Keegan Jones is a third-generation farmer at Jones & Jones, a dryland operation primarily focused on winter wheat production. Also in the crop rotation are spring wheat, mustard seed for condiments, and even fresh peas. More than three decades ago, Keegan’s father, Bryan, decided to change the timing and the way fertilizer was applied to the wheat crop. His concept of placing fertilizer 3 inches below the soil surface and making those applications during the growing season resulted in the creation of a new product designed to deliver fertilizer called the SpikeWheel™ in 1989. Switching over to this methodology and use of this technology has led to success for Keegan and his customers, resulting in higher yield and improved crop performance.

The SpikeWheel has a subsurface injection system that protects fertilizer investment by placing liquid nutrients in the root zone for better uptake by growing plants with low crop disturbance above ground. Today, Keegan calls the practice “tuning to your wheat’s yield potential.”

“With SpikeWheel, we go out ahead of predicted rainfall events and apply a measured amount of fertilizer and place it in the ground so growing plants can make the best use of that fertilizer,” Keegan said. “It’s a tuned application of in-season fertilizer instead of the traditional mindset of predicting in the fall how much fertilizer your crop may need in the spring, and spreading it across the field to sit and wait for rainfall ahead of the crops to be planted.”

Keegan runs SpikeWheel through his winter wheat early and makes applications as late as four months after planting to feed the crop nutrients needed to increase yield and protein production. The results have been clear — improved use of fertilizer by the crops, less wasted product and money and improved crop performance.

Variety selection is based on plot work conducted with WestBred® the last several years, which has allowed Jones to observe how varieties perform in his cropping system and within his microclimate.

“Being the highest-yielding variety is not always the best thing,” said Keegan about his experience with plot work. “Some varieties may be more efficient at making protein — they may have a higher milling and baking quality than other varieties, and that is what makes the PNW wheat industry stand out among other counties. Quality wheat is important, and I feel like WestBred is focused on varieties that produce high protein quantity with high yield potential. Quality wheat production is important to our industry.”

To learn more about WestBred wheat varieties, visit westbred.com. To learn more about SpikeWheel, visit spikewheel.com.