Wheat is the primary small grain grown throughout Mississippi.
Wheat yields in the range of 30 to 50 bushels per acre are common, and yields in the 60- to 80-bushel range may be produced under good management and favorable weather conditions. Oat yields from 70 to 80 bushels per acre are common. Yields of more than 100 bushels per acre have been made under good management and favorable weather conditions.
Winter varieties of small grains require a certain amount of cold weather (less than 40 °F) before the plants will form reproductive structures (seed heads). The period of time varies with variety, but somewhere between 4 and 9 weeks of low temperatures are required. This process is called vernalization. Most of the wheat varieties planted in this state require low temperatures to reproduce. In some years, south Mississippi doesn’t have enough cold weather for winter wheat, causing little or no seed-head production.
Small grains are adapted to soil types throughout the state. Avoid areas such as the wet, poorly drained, heavy soils of the Delta and the wet, bottom areas of the Hill section. Wheat will not tolerate poor drainage conditions and still produce an economical yield. Thin, badly eroded soils also will not produce economical yields and should not be planted to grain.
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» This information came from the MSU Small Grains Production Guide. |
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