Wheat Conditions:

Still no significant rain and none in the two week forecast.  This same forecast is favorable from the standpoint of expected low temperatures with no lows below 30 called for through the first week in April.  Traditionally, when we have had a spring freeze problem with the wheat it has occurred closer to mid April.  Much of the irrigated wheat is being watered now and this could set us up for a problem should drastic cold temperatures occur.  If the forecast changes and we expect to see lows in the low twenties or teens it would help to shut the water off 3 or 4 days in front of it.  Drought stressed wheat can handle colder temperatures than lush actively growing wheat.

Still no significant insect problems in southwest Kansas or the Oklahoma panhandle.  That could change over the next few weeks as aphid pressure is starting to build in north central Oklahoma.  Both greenbugs and cherry aphids are active in fields in that area.

I have been hearing several radio commercials for a fungicide suggesting that now is the time to apply it for wheat.  On rotated wheat ground or wheat / fallow / wheat this makes little sense to me.  The main diseases these applications could be targeted for at this time of year are tan spot and possibly powdery mildew.  Tan Spot is a disease problem always associated with continuous wheat and I am seeing no evidence of powdery mildew in the fields yet.  Given the high wheat prices I would lean toward using a fungicide this year but it needs to be applied at the proper time.  The proper timing for the leaf rust diseases are partial flag leaf emergence to heading.  I would tend to go on the early side (partial flag leaf emergence) if rust were already started in the field at that time.  I would delay the application closer to heading if disease was still not present in the field at that time.  We are going to get about 2 weeks residual control out of these products and the later we can wait the further the application will take us toward maturity of the crop.

Alfalfa Conditions:

We are at the very early stages of alfalfa weevil hatch in extreme southwwest Kansas.  It will likely be 10 days to 2 weeks before treatments for control of this insect will be justified.  Also starting to find low levels of cow pea aphids. 

 

We are at the point in far SW Kansas and the OK panhandle that most of the irrigated wheat is starting to stress and needs to be watered.  The 2 week forecast has very little chance of rain and there is really no choice.  This could be setting us up for a spring kill problem.  In some of the past years watering wheat this early in the spring has produced too much growth and made these lush fields less tolerant to the extreme cold that could still occur.  In the Garden City area, we'll be starting to moisture stress within 7 to 10 days.  This same 2 week forecast has nothing alarming from the standpoint of low temperatures.  I see no choice but to water the wheat and hope that winter is over.

There are still numerous fields being strip tilled for corn.  You really need to consider backing off on the NH3 rates this close to planting.  I realize that NH3 is still the best buy but it could actually end up costing you if damage to the corn crop occurs.  From this point forward I would recommend keeping rates at no more than 80 lbs actual N.  The potential for crop injury is a function of rate, time, moisture and soil type.  Obviously the higher the rate, the greater the chance of injury.  The shorter the time interval between fertilizing and planting the greater the risk of injury and the drier the conditions the greater the chance of injury.  The tighter the soil the greater the chance of injury.  This is because on tighter soils nitrate movement is restricted and it will take more moisture to move these salt bands out of the seed and corn seedling root zone.  It takes about 1 inch of moisture to move nitrates 9 inches on a sand while this same 1 inch of moisture will only move nitrates 3 inches on a clay loam.  The damage that typically occurs from this problem is not a reduction in germination, it is a burning to the seedling corn roots.  The corn emerges and looks great until the radical root hits this salt layer.  It burns off and the corn turns purple appears moisture stressed and just sits there until enough irrigation water is applied to disperse the salts.  If you have already applied the full nitrogen requirement with a strip bar and have not had significant moisture on it you really need to consider 2 or 3 inches of irrigation pre plant.  If you haven't stripped the field yet, consider cutting back to 80 lbs of nitrogen and apply the balance as broadcast urea or through the pivot during the season.  You can also get 30 to 40 lbs of nitrogen on with the pre emerge herbicide or burndown application.            

With the warmer temperatures, the wheat is starting to actively grow.  I would expect we could see jointed wheat in the OK Panhandle by March 15 and in the Garden City area by April 1st.  At that point Dicamba needs to be dropped from herbicide mixes.  This will also be the point where the wheat becomes vulnerable to spring kill.  In the past most of these later devastating freezes have occured in early April through about the 20th of April.  Cold temperatures in March are not nearly as threatening. 

The wheat south of Garden City (southwest reporting district) is in the poorest shape.  Numerous dryland fields still have not established a viable plant stand and never will.  We will likely see fairly high crop destruction numbers in that district (maybe as high as 40% to 50%).  Assuming we get rain through March and April many of these fields will be replaced with milo.  The problem is not as severe in the west central reporting district but in the western part of that district crop destruct will be higher than normal as well.  District wide, it could be 25% to 30%.

We still do not have any threats from insects.  Normally aphid problems are the first insects to appear.  In early planted wheat cherry aphids were present last fall.  It doesn't appear they have survived the winter.