Planting Time

• Plant winter wheat 10 to 14 days before the first expected frost; plant spring wheat after the last expected freeze and the soil is beginning to warm. Winter wheat usually grows best when the seedlings are exposed to temperatures from 38 to 40 degrees F, but some cold-hardy varieties of winter wheat can endure more severe weather.
  
  

Planting in Stubble

• Seeding winter wheat directly into crop residues of barley, canola, flax and other crops helps protect it from extreme winter temperatures. The residues conserve moisture and collect snow to protect the wheat from the cold. If you seed into wheat stubble you run the risk of disease, but agronomists at North Dakota State University say that is often better than sowing in soils tilled cleanly.
  
  If you plant winter wheat in grain stubble, the stubble should be at least 6 inches tall. If you depend on the stubble of row crops to protect your wheat from the cold, the stubble should be at right angles to prevailing winds and at least 30 inches high.
  
  

Winter Wheat Barriers

• To trap snow to protect winter wheat from extreme low temperatures, sow 3- to 5-feet-wide strips of flax 15 feet apart on fallow ground. Seed the flax at 40 to 60 lbs. per acre. If you plant the strips more than 20 feet apart you will get only half the protection unless there is an above-average snow cover.
  
  Planting barriers of perennial grass or windbreaks of narrowly spaced trees will also help protect your winter wheat from severe cold. If you plant winter wheat in bare fallow or stubble mulch, use a hoe drill to sow the sow the seed in deep furrows; this encourages a protective layer of snow to accumulate over the row of seeds.
  
  

Planting Rates, Depth

• Recommendations for the depth of planting winter or spring wheat vary greatly because climates vary greatly; your local agricultural extension service may have specific recommendations for your area.
  
  An agronomist at the University of North Dakota recommends planting winter wheat 1 to 2 inches deep in an untilled stubble field or other firm seed bed. If your field is fallow, you can pull a rod weeder or harrow over the soil to make it firm.
  
  Agronomists at Louisiana State University recommend using a drill to plant winter wheat seeds 1 to 2 inches deep at the rate of 60 to 90 lbs. per acre. If you broadcast the seed, follow with harrowing or a light disking.
  
  Jane Frykster writing for Agri-View recommends seeding about 2.5 bushels per acre of spring wheat for high yields. Sow spring wheat 1 to 2 inches deep.