Wheat Pete's Word, June 10: Soil structure and emergence, heat and pollinating wheat, and digging for moisture

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Mother Nature is perhaps not always that motherly, but every now and again she does throw us a bone. This last week in Ontario was pretty good on the average, with some timely rains in some areas and some first-cut haylage wrapping up.

But the timely rain has also brought along some storms, and heat, and Ontario’s wheat crop is at or approaching pollination — what does it mean for yield? Wheat Pete’s Word host Peter Johnson has the answer to that and so much more on this week’s podcast. (Summary is below)

Have a question you’d like Johnson to address or some yield results to send in? Disagree with something he’s said? Leave him a message at 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email him at [email protected].

  • Timely rains for some Mother Nature threw us a little bone in Ontario
  • Some hail and big storms in other areas of the province
  • Mother Nature is not always that motherly. Ugh
  • First cut haylage is wrapping up in the south and west of the province
  • Hot, hot, heat — the wheat crop is in pollination and it doesn’t like over 25 for pollination. The next two weeks are most critical for the wheat crop. This is when the crop decides how many florets set seed. We need sun and moderate temps.
  • Seeing some strange stuff in the wheat crop: physiological fleck (at the top of the plant, looks like tan spot). Seems variety specific, too
  • Head snag happens when it’s really dry, and seeing some of that in Branson and some other varieties. More here.
  • How late is too late for T3 timing application? Well, remember your pre-harvest interval, for sure. But you can go a little later to protect against FHB, but you’ll miss the leaf disease control. You can maybe go to Day 8 (Day 0 is 75 per cent of heads emerged)
  • There’s something going on with sulphur this year, for sure. And we’re still trying to sort out exactly what’s going on. If you’ve got a deficient wheat field, it is worth correcting, for sure.
  • Split app N induced a deficiency for one farmer. It does happen.
  • On to rolling soybeans! When should we roll? Check out this video on it. Sometimes, rolling at planting can actually make emergence more difficult. When the stems are flexible, you can actually pick up a few bushels, usually because you can harvest so close to the ground, not because you change the plant
  • In cereals, rolling can be done for a different reason, but it’s a theory (knock back the apical dominance and stimulate the crop to tiller)
  • Struggling with emergence? It’s all about soil structure. Rotation, rotation, rotation. Beans on beans is the worst (for so many reasons)
  • Soil type matters, too. Corn into clay is struggling to get 20,000 plants per acre. On clay, it pays to wait for warm, ready soil. Sands and loams, those early planted fields are just fine.
  • No moisture as far as four to five inches deep? Plant at an inch and a half and pray for rain. If there is moisture at two and half inches, for example, plant to moisture.
  • Antagonism in the tank between Dicamba and Assure!

 

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