Submitted by: agcomm,  Thu Sep 25 10:59:00 1997


                        September 25, 1997
      
Dormant Seeding Can Be Helpful, 
But Involves Some Risk
      
     Dormant seeding of wheat or rye can reduce the spring work
load and in some cases improve yield slightly, but it is not
without risk, according to Mike Peel, agronomist for the North
Dakota State University Extension Service.
     The main risk is that Indian Summer or a mid-winter warm
spell will initiate germination and seedling growth, and cold
temperatures will then kill or injure the young plants.  Dormant
seeding of winter wheat, spring wheat or rye is done before the
soil freezes in the fall.  In North Dakota this varies from two
weeks to 10 days from north to south, and is usually in the first
week of November, says Peel, though in some years it can be much
later than that.
     Once planted, the seeds will adsorb moisture but will lie
dormant until spring--unless, that is, they encounter a warm
spell before then.  As the soil warms in the spring, the
seedlings will start growing and often will establish themselves
before spring planting is finished.  
     One advantage of dormant seeding, says Peel, is that the
crop gets a jump in spring and may not be damaged by short
periods of early season drought, such as North Dakota farmers
experienced this past June.
     Will dormant seeding improve yield?  
     There are some reports, says Peel, of dormant-seeded wheat
outyielding spring-seeded wheat, but the major advantage of
dormant seeding is in lightening the spring work load.
     Peel offers these points for producers to consider as they
contemplate dormant seeding this fall:
                 
     The more winter-hardy winter wheats, when dormant-seeded, 
   tend not to mature any earlier than spring wheat.
   * Dormant-seeding wheat into a conventional-till seed bed
     could lead to crusting problems in the spring. 
     Dormant-seeding into crop residue will eliminate or
     substantially reduce this possibility.
   * Using a seed fungicide treatment is recommended when
     dormant-seeding wheat.                
   Trials have shown improved stands and yields when the seed is
treated with Apron and Dividend.
                                    ###
NDSU Agriculture Communication       
Source: Mike Peel (701) 231-8037
Editor: Barry Brissman (701) 231-7866