“Economics of Spring Wheat Versus Barley” Project

In 2006, Ontario farmers planted over 140,000 acres of spring wheat, the largest on record. At $180/t for spring wheat, the economics look very good on paper. However, yield has been the variable that drives profitability. So the discussion at winter meetings the past couple of years is which is more profitable spring wheat or barley?

Soil & Crop Regional Project

In 2006, the Georgian Region Soil & Crop Improvement Association initiated a 3 year project to evaluate the economics of spring wheat and barley. The project involved planting field-length strips of barley and spring wheat and applying the correct inputs for each crop. Nitrogen was applied at 80 lb/ac actual to spring wheat and 40–50 lb/ac to barley. A foliar fungicide was applied to plots if required where it was practical. Yield, moisture, test weight and protein information was collected at harvest. At some sites, a comparison was done for 3 seeding rates for spring wheat – 1.2, 1.6, & 2.0 million seeds/ac. The current recommended seeding rate is 1.2 – 1.6 m seeds/ac. The seeding rate for barley at these locations was 1.0 and 1.4 million seeds/ac.

Assumptions

Table 1 presents the results of the yield and returns for spring wheat and barley at each of the 9 locations. Income was calculated using a crop price of $180/t for spring wheat and $120/t for barley. Costs were based on 2006 OMAFRA crop budgets, but does not include land costs or other overhead costs, such as term loans or depreciation. The returns for straw are not included since no straw yields were collected, even though it is important in determining overall profitability.

Year 1 Preliminary Results

Quality of the spring wheat was good at all locations and all samples achieved the maximum protein premium. The average return over costs was similar for each crop - $66/ac for wheat, and $60/ac for barley. The highest return was $164 /ac from spring wheat that yielded 70 bu/ac at the Arthur 1 site. Spring Wheat produced higher returns than barley at 5 out of 9 sites. At 3 of the sites in which spring wheat preformed poorly, seedbed conditions were not as ideal due to drainage, clay soil type, or spring tilled corn residue. However, emergence was good at all sites.

Spring Wheat Seeding Rate Comparison

The currently recommended seeding rate for spring wheat is 1.4 – 1.6 million seeds/ac. There was a slight trend to higher yield with the 1.6 and 2.0 seeding rate. In previously conducted trials with earlier planting dates, we have not seen a yield increase with higher seeding rates.

Comments

In a year in which the majority of spring grain was planted early, many of the sites were planted late. Spring wheat yields decrease more rapidly than barley under later planting. Spring wheat shows 40% yield increase to frost seeding, barley only 10%. In 2007, the goal will be to plant more sites at an earlier date.

Contact your Soil & Crop Association if you would like to participate in this project in 2007.

| Top of Page |