Wheat conditions vary across tour region

By Jennifer M. Latzke and Doug Rich

STATE OF THE CROP — The team of Crop System Specialists from John Deere examine a wheat field south of Weatherford,Okla.,March 24. The state of the wheat crop across the tour varied greatly. Traveling east from Amarillo, Texas, to Wichita, Kan., the team saw dry conditions to muddy conditions. (Journal photo by Jennifer M. Latzke.)

As the 2009 Small Grain Solutions tour traveled from Amarillo, Texas, to Clinton, Okla., and on to Wichita, Kan., the team saw a wide array of crop conditions. Dry weather and clouds of dust greeted the Small Grain Solutions tour on its first stop in Amarillo, March 23. The next day, March 24, the tour participants saw how a few inches of rain the week before helped out the crop in Clinton. And in the Wichita region, March 25, the tour scouted fields near Andale that were in good condition and wet from a recent rain.

Of course, only two days after the tour wrapped up, there was a record-breaking spring blizzard that would dump several inches of snow on the region—just your typical High Plains spring. The aftereffects of the blizzard of 2009 have yet to be seen, though.

Amarillo, Texas

As John Deere Crop System Specialists Brian Ganske and Nate Meier toured wheat fields around Amarillo, on a dry and windy day, they saw the challenges of raising wheat in the Panhandle. Primarily, they saw the effects of severe drought on dryland wheat acres, and how one farmer’s no-till practices have helped him improve his wheat production even after grazing cattle.

Since planting in September 2008, most of the area hasn’t seen more than a half of an inch of moisture, according to farmers in the region. “We’ve seen quite a bit of unevenness in wheat, and a fair bit of drought kill,” Ganske said. “You can tell when the pivot starts and the corner stops.” There are also differences in conventional tillage versus notill operations, he said. “With just a half-inch of rains since planting, it says a lot to the farming practices that you’ve got as far as you have with what you’ve been given.”

As Ganske and Meier drove through the countryside, they also observed several different agronomic issues of the wheat. Yellowed wheat acres showed the effects of minimal to no fertilizer application, or “sitespecific application” left behind from grazing cattle, Ganske said. “Some people may reconsider top-dressing nitrogen on that.” Some of the blue-greenish acres showed the stress of drought, he explained. As for weed and insect pressure, it’s been too dry to see problems.

“We saw few weeds, you’ve got some mustard coming in, but it’s not at treatable levels yet,” Ganske said.

In talking with one farmer on the tour, who’s switched his wheat acres from conventional tillage to no-till, Ganske and Meier learned that no-till, while still a new technique in the Panhandle, has improved yields dramatically. One farmer’s dryland acres last year averaged about 16 bushels per acre, even after being grazed. He cut one field at 23 bushels per acre and he was the only farmer east of Canyon, Texas, cutting in the drought last harvest.

Clinton, Oklahoma

Ganske and Meier visited several wheat fields in the area south of Clinton and Weatherford on day two of the Small Grain Solutions tour. The area received about 1.5 to 2 inches of moisture right before the tour, and the difference in wheat condition from the first tour was evident from the road.

Most fields on the tour were green and healthy, on their way to producing a crop. In one field, the specialists found an example of a nitrogen-enriched strip, which helps the farmer calculate his sensor data when he’s applying fertilizer.

It’s probably not economical to apply 200 to 250 pounds of nitrogen on the whole field, but if you take a strip and apply extra nitrogen, you can take your sensor reading from that strip and then one from elsewhere in the field and use that data to determine your appropriate top-dressing rate, Ganske explained.

Ganske and Meier found some lady beetles in a few of the fields, as well as some greenbugs and aphids at treatable levels. In one farmer’s field, north of Apache, the tour saw an example of an extreme infestation of Hessian fly. Ganske explained that planting wheat after wheat continuously can support a Hessian fly problem. Farmers can combat that by paying close attention to planting after the fly-free date in their areas, changing their crop rotations, and by planting wheats that are found to be more Hessian fly resistant than others.

Wichita, Kansas

“This is the second place in three days that we saw water,” Ganske said. “We got our feet muddy, for a change.”

Wheat in the first field did not have real good root systems, probably because it was dry when the crop was planted last fall. The next field had been conventionally tilled, the soil was looser and it had better root structure.

“Overall the root structure was good in the fields we visited in the Wichita area,” Ganske said.

They saw a few weeds like they do every year but nothing serious. There was some henbit and a few fields had volunteer wheat. Ganske said it is almost too late to spray when wheat reaches the jointing stage. Growers should watch the product labels and change rates when wheat reaches the jointing stage. Except for a few greenbugs, there were no insect problems in the fields they visited.

Planting dates were varied and the wheat showed the results this spring. Late planted fields were behind the development of their early planted neighbors.

Ganske and Meier said that overall the wheat looked good in this area.