How is wheat dry matter distributed among various plant portions?
Total production of above-ground wheat dry matter was 6.32 tons per acre. At physiological maturity, approximately 38% was in the grain, 16% was in the heads, 37% was in the stems, and 9% was in the leaves. The grain yield was about 91 bushels per acre, assuming a test weight of 60 pounds per bushel at 12% moisture. How much phosphorus does wheat take up during the season? Total phosphorus uptake in this study at physiological maturity was about 60 pounds of P2O5 per acre, or about 0.66 pounds of P2O5 per bushel. Approximately 80% of the total phosphorus was in the grain, 9% was in the heads, 8% was in the stems, and 3% was in the leaves. Phosphorus removed from the field by grain totaled about 48 pounds of P2O5 per acre, or about 0.53 pounds of P2O5 per bushel. Phosphorus was evenly distributed between the leaves and stems until the boot stage (Haun stage 9.2) when stems began to take up phosphorus more rapidly. At anthesis, the crop had taken up about 45% of the end-of-season total.
