SANILAC COUNTY, Mich. – Dwight Bartle and his wife Nancy have placed number two in the state wheat yield competition for the past three years. They grow wheat on 300 acres in Sanilac County, along with corn, soybeans and sugar beets on an additional 1,000 acres. Dwight describes his efforts at achieving high wheat yields as fun and as an ongoing experiment.

“Because of our success, we’re talking to companies all over the world,” he said. “We’re playing with this, we’re experimenting. There’s certain things that we do – that we try not to screw up on. Why did we get 145 bushels an acre? The short answer is, I don’t know.”

According to Michigan State University wheat specialist Dennis Pennington, the average yield per bushel for wheat growers in the state is about 70. He said wheat yield in general depends on the extent of rainfall, which is why growers in Michigan, for example, average a higher yield than growers in Oklahoma. It’s also why growers in the Pacific Northwest average the highest wheat yield in the nation. The National Wheat Foundation holds a contest each year for different categories. Growers in places like Oregon, Washington, and Idaho tend to do very well, but growers in Michigan and surrounding areas have done well, also.

“I can tell you that the reason they are getting those results is that they are good managers and are acting like wheat is the most important crop they have,” Pennington said. “They really pay attention to the details. Wheat traditionally hasn’t been the primary crop for farmers; corn is king. Farmers typically look to take care of their corn first, then their soybeans, then their wheat. Nick Suwyn and the Bartles don’t do it like that.”

Bartle agreed with Pennington that wheat probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves from farmers who grow it, relative to corn and soybeans, especially. “Wheat is often treated as kind of a second child,” he added. He also doesn’t attribute his success with wheat to any particular brand or variety. The best variety of wheat can vary by soil type and how much rain a particular area gets. He stated that “you have to find a variety that will fit to your management.”

To some extent, Bartle attributes his success to the wheat yield contest itself, which he described as having opened his mind up some and helped him to focus on the crop more than he would have otherwise.

Farmer Nick Suwyn has placed first in the Michigan wheat yield contest for the past three years. He grows wheat on 500 acres of land in southwest Michigan, as well as corn, soybeans and some alfalfa on an additional 2,500 acres. Last year he placed fourth in the national competition, in the High Yield Winter Wheat Dryland category. His yield was 170.2 bushels per acre. Like Bartle, Suwyn says there is no one secret to getting high wheat yields.

“Everybody wants to know the secret behind a high wheat yield, but I don’t think there is a secret,” he said. “It’s like most things in life, most times you get out of it what you put into it. The good Lord calls us to do our best with what we have been given, so invest in your crop, but there’s no real secret. I will say our seed guys help us pick out the right seeds. I have a couple of great local agronomists that help us do a great job. A lot of people look at wheat like it’s a necessary evil for crop rotation, but why think about it that way? Right now you can get $6 a bushel for wheat: do the math.”