Wheat School: World record wheat with Eric Watson

What does it take to grow 258-bushel-per-acre wheat?

On this episode of RealAgriculture's Wheat School, Peter Johnson peppers New Zealand wheat grower Eric Watson on how he achieved that world record wheat yield in 202o. His record has since been broken but the Ashburton, New Zealand, farmer is now planning another assault on the record books.

Johnson caught up with Watson earlier this month during a Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network tour though Ontario and Michigan. In the interview, Watson shares what he feels are the keys to growing big wheat and also offers insights on how his tips could be implemented in very different northern hemisphere growing conditions across Canada and specifically in Ontario.

Watson's first tip is the importance of planting date and seeding rate. Growers need to target the optimum planting timing for their area and need to avoid being either too thick or too thin with the seeding rate. He also targets high tiller counts. Typically, he aims for nine or 10 tillers per plant but is willing to settle for six to eight.

The high tiller count then makes it possible for Watson to reach his 700-plus heads per square metre target — he has reached the 1,000 heads mark on several occasions. That makes for a pretty thick crop, but Watson notes that heads are only part of the yield equation — more kernels per head and higher grain weight are key yield contributors, too.

On this episode of RealAgriculture's Wheat School, Peter Johnson peppers New Zealand wheat grower Eric Watson on how he achieved that world record wheat yield in 202o. His record has since been broken but the Ashburton, New Zealand farmer is now planning another assault on the record books.

Johnson caught up with Watson earlier this month during a Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network tour though Ontario and Michigan. In the interview, Watson shares what he feels are the keys to growing big wheat and also offers insights on how his tips could be implemented in very different northern hemisphere growing conditions across Canada and specifically in Ontario.

Watson's first tip is the importance of planting date and seeding rate. Growers need to target the optimum planting timing for their area and need to avoid being either too thick or too thin with the seeding rate. He also targets high tiller counts. Typically, he aims for nine or 10 tillers per plant but is willing to settle for six to eight.

The high tiller count then makes it possible for Watson to reach his 700-plus heads per square metre target — he has reached the 1,000 heads mark on several occasions. That makes for a pretty thick crop, but Watson notes that heads are only part of the yield equation — more kernels per head and higher grain weight are key yield contributors, too.

#agriculture #farming #wheat
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[MuhammadBilal-hkbg]

Plz provide these tips in English in sequence

[Forester-qsmf]

Yield is meaningless. What is the net profit per Ha?

[AceBaracuda]

10 months between seed to harvest date…. That’s a totally different crop. We do 4 months from seed to harvest…. So their 260 bushel wheat at our 40% grow time = our 104 bushel

[wbymag]

I have a stupid question for you. I stumbled upon a small patch of wheat growing wild along a local river a few years ago. The seeds tasted exactly like Wheaties cereal. It was delicious! None of the wheat grown locally is as large as that wild patch I found, nor does any of it have that delicious flavor. From this horrible description, can anyone tell me what variety of wheat the wild wheat may have been? Thank you!

[MuhammadSiddique-juoe]

Sir I ask record weaht how many seed per acre pH n k per acer from pakistan

[rrb]

The high yield with mutations and generic changes gives increased diabetes in the world as these noble scientists never or government did not bother to study risk of these high production.Only farmers made money and others visit doctors to pay fees.