Shawn Conley, State Soybean and Small Grains Specialist
Adam Roth, Research Agronomist
Damon Smith, State Field Crops Pathology Specialist

Winter Wheat Planting in 2025 is right around the corner. Here are our top 9 recommendations for getting your wheat started off on the right tiller!

Short and S-Wheat: 

1. Variety selection: please see the 2025 WI Winter Wheat Performance Test
2. Plant new seed (DO NOT plant saved seed).
3. A fungicide seed treatment is recommended for winter wheat in WI, especially for seed damaged by Fusarium head blight (FHB).
4. Cephalosporium stripe is increasing in occurrence in Wisconsin. Use the 2025 WI Winter Wheat Performance Test data to choose a wheat variety with good partial resistance to this disease.
5. Wheat should be planted 1 to 1.5 inches deep regardless of planting date.
6. Plant between September 20 and October 10.
7. The target seeding rate for wheat planted from September 20^th to October 1^st is 1,750,000 seeds per acre.
8. The optimal seeding rate for wheat planted after October 1^st should be incrementally increased as planting date is delayed compensating for reduced fall tillering.
9. Crop rotation matters.

For more details please see: Top 9 Recommendations for Winter Wheat Establishment in 2025