Issue 29
May 2000
 

Prairie Grains is the official publication of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, South Dakota Wheat, Inc. and the Minnesota Barley Growers Assocation.

Copyright
Prairie Grains Magazine
May 2000

Prairie Shortcuts

NDSU seed treatment publication available

Some severe disease problems in cereal grains have occurred throughout the region in recent years, and these problems could have been reduced with seed treatments, says Marcia McMullen, a plant pathologist at North Dakota State University.

Loose smut and common root rot are examples of two diseases prevalent last year which can be suppressed by seed treatments, she says.  For further information, consult the newly revised NDSU Extension Service Publication titled "Seed Treatment for Disease Control" (PP-447), which will soon be available through county extension offices and via the Internet www.ext.nodak. edu/extpubs/plantsci/crops/pp447w.htm

NDSU fertilization info online

Although applying fertilizer with small grain seed at planting is common, remember that there are limits to how much fertilizer can be placed with the seed. Fertilizer contains high levels of salt and may contain materials that produce free ammonia, both of which are harmful to seed germination, says Dave Franzen, NDSU extension soil scientist.  The good news is that because of oversupply, nitrogen fertilizers will remain relatively low in price this spring despite recent increases in fuel prices.  Further, the mild, dry weather likely contributed to better nitrate conversion on acres where N fertilizer was applied last fall. More information is available online, www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/soilfert.htm

SD wheat leaders look to Internet grain marketing

South Dakota Wheat Inc. and South Dakota Wheat Commission are seeking producers to become involved in a farmer-owned association that will market grain over the internet.

"There is opportunity at all levels of the food chain to capture value inherent in grains at the point of production," says William Ferguson, a Witten, SD, producer.  "Millers, bakers, processors, and grain handlers are demanding characteristic such as protein, grade, single kernel properties, variety integrity, genetic and organic purity."

The Association web site, www.hpcnet. org/qcma, will have detailed grain quality characteristics, and provide elevators and grain handlers an additional tool to acquire quality grain to meet consumer demand.  For more information about the program, call 1-877-943-2873.

KS paving the way for IP wheat

With three new hard white winter wheat varieties developed at KSU now being increased for seed, the Kansas wheat industry is in the process of developing a system of assuring the integrity of the new wheat through marketing channels.  Over 20 meetings have been conducted to educate producers and grain handlers about white wheat issues.  Further meetings will be organized at receiving sites by grain companies, and country grain elevators' capabilities and costs of segregating hard white wheat will be characterized.

One public-private case study conducted last year by KSU and several grain elevators confirmed that segregating wheat is possible and can be performed with minimal increase in delay time and cost.  The study indicated that implementation of rapid quality detection equipment to segregate wheat based on end-use qualities could be performed and additional value captured if management were so inclined.

Segregated and identity-preserved wheat provide tremendous opportunities for the grain industry to further transition itself into an end user driven market.  However, Curt Blades of Farmland Industries' grain division in Kansas City notes that the end customer must see enough value in IP grain to cover the additional costs of marketing, handling, and delivery—and this "technical sale" must be determined before a kernel of IP grain is merchandised.

Virtual wheat field day

As more farmers gain Internet access, there's also more production agriculture information on the web.  Thus, researchers at Kansas State University have built a virtual wheat plot tour (www.oznet.ksu.edu/wheat) that is available on the web day or night, long after the actual plot has been harvested.  This increases the potential audience for information from the wheat plots and improves comprehension of information disseminated at the actual field day.

There are four stops on the virtual tour that includes a description of wheat varieties and where they are best adapted, results of variety performance tests and county demonstration plots, a description of wheat disease and insect pests and where they are more likely to occur in the state, and a discussion of soil fertility issues.