Winter Wheat Variety Rotation for Integrated Weed Management

Key Takeaways

• Evaluate last season’s weed control performance before planting to identify opportunities to strengthen this season's program.
• Rotate herbicide modes of action and winter wheat production systems to diversify your weed management strategy.
• Consider yield potential, disease tolerance, standability and grain quality alongside weed control when selecting a variety.
• Combining herbicide rotation with variety rotation can create a more resilient production system that supports long-term weed management and crop performance.

As the winter wheat season begins, growers are focused on selecting products that will protect yield potential by keeping damaging weeds in check. Alternating herbicide systems is a method growers can follow to diversify their weed management approach while taking advantage of new genetics with improved agronomic performance.

Important Winter Wheat Weed Management Considerations

Evaluating crop performance from the previous year can help growers identify important factors before fall planting. Some things to consider:

• Did the herbicide program provide weed control throughout the season?
• Are certain weeds becoming more difficult to manage?
• How did the variety(ies) perform under this year’s growing conditions?
• Would rotating production systems strengthen next year’s weed management program?

Rotating Herbicide Modes & Production Systems for Winter Wheat Weed Management

Weed control, stand establishment, disease pressure and overall plant health indicate how well a wheat production system can perform.

Rotating herbicide modes of action has become a cornerstone of resistance management, particularly in continuous wheat systems. Pairing that practice with genetic rotation adds another layer of diversity necessary for performance.

Alternating between CoAXium^® and Clearfield^® Plus production systems allows growers to utilize different herbicide technologies while reducing reliance on a single weed control program. At the same time, they gain access to different genetic packages that may offer improvements in yield potential, grain quality, disease tolerance and adaptation to local growing conditions.

Rotating Winter Wheat Varieties for Weed Management in Winter Wheat

Choosing a production system isn’t only about herbicide flexibility. Variety selection also influences season-long crop performance.

“Whether or not it’s time to rotate chemistries, it’s a great time to look at planting herbicide-tolerant varieties that are bred differently to help with improved yield potential, grain quality and better agronomics,” said Mark Lubbers, WestBred^® technical product manager.

Today’s herbicide-tolerant wheat varieties are available with a range of agronomic traits that can help growers address challenges specific to their region. Depending on the product, those advantages may include improved drought tolerance, and stronger disease tolerance packages, grazing potential, standability and grain quality. Evaluating these characteristics alongside weed control performance can help identify opportunities to strengthen this year’s production plan.

A strong lineup of winter wheat varieties is available for planting in each region, and the WestBred^® Wheat brand continues to evaluate high-performing, herbicide-tolerant varieties for its product portfolio. A great place to begin seed selection is with the WestBred Wheat seed guide.

An Integrated Weed Management Approach for Winter Wheat

No single practice eliminates weed pressure, but integrating herbicide rotation with genetic rotation creates a more diverse production system that supports long-term results. The selections a grower makes can help them better manage weeds—and continue to improve overall crop performance.

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