than Antelope. In fact, three of the top five varieties were hard white wheat. In addition to Antelope, these included NuFrontier and NuHorizon. Visit the Virtual Wheat Tour at: www.panhandle.unl.edu/wheat for the most up-to-date information on variety performance and recommendations for Nebraska.

The other recent development that may influence white wheat production is the price of wheat. Relatively strong wheat prices make irrigated wheat competitive with other crops traditionally grown with irrigation. It may be easier to find irrigated growers willing to make the switch from hard red winter wheat to hard white wheat than it has been to get dryland wheat growers to change.

Generally, wheat is not the primary crop for irrigated growers and they are more likely to be willing to switch their entire production from hard red winter wheat to hard white wheat. Dryland wheat growers, however, are generally more reliant on wheat in their production systems and may be more hesitant to make a complete switch to hard white wheat. Handling both hard red and hard white wheats in the same operation, while not impossible, requires greater management and may not be seen as worth the effort by many dryland wheat growers.

Virtually all of the hard white wheat cultivars currently available for production are strong strawed and perform well under irrigation, with the notable exception of Arrowsmith. Another advantage of growing hard white wheat under irrigation is that volunteer wheat is not generally a concern in irrigated rotations because wheat is not typically grown in these rotations more than once every three to five years. The combination of rotation length and application of irrigation water depletes the seed bank of wheat seed between wheat crops and greatly reduces the risk of volunteer red wheat contaminating the hard white wheat crop.

Frequency of sprouted samples in the Nebraska state variety trial from 1999-2004, with the results plotted against longitude. A low falling number, say less than 300, is an indication that sprouting had occurred in the wheat sample. Comparison of the red wheats to the white wheats shows that from Sidney west, there was no real difference in the frequency of sprouting between red and white wheats. Click on image to view a larger version. (IANR figure courtesy of Robert Graybosch)

All production practices (seeding date, seeding rate, fertilization, and harvesting) are alike for hard white wheat and hard red winter wheat. Susceptibility to preharvest sprouting of hard white wheat has been a major production concern. Rain, high humidity, and low temperatures after ripening may cause the grain to sprout in the spike. In reality, however, there is a wide range in tolerance to preharvest sprouting among white and red winter wheat varieties. Some hard white winter wheat varieties are actually more tolerant to preharvest sprouting than some hard red wheat varieties (Table 1). If preharvest sprouting is a concern, be sure to select a wheat variety that has very good or good tolerance to sprouting. The risk of preharvest sprouting is much less in the semi-arid areas of western Nebraska than in the sub-humid areas of central and eastern Nebraska (Figure 1).

At this time only a few Nebraska grain buyers can handle and market hard white wheat. Before you place the first kernel of wheat in the ground, you need to identify a buyer for your white wheat grain. There is no guarantee of a buyer at harvest if you have not made prior arrangements. On-farm grain storage may be an indispensable aspect of white wheat production due to the fact that many elevators may not have sufficient demand to dedicate storage space for white wheat.

Drew Lyon
Extension Dryland Crops Specialist, PHREC
Robert Graybosch
Research Geneticist
USDA-ARS Grain, Forages and Bioenergy Research Unit, Lincoln

Copyright 2006 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. All rights reserved.

Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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