Preparing for the 2010-2011 Wheat Growing Season
The information may also be downloaded from the internet at http://cropwatch.unl.edu/web/varietytest/wheat. The 2010 Fall Seed Guide will be available soon. You may download it from the website listed above or pick up a copy
from the Extension Office.
Choose a variety
Whatever the coming season has in store, one of the most critical decisions a wheat grower will make is what wheat varieties to grow. One resource for this decision is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Wheat Varieties Virtual Tour: (http://cropwatch.unl.edu/web/wheat/virtual). Virtual tourists can see a list of wheat varieties recommended for their part of the state, read about a variety’s characteristics and compare those characteristics to other varieties of interest. Tourists can also see how different varieties performed in nearby wheat variety trials and locate a certified seed dealer that carries the varieties they are most interested in purchasing. Wheat variety recommendations are based on three-year average yield data and UNL specialists’ experience with the varieties in their regions of the state. Given the highly variable climate of Nebraska, we do not advise growers to make variety selections based on just one or two years of test results.
Control volunteer wheat
Wheat producers whose crop was damaged or destroyed by hail this year need to take special precautions to prevent viruses such as wheat streak mosaic and high plains virus from damaging the 2011 winter wheat crop.
The volunteer wheat produced by hail damage is of the most concern because it has had much more time to grow and serve as habitat for wheat curl mites. These mite-infested plants will be a source for viruses such as wheat streak mosaic virus and high plains virus in next year’s crop. The two viruses act synergistically, in the sense that one virus is harmful to the wheat plant, but two are even worse. If these volunteer plants are not controlled, they will serve as a host for infestations and viruses for seedling winter wheat. It is important to control volunteer wheat early, before the new crop emerges. Applying herbicide to volunteer wheat adjacent to newlyemerged
wheat will only result in mites moving off of dying volunteer wheat and onto young wheat seedlings.
Two management strategies can effectively manage this disease.
Control.
Be sure to control volunteer wheat after harvest.
Avoidance.
Do not plant winter wheat too early for your growing area. It is crucial to allow time for herbicides to effectively kill off volunteer wheat, to prevent the spread of wheat
curl mites into the new crop. Additionally, avoid planting winter wheat next to late-maturing, green corn. This is important since corn is also a host for the mite as well as wheat streak mosaic virus.
Keep A Lookout for Grasshoppers
Even with early spring rains reducing some grasshopper numbers this summer, late season grasshopper activity has been high in our area. It's important to remember that grasshoppers can make emerging wheat seedlings their next meal and the risk increases the closer we get to fall and more grasshoppers are adults. Some growers may want to plant earlier this year. However, the problem with earlier planting, in addition to wheat streak mosaic, is
the seedlings also are more susceptible to grasshoppers. Although grasshopper populations decline through the late summer and fall, they can remain significant enough to cause damage until the first hard freeze.
Growers should monitor grasshopper densities and use a seed treatment on wheat. To save money, growers can plant a 60-foot border in their fields with the treated wheat, and the other without to create an insecticide-treated border.
A density in the range of 11 to 20 grasshoppers per square yard is enough to cause significant loss in winter wheat.
Other options to help reduce the risk and/or manage grasshopper problems in winter wheat include:
-- Avoid early planting in areas of high grasshopper activity. Planting higher risk fields near the end of the optimum planting window will reduce the time period that a field will need to be protected from grasshoppers in the fall.
-- Increase the seeding density of wheat in field margins. This may compensate for partial stand loss and allow for a reasonable stand after grasshopper damage has run its course.
-- Neonicotinoid seed treatments can provide protection from emergence, and treatment can easily be limited to treating only the field margins to reduce costs. These treatments will be effective for moderate grasshopper densities, but they will likely not hold up under severe grasshopper pressure. These seed treatments are only available through a certified seed treater so advanced planning is necessary when ordering seed. Also, to be effective the highest registered rate of product must be applied to the seed.
-- Several foliar insecticides can be used to treat wheat for grasshopper control; however, treatment of the emerging wheat crop will result in little residual activity of the product because of the restricted leaf area for
insecticide deposition.
With all insecticides, be sure to carefully read and follow all label directions
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