Wheat harvest is moving along quickly which is why we’re a day late with the Word again this week. In this update, Peter Johnson, RealAg’s resident agronomist, discusses the incredible wheat results and how to manage those fields after harvest, western bean cutworm and other insects of concern, and how the drought is affecting corn and soybean plants.
Listen or download below! If you have a question for Wheat Pete, call 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email him at[email protected].
Highlights:
Western Bean Cutworm
- Egg masses are being found. If you find 1 per 20 plants on average, need to control.
- Remember user safety when applying insecticides — put a new charcoal filter in the cab and drive out of the field before getting out of the cab.
Spider Mites
- Would expect spider mites with dry weather, and there’ve been some isolated reports, but not a big problem. Need to keep scouting along grass borders.
- Insect threshold info can be found in Pest Manager App (broken record alert!)
Leafhoppers
- Leafhoppers are causing yellowing in edible beans
- If you cut alfalfa and have leafhoppers feeding on small new shoots, it doesn’t matter how much it rains, you won’t have a good third crop. Have to scout in edibles and alfalfa.
Aphids
- Unbelievably, Peter has not heard one confirmed report of soybean aphids this year. Keep scouting.
White Mould in Edible Beans
- With it being so dry, is a second fungicide app for white mould needed if already applied for anthracnose? If canopy hasn’t closed, forget about white mould. However, some 30 inch row beans have thick canopies despite dryness. Go out at 10 in the morning and if you’re getting dew on pants, white mould can still develop. Maybe only apply in high yield, thick canopy areas.
Wheat harvest
- Harvest is going gangbusters, likely record fast and record average yield.Lots of reports of over 130 bu/ac with the highest Peter’s heard at 149.06 bu/ac field average. If you beat that, let Peter know.
- Not everybody is getting big yields, including on sandy soil at Dashwood. Renfrew seeing average wheat yields, but vast majority looks like best wheat crop ever for Ontario. Is this the year Ontario breaks the 100 bushel mark?
What Now After Wheat Harvest?
- Red clover is thin. Weed control tips.
- Don’t apply urea with drill if planting oats because it’s so dry. Broadcast oats is an option, but need to figure out how to incorporate.
Short Corn
- Corn crop is short due to dryness — will more acres be needed for silage? Most of the bulk of silage yield comes out of the cob, so need rain to fill cobs, not necessarily for taller plants.
- Temperatures in mid to high thirties are hurting corn and soybean yields. Watch what happens in Chicago.
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