If it’s late May and your winter wheat crop is awake and starting to look good so you figure it’s time to top up the nitrogen, you’ve already missed the ideal window for a spring application. Plus, if you didn’t take care of winter annuals last fall, those tiny seedlings that over wintered took off running as soon as the snow cleared (and maybe even slightly before), and you’ve missed the optimal weed removal timing. Lucky for you, it’s February and there’s plenty of time to plan and prioritize an early N application and plan for early weed removal.
Watch more: See a visual evaluation of winter wheat viability in the spring in this video
But, you say, should I be throwing good money after bad? What if my winter wheat didn’t make it? Ah, it’s a very common question that new winter wheat growers ask, but, as we explore in this audio interview with Paul Thoroughgood, with Ducks Unlimited (a member of the newly launched Western Winter Wheat Initiative), weed control and nitrogen application done early in the year benefit whichever crop you grow on that land this year. If you do end up having to terminate the stand, that N is still there for the next crop (at least in part) and dealing with early weed growth is never a bad idea. In this audio podcast, Thoroughgood explains how critical early N application is and how well Western Canadian farmers are doing with winter wheat (hint: very well).
The Agronomy Geeks podcast is brought to you by Cargill. Visit AskTheExpertNetwork.Ca to learn more.
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