Wheat Pete’s Word, Apr 26: Pretty wheat, germinating corn, patience, weevil watch, and trampling crops

(Kara Oosterhuis/RealAgriculture)

Fields are warming up, greening up, and getting fit to plant — but it seems no matter where in Canada you farm, it’s cool to cold and not warming up in a hurry.

For this week’s episode of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson has some updates regarding early wheat management, some tips on the value of field scouting, and a very early insect pre-alert!

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

  • Pete has a sister! Things we didn’t know. Yuzu is a citrus fruit, by the way. That’s something Pete didn’t know
  • Yeah, baby — the wheat is looking pretty and nice and good
  • One plant per foot of row is not enough to keep the stand
  • In Alberta, big wheat, ultra early. Crusted snow did cause an issue with big plants
  • Corn up in six days in April in the northeastern U.S.
  • Ontario corn will be chillin’, literally, in the ground right now. It’s cold
  • Most soils are not fit right now, so be patient
  • In Ohio, already talking about alfalfa weevil pressure (they are ahead of Ontario, remember)
  • Could be an early warning for Ontario
  • Growing degree days accumulation differs between crops because of the base number: 0, 5, or 10. It works, but keep base number in mind
  • 200 GDD base 5 degrees C is the trigger for alfalfa weevil
  • Armyworm moths being caught at Ridgetown already
  • 2023 Given’er! Is on hold
  • Cool/cold temperatures (a very light frost in Ottawa Valley Wednesday morning)
  • How does that impact N uptake? Yellow wheat, well-advanced wheat — are we losing yield?
  • Leaf injury can happen when applying N and S with low night time temps, but it’s time to go, regardless (…OK, to a maximum of -2 to -4 over night)
  • Streamer nozzles are not all created equal — chafer/Needham bars
  • The wheat crop show everything
  • Need some warm rain to get rid of the streaks
  • Herbicide on wheat?
  • Check out this Soybean School with Rob Miller on early weed control
  • There are some clean fields out there, so that’s good, and save that spray, but scout scout scout
  • Wall to wall burdock seedlings in one spot — it’s why we scout
  • Oats overwintered beautifully. Easy to kill
  • How do I decide on a PGR? Especially when you want the straw!
  • How do you time a PGR application?
  • So many factors: lodging history, background fertility, too many tillers, variety, etc
  • Dig up those plants an look for the teeny, tiny first node (bump), that’s the time to spray
  • Second N application for wheat — Growth stage 32, tell me I can leaf the floater tires on! Well, it could cost you a LOT to leave the floaters on. Get the pizza cutters on
  • Low magnesium in tissue test this early — is it an issue?
  • Manganese deficiency can be an issue, needs corrected
  • Foliar nutrients only help with a deficiency

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