Wheat Production in the High Winter Stress Climate of the Great Plains of North America—An Experiment in Crop Adaptation

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe traditional winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production area on the North American Great Plains extended as far north as southern Alberta, Canada. This paper reviews a research and development program initiated with the objective of expanding production north and east into higher winter stress areas of the Canadian prairies. Winter survival was considered the main limitation to production in this region. However, the widespread adoption of no‐till seeding into standing stubble for snow trapping has proven to be a successful method of overwintering wheat if cold hardy cultivars are grown using recommended management practices. Plant breeding improvements have increased production potential and winter wheat has become western Canada's third largest wheat class. Average commercial yields of 149, 125, and 118% of spring wheat in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, respectively, have demonstrated the high yield potential that can be realized while employing environmentally sustainable crop management practices. In light of current environmental concerns, changing weather patterns, diminishing world wheat reserves, and an ever increasing global population to feed, one would assume that winter wheat production in western Canada would be widely embraced. However, marketing obstacles and difficulties inserting winter wheat into rotations, both of which have a direct influence on farmers’ net returns, remain to be overcome for this potential to be fully realized.