Winter wheat blahs

I called Jake Davidson today to talk about winter wheat. I'm working ahead a bit, looking for winter cereals article ideas for our July issue. Davidson, executive manager of Winter Cereals Canada, says lots of winter wheat growers are sitting on a stockpile of grain. The Canadian Wheat Board hasn't been able to move as much as growers would like. There's a big glut of wheat on the world market, and milling-quality winter wheat is priced at a premium to lower-grade feed wheat but it doesn't have the established markets of top-quality milling wheats such as Canada Western Red Spring. It's stuck in no man's land or should I say "no market land."

Seed growers are also sitting on a stockpile because the late harvest last fall meant a big drop in seeded acres. And with the "crappy" start to this spring -- with cool temperatures and floods and rain and snow, Davidson says it could be another late harvest this fall. That means low acres, again.

Winterkill assessment

For those who do have winter wheat in the ground this spring, here are some quick tips to assess winterkill. These tips are from a factsheet on the Winter Cereals Canada website. (Ducks Unlimited and Alberta Winter Wheat Producers Commission also have a winter wheat stand assessment factsheet on their site, www.wintercereals.ca, which is where I found the photo posted with this blog entry.)

Step one is to start with the worst-case areas of the field. Here's how to find them, as noted in the factsheet: "Areas where the crop had poor emergence in the fall will be disadvantaged and more prone to winterkill. Knowledge of winter stresses can give an idea of winter survival potential. Areas with adequate snow protection — more then four inches in the critical December 20 to March 20 period — will be more likely to survive.

"Knowledge of the areas at greatest risk of winterkill are the worst case areas to assess for survival in the spring."

—Assess the crop between May 15 and May 25. This gives the crop time to regrow, while also giving you time to reseed if necessary.

—Look for new growth in the form of white roots arising from the crown tissue

—Proper spring nitrogen management will be required to increase competitiveness of injured stands

—Additional herbicide and fungicide operations may be required

The factsheet notes that winter wheat has a greater capacity to rebound after adverse conditions and produce yields compared to a spring wheat crop of similar density. "The optimum plant stand is 20 to 30 plants per square foot however half of these numbers will produce an adequate crop due to the ability of winter wheat to aqgressively tiller."

If you do choose to reseed...

...the factsheet recommends:

—Wheatstreak mosaic may carryover from infected winter wheat into spring seeded cereals. Avoid replanting to cereals, especially wheat.

—Tillage and/or burndown herbicides will not likely control all plants,  particularly if some are suffering injury and slow spring growth. Delay applications until the plants have greened up and are actively growing. ln-crop volunteer cereal herbicides may be required.

—Remember to credit any spring-applied nitrogen to the following crop.