Wheat Pete’s Word, Aug 31: Peter at His Wheatiest, Plus Blunt Ear and Sudden Death Syndrome

Peter Johnson, resident agronomist at RealAgriculture, and host of the Word, announces he’s hitting the field September 1 — a new record on Johnson’s farm, wheat prices are crashing, seeding rates between conventional and organic farming, and (surprise!) Wheat Pete thinks you ought to grow wheat.

Listen or download below! And of course, if you have a question for Wheat Pete, call 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email him at [email protected].

Highlights:

Edible Bean Harvest

  • is underway. Looks okay, but not great.

Wheat:

  • Wheat prices have crashed
  • Watch the forward contract prices
  • Ontario can grow the highest wheat yields in the Great Lakes basin
  • Don’t forget about the benefits of rotation

Weeds

  • Not enough weed control
  • Plant your cover crops
  • RealAgriculture does not endorse abducting your neighbour to have a discussion about weed control.

Blunt Ear Syndrome and Results from Flag Tests in Corn

  • One-time cold weather stress may cause blunt ears. Maybe a big temperature swing? aka, “diurnal fluctuations”
  • Interesting emergence timing/yield correlation results from flag tests in Eastern Ontario.

Soybean Diseases

  • Lots of Sudden Death Sydrome, maybe some brown stem spot. Mark those fields for future soybeans

Fall Perennial Weed Control

  • 5% solution of glyphosate around Labour Day. It’s a perennial, so feeding down now in fall, so best time to control is around Labour Day

Planting Organic Wheat

  • Planting rate? Number one fight in organic wheat is weed control. Increase competitiveness by bumping seeding rate to >1.5 million. Maybe 1.8

Early Cover Crop Oats

  • If oats get to heading this fall, it could be ugly in spring. Manage based on how tall it gets. Clip it when it gets knee-high

Wheat Variety Comparisons

  • Comments on disease susceptibility, marketing considerations, variety idiosyncrasies.

Wake up with RealAgriculture

Subscribe to our daily newsletters to keep you up-to-date with our latest coverage every morning.

Wake up with RealAgriculture