Wheat News for Wednesday, July 8, 1998

HEAD OVER TO CROOKSTON THURSDAY FOR SMALL GRAIN FIELD DAY - The Northwest Experiment Station and the University of Minnesota-Crookston will host a Small Grain and Sugarbeet Weed Control Tour on Thursday, July 9. The tour will begin at 12:45 at the NWES Agronomy farm, located one mile north of the junction of Hwys 2 and 75. Weed control specialists Bev Durgan, U of M, and Alan Dexter, NDSU/U of M, will discuss the latest advances in the control of foxtail, wild oat and broadleaf weeds in sugarbeet and small grain. Currently-registered herbicides, new experimentals, and timing of herbicide application with Liberty and Roundup on sugarbeet will also be discussed.

There will be a Small Grains Plot Tour at the North Agronomy Farm, with refreshments provided. The field tours will begin at 4 pm. U of M speakers will be Bob Busch, Deon Stuthman, Don Rasmusson, new wheat breeder Jim Anderson, and Ruth Dill-Macky, discussing their work developing wheat, oat and barley varieties, including their relative resistance to scab. Al Sims, George Rehm, Roger Jones and Jochum Wiersma will discuss their latest findings in production and management practices.

A complimentary BBQ supper sponsored by the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers and Minnesota Barley Growers Association will be served around 6:30 pm. Tours are open to the public. For more information, contact Jochum Wiersma (218-281-8629) or Larry Smith (218-281-8602).

U OF M-MORRIS ALSO HOLDING FIELD DAY THURSDAY - The West Central Experiment Station in Morris, MN, will also hold a Summer Station Day on Thursday, July 9. Registration begins at 7 am at the Experiment Station, east of the Morris campus on Hwy 329. Refreshments will be provided. The agenda is as follows:

Tour 1 - Small Grain Varieties (tours leave at 7:30, 8:15, 9:00, 9:45, 10:30)

• Wheat breeding program - Dr. Bob Busch
• Barley breeding program - Dr. Don Rasmusson
• Oats breeding program - Dr. Deon Stuthman

Tour 2 - Weed Control and RR Soybeans (tours leave at 7:30, 8:15, 9:00, 9:45, 10:30)

• Roundup Ready soybean varieties - Dr. Jim Orf
• Roundup Ready weed control - Bruce Potter
• Corn and soybean herbicide performance trials - Dr. Jeff Gunsolus

Tour 3 - Soil Fertility/Canola (tours leave at 7:30, 8:15, 9:00, 9:45, 10:30)

• Phosphate management on medium P test soils - Dr. George Rehm
• Urea management - Dr. Neil Hansen
• Manure injection - Jeff Lopez
• Canola varieties - Dr. Erv Oelke

Tour 4 - Fusarium Head Blight (tours leave at 8:00 and 10:00)

• Wheat and barley scab breeding program - Dr. Ruth Dill-Macky

Tour 5 - Forages and Grazing (tours leave at 9:00 and 11:00)

• Pasture renovation - Dr. Greg Cuomo
• Grazing dairy - Dr. Dennis Johnson
• Economics of pasture and grazing - Dr. Margot Rudstrom
• Sheep Update - Dr. Bill Head

Tour 6 - Livestock (tours leave at 8:30 and 10:30)

• Swine facilities tour - Dr. Lee Johnston
• Livestock mortality composting - Bob Padula, Dr. Lynne Carpenter-Boggs

Special Tour - Whole Farm Planning and Monitoring Workshop (one tour at 1 pm)

• Chippewa River Team - T. Vanderpol, G. Cuomo, B. Head, D. Johnson

Exhibits and Crop Clinic

• Crop Pest and Weed Clinic (bring your samples), U of M programs, state and federal agencies, and more.

SCAB PRESENT IN SOME NW MN FIELDS - Scab is present in some northwest Minnesota fields. In one Red Lake County field, whole wheat heads were found to be infested, with nearby stalks infected only spottily so far. In that field, some stems also suffered from leaf rust and aphids. Crop loss due to flooding and drown-out is a common sight in the Red River Valley. Adding to the hodge-podge of problems is some lodging of grain, due to relentless rains the last month.

ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE: LOW WORLD WHEAT PLANTING MAY HELP PRICES - In wheat-producing regions around the world, low prices are resulting in fewer wheat acres, which may push market prices upward.

• The Brazilian winter wheat crop is down 18% from last year, 1.793 million acres compared to 2.203 million.
• Canadian all wheat production, according to Stats Canada, will be around 23.05 MMT vs. 24.27 last year. Spring wheat acres alone are down 4 million acres from last year.
• Argentine wheat production is forecast at 12.7 MMT, down from 1997/98's 14.7 MMT.
• Russian grain harvest is expected to be down 24-30% from last year, from 88.5 MMT to 62 - 67 MMT this year.

Add into the mix Europe's plan to set aside 10% of arable land in 1999, over half of which will be wheat and barley acres, and things may be looking up in the market.

DRY DAYS HELP CROP PROGRESS; MORE OF SAME NEEDED - The pattern of widespread heavy rains and severe weather that prevailed during June finally gave way to a few mild, sunny days that helped fields dry off and allowed some crops to resume growth under more normal soil conditions, according to the Minnesota Ag Statistics Service.

Most of the state still needs more dry days, however. Rains have prevented hay from being baled and weeds from being controlled in row crops. Topsoil moisture as of Friday was rated 1% very short, 6% short, 64% adequate, and 29% surplus.

As of Sunday, July 5, about 90% of spring wheat was heading versus 64% for the 5-year average. Some fields of oat and rye are ready for harvest in the southern part of the state.

Corn is rated 70% good to excellent versus 78% good to excellent last week. Average height was 47 inches, a gain of 11 inches during the week and 15 inches ahead of the 5-year average. Soybeans are 16% blooming, versus 7% for the 5-year average.

ND CROP PROGRESS STILL AHEAD OF AVERAGE - As of Sunday, July 5, spring and durum wheat were 80% and 59% in the boot and beyond stage, respectively. Sixty percent of the spring wheat crop was heading, about one week ahead of average. Earlier-seeded small grains were in the milk stage, considerably ahead of average.

Spring wheat, barley and canola conditions deteriorated slightly from last week. Seventy percent of the spring wheat rated good or excellent, compared to 69% last week. Durum and oat conditions showed the largest improvements due to timely showers. Corn, soybean, and potato conditions declined during the week due to surplus soil moisture in major growing areas. The statewide average height of corn increased 11 inches to 32 during the week. Soybean conditions continued to deteriorate, as 9% dropped from the good and excellent categories during the week.

SECTION 18 GRANTED FOR TILT ON DRY BEANS: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted a section 18 emergency exemption for use of Tilt on rust in dry beans. Tilt is to be broadcast applied (ground or aerial) at 4 fl oz/A, a maximum of three times. The pre-harvest interval is 28 days; grazing or forage-feeding interval is 7 days. Tilt provides 14 days of protection and has 4 days of post-infection activity. Art Lamey, NDSU Extension plant pathologist, says producers should use Tilt as a preventive, rather than curative, measure. Frequent curative use may help resistance develop.

LESAFFRE, ADM TO MALT TOGETHER - Privately-owned French yeast manufacturer Lesaffre et Compagnie and Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) have announced that they will combine their malting operations. Lesaffre will hold a 60% stake in the combined company, to be called International Malting Co. ADM will control the other 40%. The combination involves ADM's U.S. facilities of Fleischman Malt in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Red Wing, MN, and Lesaffre's U.S. Froedtert Malt facilities in Milwaukee and Winona, MN. Source: Reuters