Wheat School: The Growing Degree Day Game

Growing Degree Days (GDD) are an indicator of expected crop development based on weather conditions. GDDs are calculated by taking the mean temperature over a day and subtracting a base temperature. For most cereal grains, the base temperature is considered 5 degrees C, as they require around 1200 GDD to reach maturity.

GDD = (T_max + T_min) / 2 – T_base

In this Wheat School episode, Richard Marsh with Syngenta Canada, explains how GDDs can help producers keep track of crop staging and plan spraying operations. This year, Marsh used the North Dakota staging guide and temperatures from local weather stations and in this video, is able to demonstrate the accuracy of the system.