Leaving wheat residue provides longer term cropping benefits

(Above) UNL Extension Crops Specialist Bob Klein holds wheat (left) from a fallowed wheat field and (right) from a continuous wheat field. (Below) Wheat in some areas of west central Nebraska and the Panhandle is particularly short this year due to a lack of rainfall and stored soil moisture. Any water savings throughout the year becomes especially beneficial when precipitation and ground water become limited. (IANR Photos by Jim Randall)

As winter wheat condition deteriorates across much of Nebraska, producers should consider the long-term benefits of crop residue and think twice before cutting the wheat for hay rather than harvesting it for grain.

The winter wheat residue may be of more value if left in the field. The benefits include:

• keeping the soil cooler and reducing evaporation,
• trapping snow,
• reducing wind and water soil erosion,
• increasing yield in the following crops,
• increasing water infiltration rate,
• reducing wind velocities at the soil surface, and
• reducing air pollution and water sedimentation.

What is the value of winter wheat residue? Let’s look at corn yields where a farmer did not distribute the straw behind the combine on half of the field. Baling the windrowed straw cost him 20 bu/ac in reduced corn yield. He said he did not even come close to getting $40 ($2/bushel corn) of straw per acre off the part of the field where he baled the straw.

Winter wheat residue continues to be of benefit in the second year. For example, where rainfed corn is harvested for silage. A farmer harvested part of a field of ecofallow corn (corn planted into the previous year’s winter wheat stubble) for silage and harvested the rest of the field for grain. The next year the farmer planted the entire field to no-till corn. In the part of the field where the corn crop was harvested for silage the previous year, the corn yield was zero. The part of the field which was harvested for grain the previous year and had corn and wheat residue yielded 60 bushel plus. (No residue was present in the part harvested for silage because the wheat residue by the second winter is very fragile and blows out of the field if not protected by the corn residue.) With the present price of winter wheat and even accounting for low yields, the crop may be worth more when harvested for grain than cut for hay.

Cutting height matters

Cut the crop as high as possible. Research by Kansas State University in 2001 showed a 2 bushel increase in corn yield for every inch increase in stubble height from 7.5 to 15 inches. If you see 10 heads in a 10 x 10 foot area, that amounts to only 1/10 bushel of wheat with average size heads (22 kernels/heads) and average kernel weight (16,000 seed/lb). With these small heads it may take 2 to 3 to equal one average head or 20 to 30 heads in a 10 x 10 area will still only amount to 1/10 bushel per acre.

Check the prices for hay in your area and the cost of using the crop for hay or purpose other than grain. If winter wheat hay is worth $40/ton and it costs $20/ton to cut, windrow and bale, you get a ton/acre net of $20/acre. In the long run, you may be dollars ahead if you leave the crop in the field. Check out the numbers and if it’s economical in your situation, harvest the wheat crop for grain and leave the residue.

Robert N. Klein
Extension Cropping Systems Specialist
West Central REC, North Plattte
Paul C. Hay
Gage County Extension Educator

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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