As the lentil crop begins to emerge, there are many lessons to learn from walking fields early and assessing stand establishment.
How does this stand look? Was emergence even? What could be done different next year? These are just some of the many questions that likely need asked every season.
Ken Wall of Federated Co-operatives Limited at Swift Current, Sask., says about 12 plants per square foot for lentils is a good stand, with some fields even being at 16 plants. But, for the most part, 12 is generally what producers are shooting for.
In the stand Wall evaluates in this Pulse School episode, he says that even though the stand looks really good, it all starts with seeding, seed treatment, and knowing the thousand kernel weight of the seed batch.
With the example field being at the two-node stage, it’s a bit early to be discussing nodulation, but digging into the crop is still important.
“Looking at this plant here, you cans see that the seeding depth is about an inch and a half. There’s really good seeding depth — it was seeded into moisture — great germination. The plant looks really good. And now we wait for those roots to develop.”
Check out the full conversation between Wall and RealAgriculture’s Kara Oosterhuis, below:
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