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Understanding Seeding Methods and Amounts for Winter Wheat and Canola

Planting is one of the most critical management aspects in crop production systems. Getting the right amount of seed in the ground is key to ensure good emergence and early-season crop growth. However, determining the amount of seed to plant varies substantially between crops. Furthermore, different methods can be used to determine seeding rates. For most summer row-crops, seeding rates are recommended on a “seeds per acre” basis, while most cereals and winter annuals are planted on a “weight per acre” basis. Part of this difference can be contributed to the equipment traditionally used to plant each of these crops. Summer row-crops are traditionally planted with planters that can singulate seed better than traditional drills, which is how most cereal crops are planted.

 

Conversations have started in recent years for shifting both winter wheat and winter canola planting from a weight per acre to a seed per acre basis. This is partially due to differences in seed size within individual cultivars among various seed lots. This can result in large differences in the number of seeds planted per acre when planting on a constant weight basis. Additionally, because of expected differences in seed size between cultivars, seed amounts planted on a constant weight basis can vary drastically when changing cultivars.

 

Realizing the amount of seed being planted is crucial for Oklahoma producers to improve planting practices. For producers interested in shifting seeding rates from a weight per acre to a seeds per acre basis, it is important to understand how these methods differ.

 

Tables 1 through 4 are provided to show differences in seed amounts for each planting rate using different combinations of seeding rates and seed sizes. Currently, little data in winter wheat and no data in canola exists in the southern Great Plains that suggests one planting method is superior to the other. Therefore, the tables provided do not indicate preference of planting rate determination. Finally, it is important to remember that seed size (i.e., seeds/lb in this case) can vary among cultivars due to genetic potential and can vary among seed lots of the same cultivar, depending on management and environmental factors. Data in Tables 5 and 6 are provided as examples to demonstrate these differences. The listed cultivars are a small selection of those entered in the official Oklahoma State University cultivar testing programs for winter wheat and winter canola during the 2015 to 2017 growing seasons and do not indicate preference or performance of the cultivars.

 

Table 1. Wheat seed number per acre for different seed sizes if planting rate is held as a consistent weight per acre. 

  Constant seed weight per acre      
Seeds/lb 30 lbs 60 lbs 90 lbs 120 lbs
  - seeds/acre -      
10,000 300,000 600,000 900,000 1,200,000
10,500 315,000 630,000 945,000 1,260,000
11,000 330,000 660,000 990,000 1,320,000
11,500 345,000 690,000 1,035,000 1,380,000
12,000 360,000 720,000 1,080,000 1,440,000
12,500 375,000 750,000 1,125,000 1,500,000
13,000 390,000 780,000 1,170,000 1,560,000
13,500 405,000 810,000 1,215,000 1,620,000
14,000 420,000 840,000 1,260,000 1,680,000
14,500 435,000 870,000 1,305,000 1,740,000
15,000 450,000 900,000 1,350,000 1,800,000
15,500 465,000 930,000 1,395,000 1,860,000
16,000 480,000 960,000 1,440,000 1,920,000
16,500 495,000 990,000 1,485,000 1,980,000
17,000 510,000 1,020,000 1,530,000 2,040,000
17,500 525,000 1,050,000 1,575,000 2,100,000
18,000 540,000 1,080,000 1,620,000 2,160,000
18,500 555,000 1,110,000 1,665,000 2,220,000
19,000 570,000 1,140,000 1,710,000 2,280,000
19,500 585,000 1,170,000 1,755,000 2,340,000
20,000 600,000 1,200,000 1,800,000 2,400,000

Table 2. Canola seed number per acre for different seed sizes if planting rate is held as a consistent weight per acre. 

  Constant seed weight per acre    
Seeds/lb 1 lb 3.8 lbs 5 lbs
  - seeds/acre -    
50,000 50,000 175,000 250,000
55,000 55,000 192,500 275,000
60,000 60,000 210,000 300,000
65,000 65,000 227,500 325,000
70,000 70,000 245,000 350,000
75,000 75,000 262,500 375,000
80,000 80,000 280,000 400,000
85,000 85,000 297,500 425,000
90,000 90,000 315,000 450,000
95,000 95,000 332,500 475,000
100,000 100,000 350,000 500,000
105,000 105,000 367,500 525,000
110,000 110,000 385,000 550,000
115,000 115,000 402,500 575,000
120,000 120,000 420,000 600,000
125,000 125,000 437,500 625,000
130,000 130,000 455,000 650,000
135,000 135,000 472,500 675,000
140,000 140,000 490,000 700,000
145,000 145,000 507,500 725,000
150,000 150,000 525,000 750,000

Table 3. Wheat seed pounds per acre for different seed sizes if planting rate is held as a consistent seeds per acre. 

  Constant seed number per acre      
Seeds/lb 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000
  seeds seeds seeds seeds
  - lb/acre -      
10,000 50 100 150 200
10,500 48 95 143 190
11,000 45 91 136 182
11,500 43 87 130 174
12,000 42 83 125 167
12,500 40 80 120 160
13,000 38 77 115 154
13,500 37 74 111 148
14,000 36 71 107 143
14,500 34 69 103 138
15,000 33 67 100 133
15,500 32 65 97 129
16,000 31 63 94 125
16,500 30 61 91 121
17,000 29 59 88 118
17,500 29 57 86 114
18,000 28 56 83 111
18,500 27 54 81 108
19,000 26 53 79 105
19,500 26 51 77 103
20,000 25 50 75 100

 Table 4. Canola seed pounds per acre for different seed sizes if planting rate is held as a consistent seeds per acre.

  Constant seed number per acre    
Seeds/lb 150,000 seeds 250,000 seeds 350,000 seeds
  - lb/acre -    
50,000 3 5 7
55,000 2.7 4.5 6.4
60,000 2.5 4.2 5.8
65,000 2.3 3.8 5.4
70,000 2.1 3.6 5
75,000 2 3.3 4.7
80,000 1.9 3.1 4.4
85,000 1.8 2.9 4.1
90,00 1.7 2.8 3.9
95,000 1.6 2.6 3.7
100,00 1.5 2.5 3.5
105,000 1.4 2.4 3.3
110,000 1.4 2.3 3.2
115,00 1.3 2.2 3
120,000 1.3 2.1 2.9
125,000 1.2 2 2.8
130,000 1.2 1.9 2.7
135,000 1.1 1.9 2.6
140,000 1.1 1.8 2.5
145,000 1 1.7 2.4
150,000 1 1.7 2.3

 Table 5. Example of differences in wheat and canola seeds per pound among cultivars and years, 2014-2016.

      Year  
Crop Cultivar/Hybrid 2016 2015 2014
  - seeds/lb -      
Wheat† Bentley 14,942 13,985 13,526
  Doublestop CL+ 11,297 13,309 14,375
  Duster 14,170 25,107 18,822
  Endurance 12,462 14,756 14,831
  Gallagher 12,496 16,761 17,050
  Iba 14,083 19,949 14,699
  Ruby Lee 15,385 15,009 14,036
Canola DKW 44-10 130,227 133,138 117,541
  DKW 46-15 97,845 106,740 ---
  HyClass 115 115,427 105,581 129,420
  Pioneer 46W94 98,784 85,714 81,264
  Wichita --- 109,486 124,848
  Mercedes 103,151 5,6421 ---

 † Data provided by the Oklahoma Crop Improvement Association.

 

Table 6. Example of differences in wheat seeds per pound among three different lots of cultivars Bentley, Doublestop CL +, and Gallagher produced in 2016.

    Lot  
Cultivar 1 2 3
  - seeds/lb -    
Bentley 13,680 13,708 13,191
Doublestop CL + 11,403 11,036 11,345
Gallagher 12,151 12,315 13,023

 

David Marburger
Former Small Grains Extension Specialist

 

Josh Lofton
Cropping Systems Specialist

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