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| I have conducted probably 10 different replicated winter wheat and spring wheat row spacing studies either with Opti-Crop or with our own company. At worst I have seen 10" equal 7.5", but most trials were positive for the narrower rows by at least 4-5% and I have even seen 15-20% yield advantages going from 15" down to 7.5". I have not tried 5"/25" twin-row wheat, but I would speculate that it would yield at least 10% less than 7.5" rows. If you had many acres, it would pay to rent a drill, perhaps buy one.
Do a google search on row spacings, there is a lot of work out there - especially in scientific journals. Below is one recent (2008) agromony journal article which shows 10%+ & 30%+ (2004 & 2005) significantly different yield advantages with 6" rows, compared to 12" rows. (This data represents spring wheat in a low rainfall region within Montana). Notice that the lowest yielding environment had the greatest response to narrow rows. Source - Agronomy Journal - Hard Red Spring Wheat Response to Row Spacing, Seeding Rate, and Nitrogen By: Chengci Chen, Karnes Neill, Dave Wichman, and Malvern Westcott. (I have the article, but its too big to attach. If anyone needs it, email me)
The one thing that needs to be considered is down-pressure when no-tilling. I have seen examples where 10" disc seeders penetrate the ground and get better stands than 7.5" spacing seeders because they were not ballasted correctly.
One additional consideration is for hoe-drills. Many of them throw soil on top of planted rows with the rear shanks - when the row spacing gets less than about 8-10", especially when seeding at faster speeds. There are lots of variables and growers need to do some side by side replications.
Phil N
http://www.needhamag.com/
Edited by Phil N 9/28/2009 21:02
 (Row Spacing.jpg)
 (Row Spacing chart.jpg)
Attachments
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 Row Spacing.jpg (87KB - 129 downloads)
Row Spacing chart.jpg (88KB - 127 downloads)
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Winter wheat row question?
