Wheat
How many seeds per foot should I plant?
An optimum wheat final stand in Mississippi is about 1 - 1.3 million plants per acre. Thus, assuming 85% plant establishment (greater than 95% germination seed) when planting with a grain drill, you should plant about 1.2 -1.5 million seeds per acre.
If you are planting early, lower seeding rates may be used, because plenty of time is available for tillering to occur. Conversely, higher seeding rates are necessary when planting late, because the plants will have less time to tiller.
Feet of linear row per acre with different drill spacings:
87,120 feet with a 6 inch drill spacing.
74,675 feet with a 7 inch drill spacing.
69.696 feet with a 7.5 inch drill spacing.
65,340 feet with a 8 inch drill spacing.
58,080 feet with a 9 inch drill spacing.
Divide the number of seeds per acre that you want to plant by the appropriate linear feet per acre number above for your drill. This will tell you how many seeds per foot of row you should be dropping.
Example:
You want to establish between 1 and 1.3 million plants per acre with a 7.5 inch drill spacing.
1,000,000 plants per acre / 85% establishment = 1,176,471 seeds per acre
1,176,471 seeds per acre/ 69,696 ft. = 16.88 seeds per foot
1,300,000 plants per acre / 85% establishment = 1,529,412 seeds per acre
1,529,412 seeds per acre/ 69,696 ft. = 21.94 seeds per foot
Thus, dropping 17 to 22 seeds per foot of row with a 7.5 inch drill spacing should produce a good stand.
