YIELD AND AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF SOFT RED WINTER-WHEAT AS INFLUENCED BY MANAGEMENT

Field research was conducted over two years in three states to determine the effect of management systems on the yield and agronomic characteristics of soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars adapted to the Great Lakes region of the USA, and to evaluate environmental influences on response of cultivars to different management inputs in a total of six "environments." Nine cultivars were subjected to six management treatments (MT), differing in seeding, N, fungicide, and plant growth regulator rates. Environment, management treatments, and cultivar, as well as interactions, significantly affected grain yield, plant height, Belgium lodging score, harvest index, and percent leaf rust. Control of lodging and leaf rust (Puccinia recondita f. sp. tritici) was profitable for susceptible cultivars, but unprofitable for resistant cultivars. The economic effect of specific management treatment X cultivar combinations varied from a loss of $26.30/acre to a net gain of $35/acre. Midwestern U.S. wheat farmers will become more profitable not by the adaption of Intensive Cereal Management (ICM) per se, but by using ICM components that solve particular problems associated with each production system and cultivar.