Wheat Pete’s Word, Nov 14: Winter wheat acres, salvage values, and rut repairs

Harvest weather has not been kind, but some great yields make up for it at least a little for many Ontario farmers. We’ve also got some good news on wheat acres, too.

It can’t all be good, of course, and this fall weather has left many fields rutted and compacted. What to do about tillage? In this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word, your host Peter Johnson tackles that, plus clover control, clarity on the corn crop situation, and non-emerging wheat.

Have a question you’d like Johnson to address? Or some yield results to send in? Leave him a message at 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email him at [email protected].

Summary

  • Southwest Ag Conference will sell out, almost 1,000  registered per day already! Get registered
  • Harvest weather is not nice — it’s wet, we’re rutting fields, and now snow, snow, snow. Compaction will be an issue
  • John, still has soybeans out but what is coming in is at 70+ bu/ac, in a short season area! The corn has averaged 216 bu/ac corn on a field average and less than 1 ppm. There are good news stories out there.
  • Not great yields on your farm? It’s a push to get better, not a judgement
  • Very important — remember to take care of yourself in all of this. This corn situation is stressful and weighing on farmers. Vomitoxin could cost a farmer $400,000 in losses on a 1,000 acres. This is serious stuff. Everyone is stressed differently, get the help you need — this stress is real. Reach out. Talk to someone. Share the burden.
  • Wheat crop numbers are in! We want a million acres, but Wheat Pete figured we wouldn’t hit 700,000, but we hit nearly 870,000. Wow! Great job, y’all.
  • There is some excellent wheat out there, too. Let’s keep at it, he says.
  • Marketplace is demanding soft red winter, so that’s what we got. Would like to see some different types, but it is what it  is
  • Wheat that’s not up yet? Do you frost seed or re-seed? You’re at Tillbury and it was planted October 25 — why isn’t it up? It hasn’t had the growing degree days to even really finish germination. Dig some up. If it’s rotten, you could frost seed, but if it’s just slow, leave it be
  • Fall tillage question: It’s way too late to take out 300 acres of red clover. What are the drawbacks of a spring kill? Can it work? Yes, but use dicamba in the mix. Little growth, then hit it so it doesn’t get away on you. How do we get the corn in the there? Spring strip-till could work but tougher on a heavy clay. Go shallow and get on it at the right time after (4 to 6 hours!)
  • Ruts in the fall. What do we do after? The plow is tried and true, but right now is a disaster and you’ll be getting stuck. You could try a disc now and cultivate in the spring. No easy answer for 2019.
  • Corn crop update: Josh was feeling poorly combining corn, and the dust was making it worse. WEAR A MASK. It is a carcinogen and will make you ill.
  • Agricorp has finalized salvage value over 5 ppm, and you need documentation — salvage benefit is $0.79 per bushel for harvest. All info is at Agricorp.com
  • It’s not the full answer, still short $1.21 on $2 discounts, but still better than nothing. Legally, this is what Agricorp can do
  • We have learned of huge variety differences in this corn crop. We’ll spend more time on another update
  • What about cleaning? Some have even bought cleaners specifically for it, but it’s not always worth it. Fines are always higher. Get them out. And get a bad test result? Get back in line.

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