We finally have some rain in the forecast.  As of this writing the first of our chances went east of Garden City, Liberal  and Guymon with only very low amounts in the western areas.  Most of the wheat south of Garden City is just starting to joint with the earliest planted wheat in the Oklahoma panhandle putting on first node now.  We have some mildly concerning temperatures in the forecast with a light freeze called for on April 16th and 17th.  Right now forecasters are calling for lows of 30 degrees both nights in Garden City and a low of 30 degrees as far south as Guymon for the night of April 16th.  If it gets no colder than that, the wheat should be fine.  If it gets down to the mid 20's or below there could be some problems.  We are still not seeing any significant disease pressure in the wheat.  Leaf Rust is being reported in north central Oklahoma and extreme south central Kansas and we'll likely see the start of infestations here over the next few weeks.  Greenbugs are starting to become established in fields at very low levels in the Oklahoma panhandle.  At this point we are still not seeing any in Kansas. 

The alfalfa is off to a good start with southern fields having as much as 6" to 8" of growth.  Temperatures in the high 20's will have no negative impact on the crop and we should see normal to a little earlier than normal 1st cutting dates.  Because of the spread between alfalfa prices and corn prices we'll see significant acres of alfalfa come out after 1st cutting and go to corn.  We are seeing about 30% of our irrigated alfalfa being taken out this year.  Alfalfa weevil numbers continue to increase and we will likely see the 1st insecticide treatments applied in the south in about 7 days.  We are probably closer to 14 days out on the alfalfa in the Garden City area.  In many cases we have also had pea aphids and cow pea aphids invade these fields as well.  If a Pyrethroid Insecticide is going to be used for weevil control and it does not contain Lorsban it is a good idea to add a low rate of Lorsban to the application to pick up the aphids that are present in the field.  4 to 8 oz of Lorsban will be sufficient. 

Corn Planting Dates - Current soil temperatures are around 46 degrees in the south and 44 degrees in Garden City on pre watered strip till ground.  We really need closer to 50 degrees with a warming trend predicted.  I really don't think it makes sense to start the corn until the middle of the week of April 14th in the panhandle and late in the week of the 14th at Garden City.        

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