Planting wheat in November in Ohio

It is well beyond the recommended time for planting wheat in the State of Ohio, but some producers are still interested in getting wheat planted and would like to know what are their chances of having a successful crop, even after planting this late. The short answer is LUCK! Wheat planted this late will likely not tiller well enough going in to winter and as such will likely suffer severe winter-kill. However, if you are lucky and Mother Nature cooperates, weather conditions in November and early December may be mild enough to allow the crop to emerge and develop a few tillers before going into dormancy. In addition, some growth and tiller development may also occur in early spring, again if the weather cooperates.

To compensate for low tiller development, any wheat planted at this time should be planted at a higher-than-normal seeding rate of 2 to 2.2 million seeds per acre. There is very little research data from Ohio on the effect of seeding rates higher than 2 million seeds per acre on yield, so it is difficult to say what to expect. But even at a very high seeding rate, the success of a November-planted wheat crop will depend on the weather. So as you prepare to seed your November wheat, be prepared for relatively poor stands and lower-than-normal yields. Remember, if the crop looks very bad in the spring, you can always replace it with corn or soybean. However, Mother Nature may just surprise us. There have been previous reports of November-planted wheat in Ohio yielding more than 60 bushels per acre.