Maximizing profit each year and from year to year is a rather complicated issue. We have several philosophical views on how to accomplish this on our farm and are currently putting them to the test. I should point out that like anything else our views tend to change with experience. With winter wheat we are able to reduce our overall cash costs. Winter wheat produces a very high return on added inputs, particularly on nitrogen fertilizer and winter annual herbicide applications.
Winter wheat is a winter annual and has tremendous competitive advantages over spring annuals.
The wet spring syndrome, which has been a bit of a curse in the 1990's on our farm, works very well with winter wheat. It's ideally suited to a cool wet spring followed by dry times in late summer. Adding winter wheat in the rotation can reduce machinery investment and depreciation costs by maximizing machinery efficiency. About one quarter of our acres are in winter wheat which has helped us to get by with a smaller drill and has reduced the need for a bigger combine to improve harvest timeliness. Spending money on winter annual control and on nitrogen fertilizer is essential for success.