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Wheat seeding tipsBy David G. Hallauer Meadowlark Extension District agent, crops and soils/horticulture Kansas It's amazing how the little things can make a big difference. Combine a number of little things when fine-tuning your wheat seeding techniques and you can affect a crop's emergence, root growth, and fall/winter tillering that makes such a big difference later in the year. Start by evaluating tractor speed, trying to maintain a speed of five to six miles per hour when drilling. Keep seeding depth uniform and at about one and a half inches. Do what you can to maintain a firm seedbed. Loose, fluffy soils are one of the most common wheat stand establishment challenges. Make sure a closing system behind openers is of adequate down pressure. Seeding date should be around the Hessian fly-free date--somewhere around the first week of October. Apply part of your nitrogen before or at planting time to get plants off to a strong start. If P/K levels are low, address them at planting time too, since they are important to early plant development. If you had seed with smut or scab, a seed treatment will be of particular value, though a fungicide seed treatment may well yield benefits in almost any situation. Some fields may also benefit from an insecticide treatment as well. For wheat no-till planted following row crop harvest, an increase in nitrogen rates of 20 pounds per acres above normal rates is suggested (30 pounds if following grain sorghum). If wheat is planted late, seeding rates should be increased to 90 to 120 pounds per acre here in eastern Kansas. If you are still planting three weeks after the Hessian fly-free date, use seeding rates on the upper end of that range. More information is available in KSU's "Wheat Production Handbook" available at your District Extension Office. Lawn seeding deadline If you missed seeding your cool season lawn in September, you can still do so by mid-October--so long as you take care not to let plants dry out. Factors that slow growth, like drought stress, reduce chances that plants will mature enough to survive winter. In fact, most late planted stands don't fail because of cold, but desiccation. This often occurs when freezing and thawing of soils heaves poorly rooted grass plants out of the ground, which then dry and die. Keeping plants watered will help maximize root growth before freezing weather arrives. Conservation trees available Conservation trees from the Kansas Forest Service are still available--though stock is limited to eastern red cedar, ponderosa pine, Austrian pine, southwestern white pine, and lacebark elm. Sales will continue until approximately mid-October. 10/20/08 Date: 10/16/08 Advertisement
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