A few weeks prior to harvest, farmers gathered on a gently sloping hill north of Hydro to view half-acre plots of wheat pivotal to providing insight and direction on the future of genetic improvement in the Southern Plains.
The field day was organized by Oklahoma Genetics Inc., the licensing agent for wheat varieties developed at Oklahoma State University, and hosted by OGI member Merlin Schantz, whose sons Aaron and Ben are the fifth generation on the family’s Oklahoma Centennial farm.
Even though the variety trial didn’t get planted until December of last year, later than most growers consider optimal, the plots were tall and growing vigorously. OSU’s chief wheat breeder Brett Carver, who evaluates a staggering 300,000 data points when making his breeding selections, offers at least two varieties designed to fit a shortened growing season, along with nearly any other production scenario a grower might encounter.
Aaron Schantz explained why that’s important. “Where we’re following cotton, we have to push back the planting date, because we have to get the cotton out and prep the soil before we plant,” he said. “So, for us, varieties that have quick early-season vigor really help.”
Butler’s Gold falls into that category. Another favorite on the Schantz farm is Smith’s Gold.
“We’re able to plant it late and get some cover on our soil, but we also have the option to plant it early, get some good grazing and still harvest it for grain,” Aaron said.
Merlin was pleased by how quickly many of the other varieties had caught up. Two that stood out to him were Showdown, a dual-purpose standout released in 2018, and High Cotton, OSU’s newest offering and an exceptional yielder with strong disease resistance and wide geographic adaptability.
OGI offers 17 varieties suited to a wide range of different planting priorities and conditions, which Carver highlighted at the field day.
Some of the unique offerings in the trial included Skydance, which has high nitrogen use efficiency that makes it ideal for organic production, and two new experimentals, yet to be named, that elevate milling and baking functionality to a whole new level.
Carver also talked about plans to release the first herbicide tolerant CoAxium variety specifically adapted to Oklahoma within the next year or two, as he finishes narrowing down 30 promising candidates. And he explained that OSU researchers are updating and refining recommended guidelines on when to remove cattle from wheat in the spring, based on a stage of maturity referred to as first hollow stem.
“We could be pulling cattle off too soon on some of these varieties,” Carver said during the tour. “Our initial research was done in the 1990s at the Marshall Research Station, but that was on just one variety. I’m not sure it applies across the full genetic spectrum.”
That’s a big deal, according to Schantz. Every extra day of grazing can add profit for producers.
Later, in the shade of a large machine shed, he reflected on what he learned during the tour.
“I’m encouraged and excited about some of the work being done to improve the milling and baking qualities of our wheat,” he said. “We’ve struggled in Oklahoma in the last 15 or 20 years with hard red winter wheat no longer always being the preferred milling wheat. So I think this work in particular is very important.”
A history of support
OGI members like Schantz help test out varieties, provide feedback and multiply the seed to make it commercially available to other farmers.
Schantz has been a cooperator on OSU research ever since he and wife Lillian assumed the farm from his parents, who were forced into bankruptcy during the farm crisis of 1980s.
“Thirty-five years ago, when I started farming on my own, the OSU extension service was a great help, a great resource,” he said. “We started a relationship with them doing on-farm research that has lasted for 30 years. I want to see my sons have the same opportunity.”
The area’s diversification and sophisticated crop rotations are somewhat unusual, and Schantz credits it to years of collaboration between local farmers and university researchers.
He hopes changing priorities will never overshadow or diminish OSU’s commitment to its original land grant mission, believing support for research and extension is vital to ensuring agriculture has a bright future.
Over the years Schantz has done his own experimentation to find farming approaches that work in his area. Cotton is his primary crop, but he also has 250 acres in a peanut-wheat rotation that gets around six inches of supplemental irrigation during the growing season.
“Our peanuts all go on irrigated ground, and our seed wheat follows it. That’s a really good rotation,” he said. “In the peanut crop, we do a clean till operation before we plant and keep the fields clean all summer long, so it puts us in a really good position to have clean, high-quality seed wheat.”
The family is currently expanding their cow-calf operation, and wheat that isn’t raised for seed typically gets grazed during the winter.
“Wheat is western Oklahoma’s mainstay, and I’d guess it always will be,” he said.
When deciding what seed to plant, he sticks exclusively with varieties developed by OSU’s public wheat breeding program.
Supporting OSU rather than a private seed company allows him to reinvest in the work of the university and ensures farmers like him are involved in the direction and oversight of the wheat breeding effort.
Along with that comes respect for seed certification rules and the royalties associated with them.
“Unless you’re a licensed seed dealer and registered with Oklahoma Genetics Inc., you can’t sell seed to your neighbor legally,” he explained.
There’s a good reason for that.
“The principle of why it was set up this way is to maintain an adequate availability of good quality seed to hopefully improve the quality of wheat being sold,” he explained. “But, also, there has to be a funding mechanism for all of the research we saw during the tour, and those royalty payments help keep the research moving forward. That’s what sustains the viability of the system.”
Since the patent on Clearfield’s herbicide tolerant wheat expired last year, he’s concerned about rumors in the countryside falsely claiming growers can now save and sell the seed.
Clearfield varieties DoubleStop and Strad are two of the most widely planted in the state.
“The stewardship agreement growers sign didn’t change at all. A non-seed producer can’t save it back. That’s against the law,” Schantz said. “There can be serious consequences. There’s a lawsuit pending right now against a Kansas producer who will likely lose his house over it.”
“I don’t want anybody to experience that, especially because they weren’t aware of what the rules and guidelines are,” he stressed.
Schantz typically sells seed wheat to around 25 to 30 customers, but the number could be higher this year. Due to drought, seed is likely to be in short supply and demand high.
“The fact that we have wheat under irrigation helps us be more consistent in our production,” he said.
In response to the drought, OGI is taking steps in conjunction with the Oklahoma Crop Improvement Association to reduce any strain on supply. At the same time, growers can do their part by honoring the rules and protecting the integrity of patented varieties.
Royalties go toward supporting an ambitious wheat-breeding program that is increasingly moving toward customized designer wheat, which makes sense to Schantz in light of where agriculture seems to be headed.
“I really think in a lot of crops we will move to the place we’ll be selecting varieties for a specific field or maybe even parts of a field,” he said. “There’s research going on right now in both corn and beans with planters that will actually plant two different varieties in different areas of the field. It’s still in the research and development stage, but that concept is already out there. And I think it’s very possible we may see that in other crops as well.”
After the wheat field day concluded, Schantz drove a few miles down the road to where research technicians were planting a USDA Ag Research Service peanut demonstration trial on another part of his farm. As he watched the customized planter slowly traverse the field, he reflected on how it could open up yet another new market for area growers.
Under his feet, the soil was white sugar sand, but in the distance, it turned to black heavy loam.
“You can see the change as you look out across the field. The soil texture within half a mile is significantly different,” he said. “Theoretically at least, each of these soils would be more suited to one variety rather than another.”
Likewise, end-use buyers are looking for different characteristics when sizing up a crop.
“It’s about producing a more specific quality to fit a specific market, whether it be fiber or feed grain or food for human consumption,” he said. “With cotton, for example, different fiber qualities work better for different types of applications. The fiber in the sheets on your bed is different from the shirt on your back.”
Wheat also ends up in different product formulations after it leaves the farm.
“The more diversified we can become on the production side, in terms of producing for a specific end market, potentially that’s a net gain back to the farm,” he said.
