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.  

 

 

The wheat continues to develop very slowly over the past month.  Dry areas still do not have complete stands and just based on the length of time it is taking for emergence, I would expect final stands in these fields will be less than ideal.  I am not seeing any winter kill yet.  Most areas still have adequate surface moisture and this should take us well into March before additional stress to the crop will occur. 

Winter annual weed pressure is increasing in most fields and it will still make sense to use short residual herbicides with topdress applications.  In most cases I would recommend using Dicamba with 2,4-D or MCP.  In fields where tiller formation is still continuing, MCP with Dicamba would be the safest choice.  This will allow you to keep your rotation options totally open and should still give clean fields at wheat harvest time.  I would keep the rate of Dicamba at 4 oz to insure adequate residual control on kochia. Typically Dicamba is not thought of as a residual herbicide but during the winter months, 4 to 6 weeks control likely occurs.  In all cases the Dicamba must be mixed with either 2,4-D or MCP.  Typically 10 to 12 oz of 4lb 2,4-D or MCP would be mixed with the Dicamba.  Dicamba must be applied prior to jointing while 2,4-D should not be used until at least 3 to 4 tillers have formed.  If tiller formation is delayed, MCP would be the safest choice.  Both products should give similar performance on weeds.  The herbicides can be mixed with topdress fertilizer but as these herbicides are growth regulators, applications should only be made on days where the high temperature is expected to exceed 40 degrees.

Some of the fungicide manufacturers are encouraging topdress timed applications of their products.  This only makes sense in continuous wheat production where Tan Spot disease will likely be a significant threat to the crop.  On rotated wheat ground, the fungicide applications need to be delayed until closer to flag leaf emergence.  More discussion will follow in future posts to this blog.  

Insect pest problems are still minimal.  The only issues are low levels of Cherry Aphids in some of the earlier planted wheat.

Wheat that was dusted in back in the late fall is just starting to emerge.  The area affected runs from south of Garden City and into the majority of the Oklahoma panhandle.  It runs from the Colorado line in the west and as far east as Dodge City and Meade.  There is still potential in this crop but it will not yield what it could have if moisture conditions at planting had been better.  Irrigated wheat in this same area is in much better condition but this only represents about 10% of the total wheat acres.  With colder temperatures and a lack of snow cover there is some concern that this late  wheat will be more prone to winter kill.  In my opinion this is a minor concern as the winter losses in the past to the Kansas and Oklahoma wheat crops have actually come in the early spring and not from absolute cold temperatures in the winter months.

There are still no serious pest concerns.  Some of the earliest planted fields have low levels of Cherry Aphids but at this point there are no greenbug or russian wheat aphid threats.

We are finally receiving some moisture across much of western Kansas and the panhandle.  Over the past week most areas have received at least an inch or a little more.  In fields where wheat had not emerged, it will take at least 30 days to see much of the stand fill in.  Conditions from Garden City north are much better and this recent moisture will sustain the crop well into February.  It really makes very little sense to make any decisions on the wheat until we get into early March.  Obviously moisture usage will be very low for the next couple of months and there will be time to decide on the best options for alternate crops later.  Milo seed will likely be in short supply again in 2008 and it might be good to reserve extra supplies for fields where the wheat stand is still not established. 

Pest problems are non existant at this time.  After starting the fall off with low levels of Cherry Aphids in some of the earlier planted wheat fields, aphid numbers have declined rapidly with the colder temperatures.     

The 2008 wheat crop is off to a rough start.  After experiencing tremendous yields in 2007 west of Dodge City, we will be challenged to see results even close to that in 2008.  From Garden City north wheat stands are mostly adequate but really have not had any significant moisture since planting.  The wheat has survived and can still produce a decent crop assuming the moisture eventually comes.  The biggest concern is the lack of crown root development and the potential for winter kill.  South of Garden City and in the Oklahoma panhandle wheat stands are mostly poor.  Many growers finally dusted the wheat in and we have still not had the rainfall to achieve stands.  We can still produce a crop in that area but the clock is ticking.  Wheat that emerges in January and February will only produce 50 to 60% of normal yields.  The question is what are normal yields?  If the early established wheat has the potential to produce 40 bushel than this late emerging wheat will likely produce no better than 20 or 25 bushels.  If conditions allow for 60 bushel wheat where stands were established at ideal times than this late wheat might make as much as 40 bushel.  The take home message from this is that even if the stand is not in place today, I wouldn't write it off yet.