|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|||
|
Notes and Observations from the 2007 Winter Wheat Crop by Blake Vander Vorst My opening statement in my first column with Prairie G Indeed, an extremely important factor in winter wheat’s performance is the crop’s ability to avoid some of the moisture and temperature stress because of its earlier maturity. More observations from the 2007 winter wheat growing season follow, with acknowledgements to Dr. Joel Ransom, Dr. Marcia McMullen, Kent McKay, and Greg Endres of NDSU, Dr. Jochum Wiersma of the University of Minnesota, David Boehm of AgriPro Wheat, Roger Knapp, DU field agronomist, and Alan Ness, contract agronomist, for their contributing observations in preparation for this article. Survival Observations in May, 2007 by Kent McKay indicated that winter wheat planted after September 23, 2006 in northern North Dakota broke dormancy in good condition in late March, but suffered greater stand loss and loss of vigor after the single digit night time temperatures from April 3 to 9, 2007. The critical planting date was a couple of days later as you moved into southern North Dakota and northern South Dakota. Fields that were planted earlier had greater crown development and vigor and recovered more rapidly from the April cold spell (see photo). Seeding depth also impacted stand loss and vigor following the April cold spell. Both planting date and seeding depth affect the date of emergence and resulting crown development of the winter wheat seedling. Any delay in the development of the winter wheat crown in the fall of 2006 was obvious following the April 2007 cold temperatures. A weakened winter wheat seedling with a small crown recovers more slowly than a seedling with a well developed crown. Winter kill occurred in some of the late September and early October planted fields. Many of the later planted fields also had lower yields. Delayed plant development resulted in these fields filling during the high temperature period that arrived in late June and in July. There was also some stand loss in localized areas due to poor establishment from dry seedbed conditions at seeding in the fall of 2006. A seeding depth of 1 to 1.5 inches is recommended for winter wheat seeded into moist soils. When seeding in dry soil and germination will not occur immediately or seeding in late September, place winter wheat seed at a 1” depth. Diseases Yield increases from fungicide application were quite remarkable in most of the Dakotas. The winter wheat variety trials conducted by Dr. Joel Ransom and Dr. Marcia McMullen, NDSU, and Ducks Unlimited at Lisbon, ND experienced a 20 bushel/acre average yield increase for the 22 varieties. A split fungicide treatment of Headline with the herbicide and Prosaro at the early flower stage of growth was applied. Kent McKay, NDSU Minot, conducted fungicide variety trials with 10 varieties at Roseglen and Berthold, ND. A yield increase due to Prosaro application at the early flower stage of growth was 16.6 and 15.1 bushels/acre, respectively, at each location. Some locations had less significant yield increases due to fungicide application, such as reported by Greg Endres, NDSU Carrington, at Ellendale, ND. The largest increase was 6 bushels/acre from a split application of Quilt and Tilt fungicide. This area experienced less rainfall in June and July following a very wet May which may have reduced rooting depth and suppressed disease development. Yields were likely reduced by the high air temperatures and dry weather that followed fungicide application. Wheat streak mosaic virus was again observed in a few fields. Winter wheat volunteers from the 2006 winter wheat crop were not controlled in the fall of 2006 or immediately in the spring of 2007. The volunteer winter wheat from the 2006 crop was carrying the virus and provided the disease source for the wheat curl mite to transfer to neighboring 2007 winter wheat and spring wheat fields. Another field with wheat streak was a result of volunteer spring wheat not being controlled prior to planting the winter wheat in the fall. To manage the disease wheat streak mosaic, control volunteer small grains and grassy weeds two weeks prior to seeding winter wheat to eliminate the “green bridge”. Wheat streak mosaic is spread by the wheat curl mite. Volunteer small grain and grassy weeds are the hosts for the mite. Eliminating the grassy hosts breaks the life cycle of the mite and stops the spread of the disease. Neighboring corn fields can also be a host for the mite. Seeding later during the optimal seeding period can assist in reducing exposure to wheat streak mosaic. NDSU has a wheat streak management bulletin online at www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/smgrains/pp646w.htm. Controlling volunteer winter wheat in the past year’s winter wheat field(s) is another must. The best time to control the volunteer winter wheat after harvest is late in the fall or the very first field activity performed the following spring. There is one exception. If you are planting winter wheat in close proximity to a prior year’s winter wheat field, be sure to control the winter wheat volunteers in the neighboring field prior to planting the new winter wheat field. Record Yields, Acreage and Production North Dakota winter wheat production is estimated at 22.3 million bushels, a record high, and is up from 7.92 million bushels from 2006. The area harvested for grain totaled 445,000 acres, up from 180,000 acres in 2006. The yield is a record at 50.0 bushels/acre, up 6.0 bushels from last year. Minnesota winter wheat acreage also continues to increase with 65,000 planted acres and 60,000 harvested acres with a yield of 48 bushels/acre. Minnesota set a record yield of 62 bushels/acre in 2006. Montana harvested 2.19 million acres of winter wheat in 2007 with a 38 bushel/acre yield. Central South Dakota and south central North Dakota probably experienced the best winter wheat crop in their history. Yield reports in the 70 and 80 bushel range were very common with a few fields registering at slightly over 100 bushels/acre. Areas in the eastern Dakotas were actually too wet early to experience top yields consistently from field to field. The western areas of both states experienced very good yields with big yield increases from fungicide application at the flag leaf or early flower stage of growth to protect the flag leaf of susceptible varieties from leaf rust. Record Price The high wheat prices in August and September encouraged more winter wheat acreage to be planted this fall. New planted acreage records will likely be set in North and South Dakota for 2008. Similar to 2004, many winter wheat growers experienced the best wheat yield in their farming careers in 2007. But in 2007, they were able to have cake and ice cream and eat them too with the record yields and prices. Like a grower at Hazen, ND said in reflection of his winter wheat crop, “The moon and stars all aligned and it was great.” Prospects for 2008 are very good in most areas with good stand establishment. A couple of exceptions would be parts of western South Dakota and an area in north central North Dakota. Winter wheat growers continue to experience the benefits of spreading the workload and risk and good profitability with winter wheat. Vander Vorst is regional agronomist with Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Bismarck, N.D. Find more information about DU’s agronomy program, including winter wheat performance data, online at www.ducks.org/agronomy. |
|||
rains a little over one
year ago read as follows: “The 2006 growing season accentuated what is often an advantage of including winter wheat in the crop rotation: the one to two week earlier maturity of winter wheat lessened
the impact of the extreme heat and drought Mother Nature ‘shared’ with many of us in the Northern Plains this summer.” The 2007 growing season was a warmer rerun of 2006 with an even greater
winter wheat yield advantage in most areas of the Dakotas. In some cases, winter wheat had a 40 bushel/acre advantage over its spring wheat cousin on the same farm.