The timing of double crop (dc) soybean planting has a strong effect on yield. Wheat varieties that are high yielding and ready to harvest early would maximize the profit potential of wheat/double-crop soybeans. We propose to identify wheat varieties that fit this profile and make them more widely available.

Objective 1: Provide stakeholders with precise and standardized data on days to 14% moisture, in addition to yield, of commercial and experimental wheat varieties. Data on commercial varieties will be provided to growers to support variety selection decisions. Data on experimental varieties from interested seed companies will be provided at no cost to them to help them select and describe the products that they offer.

Objective 2: Develop and implement phenotyping methods to assess the timing of dormancy release among commercial and experimental wheat varieties. This will provide preliminary data to stakeholders on the risk of spring freeze damage among varieties and enable routine phenotyping for this trait.

Objective 3: Increase the number of elite early wheat varieties available to growers.
This will entail phenotyping days to 14% moisture and the timing of winter dormancy release among 40 advanced breeding lines developed by the University of Illinois (UIL) wheat breeding program each year. These lines are already tested for yield, test weight, scab resistance, and other important traits as part of the UIL breeding program. Under this objective, we would add phenotyping to identify elite early varieties with an early harvest date and a low spring freeze risk for licensing to seed companies.

This project will improve the profitability of wheat/dc soybean by increasing knowledge and availability of wheat varieties that are higher yielding, ready to harvest earlier, and less prone to spring freeze damage.

We expect this will help make soybean double-cropping economically viable for more farmers in in Illinois, including in more northern latitudes of the state. This will in-turn enhance the sustainability of Illinois soybean production while maintaining productivity.