With so many factors going into yields, it can be difficult to know whether farmers are reaching the potential of their wheat seed. It can be even more difficult to figure out how to increase yields and whether those increases can be accomplished through management decisions.
Dr. Brian Beres, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Lethbridge, has been working to close the gap between what the potential yield for wheat is in an optimal scenario and what current yields are both experimentally and on a farm level. Knowing the yield gap of current on-farm production can allow producers to make informed management decisions.
Currently, the theoretical ceiling for wheat yields in western Canada tops out at six tonnes per hectare (about 90 bu/ac), whereas at the farm level, producers are seeing anywhere between 3.2-6 t/ha, Beres says. While some areas have a 50 per cent yield gap, for the most part Canadian farms are averaging around 65 per cent of the 80 per cent that we want to be sitting at.
Yield gap information can help the value chain understand where priorities should be, whether in management, genetics, or both (check out the Wheat School episode on that, here). It can also provide producers with another decision making tool. For instance, if a farmer is sitting at 80-85% there is not a lot on the management side that can help to reduce that gap. On the other hand, if a producer is sitting at a 50 per cent yield gap, a change in management can help to take them to the 75 to 85 per cent range.
The research and data for this project has been made available at yieldgap.org/canada, along with an interactive map that allows users to view information such as potential yield, actual yield and the yield gap for different areas around the globe.
For more information on yield gap and how it relates to the future of wheat yields, check out this Wheat School with Dr. Brian Beres and RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney.
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