There are many factors that will make a wheat crop more likely to lodge — seeding rate, fertility, moisture levels, variety and so on, but when it comes to understanding lodging risk during the growing season, watch nighttime temperatures, says RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson. “At nighttime, what does wheat do? All it does is respire,”… Read more »
Category: Wheat School – West
Wheat School: While Global Wheat Supplies Are Huge, Canadian Stocks Are Getting Tight
Coming off record global production last year, world wheat supplies are massive. And yet, growing year-over-year ending stocks have not translated into a major decline in cash wheat bids for Canadian farmers. That’s mainly due to two related factors: the weak Canadian dollar and tightening Canadian supplies — a function of the weak dollar driving exports and farmers producing less… Read more »
Wheat School: How Many of Your Seeds Survived to Become Viable Plants?
How many of the seeds put in the ground by your airseeder or drill will actually emerge and become viable plants? Seedling mortality can vary greatly, but needs to be considered when determining seeding rates, assessing emergence and when planning for next year. A 5 to 10 percent mortality rate is often assumed when calculating… Read more »
Wheat School: To Treat or Not to Treat, Is It a Question?
For some growers, treating wheat seed is a no-brainer, while others still choose to forego a treatment and the input cost that comes with it. So how do you decide? With seeding ramping up for another spring, Pam de Rocquigny, cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, joins us in the field… Read more »
Wheat School: Do You Farm in a High-Yield or Low-Yield Wheat Zone?
Do you grow wheat in a high-yield or low-yield part of the world? A farmer in the UK set the new record for world wheat yield in 2015, growing 16.52 tonnes per hectare or 246 bushels per acre. He broke the previous record of 233 bushels per acre set in New Zealand in 2010. In… Read more »
Wheat School: Doing Your Homework on PGRs
In theory, the application of a plant growth regulator to wheat should result in shorter, stronger plants that are less prone to lodging, enabling higher yield potential. In reality, it’s not that simple. “I wish it was a nice black and white, straightforward story, but it certainly isn’t,” says Sheri Strydhorst, who’s done extensive work… Read more »
Wheat School: More Pain Than Gain When Combining Top-Dress N With Fungicide
So you’re looking to apply some late nitrogen to boost wheat protein. The recommended timing is immediately after anthesis, just a few days after applying fungicide to protect the head against fusarium head blight. Would it work to combine…? Don’t even think about it, says Dave Franzen, soil specialist at North Dakota State University. “To put… Read more »
Wheat School: Following What Happens in the Black Sea Region
With a growing share of global wheat trade, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan — former Soviet Union countries — have become price setters in the world wheat market over the last few years. As Bill Tierney, chief economist with AgResource Company, points out in this Wheat School episode filmed at Cereals North America ’15, much of… Read more »
Wheat School: Preventing and Managing an Insect Problem in the Bin
15 degrees Celsius or cooler. That’s where temperatures should be at in stored grain to prevent an insect infestation. “The key is if you can get your grain temperature down to plus-15 as quickly as possible, any bugs that are in there will not be feeding and will not be reproducing,” explains Blaine Timlick, stored products… Read more »
Wheat School: Single Kernel Sorting and Salvaging High Fusarium Wheat
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are studying whether single kernel sorting technology is effective for salvaging fusarium-infected wheat, and ultimately, reducing the amount of waste in food production. Since acquiring a Swedish-made near-infrared seed sorter known as the BoMill TriQ in 2012, U of S researchers working together with the Canadian International Grains Institute have conducted… Read more »
Wheat School: Insects You Don’t Want to Find in a Bin
Grain is in the absolute best condition it can be when it’s put into storage. Keeping it that way is critical for maintaining its value and marketability. Insect infestations aren’t as big a problem for farmers in Canada as in other (read: warmer) parts of the world, but they can still cause significant damage. Typically, 1 to… Read more »
Wheat School: Figuring Out the Market for Protein
Protein premiums or discounts can be a major factor in marketing wheat. In some years there’s plenty of high protein wheat (as looks to be the case for 2015-16) and in other years millers are left scrounging for wheat with high enough protein. We asked earlier this week whether yield or protein is a higher priority… Read more »
Wheat School: Giving Residue Management the Attention It Needs
You’ve heard it time and time again — proper residue management is essential for good seedbed preparation. It ensures uniform nutrient loading and soil temperatures, increases the likelihood of good seed-to-soil contact, and mitigates the risk of plugging and other during seeding. We’re back on residue again, and it’s just driving me crazy that we still… Read more »
Wheat School: Managing Nutrient Needs & Volunteer Weeds — Getting Winter Wheat Off to a Strong Start
With crop insurance deadlines passing, much of this fall’s winter wheat planting in Western Canada is complete. While winter conditions are beyond control, there are some practices that can mitigate the risk of winterkill and help the crop get off to a strong start, both now in fall and following snowmelt in spring. In this… Read more »
Wheat School: Setting the Stage for Marketing the 2015 Wheat Crop
As harvest rolls on where weather allows, traders are getting a better handle on the yield and quality profile of this year’s wheat crop. In this Wheat School episode, Bruce Burnett, weather and crop analyst with CWB (soon to be G3 Canada) Market Research, walks us through the supply/demand fundamentals as the new crop hits… Read more »