Wheat Pete’s Word — Aug 26: All About That Wheat, Plus Late-Season Pest Scouting & Perennial Weed Control Tips

It’s taken 20 episodes, but Peter Johnson, a.k.a. @WheatPete, finally gets to dedicate an entire version of the Word to his favourite crop — wheat.

But hold on there, Johnson knows he can’t ONLY talk about wheat, and so the format of this week’s Word is somewhat reversed, where Johnson answers questions first, then delves in to the bread (and butter) of this episode.

First off, we head to the edible bean crop and that nasty pest the western bean cutworm. We typically think of the WBC as a pest of corn, but, as Johnson says he should have mentioned earlier, the insect actually may prefer edible beans to corn! While there’s nothing corn growers can do about the pest now, some farmers with late beans MAY still need to control this pest. Tips for scouting above, and get out there, as the protection window is rapidly closing.

Have a question for Wheat Pete? Call 1-888-746-3311 or send him a tweet @wheatpete.

And now for something completely different — a wheat variety showdown! Listeners get a treat this week as Wheat Pete offers up a personal tour of the most popular wheat variety options for Ontario. From varietal performance of several different classes of wheat, to balancing yield, standability, and fusarium risk, Johnson sums up some good options for this fall.

Related: See WheatPete’s top winter wheat tips for this fall here

From there we move on to some great agronomic tips for choosing winter wheat seed lots, the importance of a vigour test, fertilizer rates and forms at seeding, the ins and outs of blending two wheat varieties (short:tall) for a yield boost, a warning about fall 2,4-D on wheat (DON’T DO IT), and if we’re ever going to see perennial wheat in Ontario.

What about perennial sow thistle? Johnson talks all your different options, and why you may need to use more than one tool to get this weed under control. All that and more, <a

That’s it, that’s all! Until next week, happy farming and keep those calls coming.

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