Other Secondary and Micronutrients

In general, it is unlikely that any of the other secondary or micronutrients limit wheat growth and development to a significant degree. Iron availability limits wheat growth in certain areas, but there is little that can be done to economically correct the problem other than incorporating large quantities of manure. Wheat is known to respond to copper, but known deficiencies in the U.S. have generally been limited to the peat soils in the far north and coastal soils in the southeast. While zinc response has sometimes been reported for wheat, documented deficiencies are rare. While there have been numerous discussions about widespread and severe Cu and Zn deficiencies of wheat in recent years, there is little research supporting these claims. The same is true for the other micronutrients. Any response to these nutrients would be expected to be rare or marginal. Taking care of soil acidity (N, P, S, Cl, possibly K) and other important management practices would seem to be much more profitable than keying in on micronutrients for wheat in the Great Plains.