Tillage Affects Wheat Forage Yield in Dual‐purpose Systems But Not Grain Yield

There is a great deal of research evaluating no‐till production practices in a variety of cropping systems, but there have been few studies evaluating the effects of no‐till production practices on the integrated crop‐livestock wheat production systems (dual purpose) that dominate agriculture in the southern Great Plains. The objective of our experiment was to determine the effects of no‐till production practices on wheat forage and grain yield in dual‐purpose and grain‐only production systems in the southern Great Plains. To achieve our objectives, we compared data from side‐by‐side no‐till and conventional‐till wheat variety trials over three years at two sites (El Reno and Homestead) in Oklahoma. The El Reno site included grazed and non‐grazed wheat variety trials within each tillage regimen. The interaction of grazing and tillage was nonsignificant (P = 0.83) at the El Reno site. Tillage had no effect on grain yield or test weight at either site, but no‐till forage yield was 823 lb/acre less than that of conventional‐till. Grazing had no effect on crop yield but decreased test weight of harvested grain. The results of this experiment indicate that Oklahoma wheat producers can implement no‐till production practices without negatively impacting grain yield, but dual‐purpose producers may have to make adjustments to ensure adequate fall forage production by wheat in no‐till systems.