Early Wheat Harvest Influenced Grain Quality and Profit but Not Yield

Abstract

© 2019 The author(s). Delayed wheat harvest and rewetting of dry grain can reduce quality and yield. To receive full market price, wheat grain must be at an adequate moisture level with high test weight and minimal pre-harvest sprout (PHS), Fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK), and deoxynivalenol (DON). Harvesting the crop early at a high moisture concentration ( > 19%) and drying the grain under controlled conditions may increase gross profit by minimizing yield losses and price discounts due to low quality grain. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of harvest date on grain quality, yield, and profitability of soft red winter wheat. An experiment was conducted in Ohio at three site-years using a split-plot randomized complete block design. Harvest date (early at > 19% moisture and regular at 13% grain moisture) was the main plot factor, and cultivar was the subplot factor. Grain moisture, test weight, PHS, FDK, and DON were measured and price discounts applied to determine profit. Grain test weight was reduced in the early-harvest treatment, but grain yield was unaffected. Two of the cultivars that were harvested early had an average gross profit of $211 acre-1 less than the other harvest date and cultivar treatments due to drying and test weight discounts. Precipitation between harvest dates occurred 1 to 2 days after the early-harvest treatment when grain moisture was still high. Harvesting early did not increase grain yield, quality, or gross profits because dry grain was not re-wet in the field.