Wheat Pete's Word, July 6: Wilting Clover, Tillering Corn and Crying for Rain

It’s hard to believe we’re already at wheat harvest, but it’s time to get the combine set up! And take a look at those fields! Producers across the province are finding disease, insects and nutrient deficiencies, and it’s all in this week’s Word, with Peter Johnson, resident agronomist for RealAgriculture.

Have a question for Wheat Pete? Call 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email [email protected].

Highlights:

• It’s dry in most of Ontario, one of the few dry spots in all of North America.
  • Farm safety – make sure you have a fully charged fire extinguisher on all equipment.
  • Don’t give up on red clover that’s wilting, as long as it hasn’t gone totally crispy.
  • Clarification on Irrigation – 27000 (U.S.) gallons of water is equal to one inch of rainfall on one acre.
• Wheat harvest has begun.
  • Sand soils in Essex county – dry, no fungicides sprayed for stripe rust = 55bu/ac. But, at least it’s good quality! With almost no fusarium.
• Scouting:
  • Watch for spider mites. They start out of the fence row and move into the crop — primarily soybeans. Tips on monitoring.
  • Keep scouting for soybean aphids.
  • Leafhoppers still around. Scout and control if necessary.
  • Seeing some sudden death syndrome in soybeans.
• Corn crop:
  • Seeing lots of tillers on corn. “What that means is the corn crop is happy.”
  • Is it not true that early nitrogen is critical on a dry year?
  • “Never farm last year’s weather.”
  • Dry broadcast fertilizer is causing a lot of burn this year.
  • Potassium deficiency in corn at V9. What’s going on?
• Soybeans:
  • Foliar applications are likely not the answer, even in a drought.
• Alfalfa:
  • Yes, it can go boron-deficient. The same is true of canola, but other crops can be injured by too much boron. “It’s kind of walking a fine line.”
• Weed Control:
  • Pinnacle + Classic + Reflex tank mix?
  • What’s this nightshade with rhizomes?

Related:

• Soybean School: Scouting for Soybean Cyst Nematode
• Corn School: Dry Conditions Magnify ‘Sins of the Spring’
• Depth of Field — Let it Rain
• Watch Out for Soybean IP Premium Killer — Eastern Black Nightshade

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