Wheat Grain and Straw Yield, Grain Quality, and Disease Benefits Associated with Increased Management Intensity

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the third‐most cultivated field crop in the U.S. and a very important source of nutrition globally. The economic value of wheat motivates farmers to optimize yield and grain quality, which can be obtained with additional inputs that are often financially expensive. This study investigated three management intensity levels on grain yield, straw yield, grain test weight, and disease on winter wheat in Wisconsin across four years and 20 varieties. All management practices included a pre‐emergence herbicide and nitrogen application, with a mid‐level management strategy adding another nitrogen application and a single fungicide application to the current strategy, and a high‐level management intensity strategy adding a growth regulator, two micronutrient applications, and another fungicide application to the mid‐level strategy. Our study revealed that increasing management intensity from current strategies to mid‐ or high‐levels significantly increased grain yields by 0.81‐1.22 kg / hectare, straw yields by 1.2‐1.2 tonnes / hectare, and grain test weights by 2.6‐3.2 kg / hectoliter, respectively (P < 0.05). In addition, the high‐level management intensity led to significant reductions in stripe rust incidence and severity, whereas both mid‐ and high‐level management intensity reduced Fusarium head blight (FHB) incidence and severity, and mycotoxin contamination (P < 0.001). The economic considerations of intensified management were also examined, and the mid‐and high‐level management practices resulted in $306 and 242 USD per hectare greater profit than current management, respectively, as a result of the improved disease protection and yields.