The 2014 Wheat College put on at the Whitman County Fairgrounds, by the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and a number of sponsors was a great success. It was pretty much a full house. I was also pleased to see a significant percentage of the participants were the younger generation of farmers in the region. The meeting organization was not handled well. Registration was slow, and the handouts were not included in the packet given participants so I didn't get most of them, including the names and bio's of the speakers.
The following is a paraphrasing of statements, and observations that I found interesting. This is not a comprehensive listing, and I may add to this post. There was a lot of good material presented that you had to hear first hand to gain an understanding of how the pieces made the whole. This was just a taste in a lengthy post.
---The information presented on canola was for a spring planting.
---When selecting seed, look for: pedigree seed, high % of sound seed, high germ, high 1000kernel weight, high vigor index(CSVI), and low weed content.
---In some locations canola is seeded in 3" row spacing. (row spacing seems to be an individual preference with environmental consideration.)
---Canola grows best behind a cereal grain crop.
---Phil preferred 7 plants per square foot; however, 2 plants per square foot will make a decent crop of canola, but developing a canopy to capture light energy will be slow resulting in lower yield potential and more weeds. (On reflection, I'm not sure but Phil was using square yard. Seven per foot is pretty dense.)
---Seed for stand count and not pounds per acre.
---Canola Seed Vigor Index (CSVI) for hybrids should be 3.5-4.5. CSVI for open pollinators (OP's) around 3.0)
---CSVI = 1000 kernal wt.(grams) times germination divided by 100. (I need to learn more about this.)
---Temperatures above 80 degrees hurts flowering.---Seed early, but after ground temps rise above 34 degrees. (flowering consideration, canola is quite cold tolerant.)
---N/S ratio should be about 6/1. (This ratio is for the form that is available to the crop. If using elemental S than plan application accordingly)
---One square yard of ground needs two square yards of leaf surface for yield potential.
---Plant needs to have 80-90% of needed N in the plant by flowering.
---Isn't impressed with spodim(sp). There are varieties that resist shatter. Harvest timely to avoid shatter.
---Canola is a very expressive crop. Easy to discover source of problem in plant development.
The following are wheat related from three presentations.
---Much of what we were teaching about how a plant functions ten years ago turns out to be not correct. (This was a bit shocking to me! The speakers asked us to think like a plant. Several comparisons were made between plants and humans relating to health, growth, and nutrition.---In fields, create zones for soil tests. Don't test randomly and mix for average.
---Take complete soil tests, including micro's. Later, take leaf tests to compare with soil test.
---Leaf tests, like blood tests, will tell a lot about the plants health, the soils health, what you did in the past, and should do for the future. Not much is likely to be corrected for the current crop.
---The proper drying order of a plant is from the head down to the first leaf made by the plant. If lower leaves are desiccated while upper leaves look ok, the plant has a health problem and will not reach it's potential.
---When the first node of a wheat plant can be felt(near or at the base of the plant), the head is formed and it's maximum potential is present. Each spikelet can have up to 12 florets. Environmental and nutritional factors start reducing that plant potential until the final yield is achieved. If you can salvage four florets per mesh you are likely to have an outstanding crop.
---Melted Urea is softer on a plant than UAN.
---N is N! There is no magic. Timing of application makes a big difference in the plants ability to use N.
---Determining causes for plant symptoms is too extensive for this post. It was a very interesting exercise and, a process that every grower should gain some knowledgeable. Significant yield improvements can be gained in a short period of time if the grower scouts his fields regularly and map areas showing yield robbing symptoms to be addressed for this or the next crop.
---pH needs to looked at in terms of the Base Saturation of Calcium. (this should have more explanation.)
---The head pollinates, develops and ripens from the middle out.
---If lower leaves desiccate, it's probably related to N-P or K.
---When tissue testing, wait a week, or until a new leaf emerges, after spraying or an environmental event that effects the plant, to collect tissue.
---Leaf tissue should include the stem down to the lower leaf.
---If a wheat head drops meshes, it's probably due to issues around N-B or copper.
---Lightning creates 1/7-1/6 of the N that plants need world wide.
---One presenter calculated the dollar value of nutrients that is lost if the crop residue listed below is removed or burned. These calculations are on an acre basis and using current fertilizer prices. Wheat $42 and has a C/N ratio of (80/1), Barley $55 (60/1), Oats 57 (60/1), Peas $52 (25/1), Canola $82(30/1), Soybean $97 (25/1). The bottom line: --the removal of crop residue is costly and robs the ground of OM.
---Our soils are very Carbon deficient and OM needs to be added at every opportunity provided and not treated as a problem to be removed.
---The McGregor plots showed a massive crop coming on but wasn't going to reach it's potential. Some plants had 8 tillers. The seeding rate established 14-18 plants per square foot. The Presenter would have like twice the population, which would have developed many fewer tillers. When looking at the plants, the Presenter thought that three of the eight were going to make great kernels. Some of the five remaining tillers will not develop completely, and others will produce small seed of less quality. These five tillers were consuming water and nutrients that could be used by other plants that would have emerged at the time the parent plant emerged.
---It was suggested that growers seed strips for different plant populations and see which works best for them.
---High yield potential ground needs high seed populations. 35-40 plants per square foot, and strive for two tillers per plant in a crop that will yield 120-140 bu/ac. Lower yield potential ground should be scaled back accordingly.
---Zink, P and Ca or immobile and need to be placed close to the seed.
---N-P-K relocate in the plant if the plant senses the need.
---A plant can sense a concentration of a specific nutrient and direct root development to intercept. (a pic showing roots growing toward a mid-row band.)
---A lot of N-P leave the field with the seed, along with small amounts of many other nutrients.
---Phosphite is a good form of P to use for plant availability.
The older I get the less I know! With the internets ability to access research from around the world from thousands, if not millions of researchers, it is providing a daunting amount of information for an individual to digest. The information stream is exceeding the ability of a grower to do the field work and keep up to-date information on subjects that effect his bottom line. Drones equipped with sensors for crop analysis are becoming part of the agriculture scene and will add to the information about how a crop is doing and what problems may exist. We are probably past the point where we should hire a professional agronomist/crop specialist to regularly monitor our fields on foot and from above. Discussion with him/her should include crop types and in what rotation, and recommendations for plant nutrition, and weed suppression, to maximize the return on our respective farms. I'm getting the idea that our old system of relying on a company man to give herbicide and fertilizer recommendations is outdated and costing us dearly in unattained yield. For several years I have thought that we are missing something that is costing us yield. Our direct seed system is providing us with more available moisture even if it may be for a short period of time compared to a cultivation based seed system.
Tracy,
ReplyDeleteI recently found your blog and have enjoyed reading your insight. I was unable to make it to the wheat college, but Elston Solberg gave a presentation at the Helena grower meeting in February. Lots of information and different ways to look at raising our crops. We also built a new drill this last year, an AgPro drill with Bourgalt seed openers. Have some great stands on my spring crops.
Have a good harvest!
Art Schultheis