By Randy Buhler

Colorado State University Cooperative Extension

Logan County Agent (Agronomy)

A farmer called and wanted to know what he had done wrong. His Wheat yield was only about one-third what it should have been. The straw in the field certainly supported his contention. The answer was... nothing. He had done everything right.

The best description of this year's Wheat harvest is another farmer's comment, "We would have had a better year if we had been hailed out." Nature dealt the Wheat crop a series of low blows that took all the strength out of its irrepressible growth habit.

The farmer's next question during the field inspection led to the subject of this column. His question was "What can I do different?" The efforts of Wheat growers in northeastern Colorado are grounded in practices yielding better crops.

The results from test plots along the eastern counties illustrate the effect weather played in this year's crop. The Genoa test site had an average yield of 56.5 bushels per acre with an average test weight of 61.2 pounds per bushel. At Burlington, the average yield was 17.6 bushels per acre and a test weight of 55.9 pounds per bushel.

In Logan County, yields of 7 to 40 bushels on dryland were the common range. Irrigated Wheat made in the range of 25 to 50 bushels. Test weights were of concern. One load turned down at the elevator had a test weight of only 37 pounds per bushel. Dockages were high. One field reported had a dock of over 40 percent.

One interesting observation was with irrigated Wheat that had been grazed. It produced better than the circles that had not been grazed. Getting rid of the mites and leaf rust spores from last fall plus reducing the amount of vegetation apparently benefited the Wheat this year. We normally expect some yield loss from grazing.

If you had a problem with rye or jointed goatgrass, then a change in your farming practices is necessary. Changing rotation to include summer planted crops is one choice of management. Use of the Clearfield Wheat varieties and the herbicide Beyond is another choice when rotation is not feasible. Timing of herbicide application is critical with the Clearfield system.

Even spring Wheat was not immune from disaster. One field was found infected with scab. This disease is rarely seen in our area. It has been common in the Dakotas and Minnesota. The disease makes the grain worthless for feed or food purposes. The causal organism is Fusarium, which also causes ear and stalk rots in corn.

Making big changes in your current practices is not warranted if you just experienced low yield and low test-weight. For other problems, like dockage for jointed goatgrass, specific management changes would be warranted.

Finding good quality seed may be a problem at planting time. You will probably have to go outside our area to find quality seed. It would be a good idea to line up your seed early.

With very high nitrogen prices likely to go higher, alternate sources of nitrogen or different methods of nitrogen application may help your input costs. Manure and compost are available locally and are a good source of phosphorus and nitrogen.

The main thing is not to despair. The multiple yield robbers that ganged up on the Wheat crop this year are unlikely to repeat next year. Stay with your good Wheat production practices.

Date: 7/20/05