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April
10, 2007
Sick wheat John
Schlageck
What’s being labeled the
Easter freeze of ’07 hammered most of the
eastern two-thirds of Kansas while the
western third may have escaped. Heavy
damage occurred in central and eastern
Kansas because the wheat was growing
rapidly, lush with moisture and ahead of
schedule – in some cases the winter crop had
developed two joints already. Heavy cloud
cover and not as cold temperatures helped
stave off freeze in western Kansas.
McPherson and Marion counties appear to be
an area of central Kansas hit the hardest.
Here growth of the main tillers was killed
outright by the frost and severe lodging has
occurred. Even in fields in this part of the
state where the crop remains standing the
end result may be the same.
“That result will probably be a severely
damaged wheat crop,” said Ron Seyfert,
district extension agent in Ottawa County.
Ottawa and Saline counties hosted a wheat
freeze injury tour April 23. “This crop will
be nowhere near the promising crop we saw
before the 16 and 18 degree temperatures
hit. We had the promise of a 60-bushel crop
and now we’re facing the prospect of yields
in the 12-20 bushel range. I hope we’re on
the high end but that’ll take ideal growing
conditions from here on out.”
And
that’s what has producers loosing sleep at
night – trying to decide whether to leave
this wheat crop in the field, destroy it or
plant another crop and move on. It’s a roll
of the dice.
This
scenario has Kansas wheat producers in a
quandary. In some areas of the state hardest
hit like south-central Kansas, the crop is
already being destroyed. In other areas,
Ottawa and Saline counties, producers
haven’t made up their minds yet.
There are so many factors to consider
according to Jim Shroyer, Kansas State
University extension state leader of
agronomy. Depending on what herbicides a
producer has put on his wheat crop may limit
what he can plant should he destroy this
damaged crop. Grain sorghum may be a
possibility – STS (sulfonylurea chemical
tolerant) soybeans another.
The
question then becomes, can the farmer get
his hands on the seed to plant one of these
crops? Other producers may be faced with
filling a contract to produce wheat.
What
kind of insurance a producer has, and when
the company will release the crop, is
another consideration for producers.
“It’s still early,” Shroyer says. “We still
have several weeks to make a decision. It’s
essential that producers take stock of their
individual fields. They need to find out how
many tillers are there and then make a
decision.”
The
KSU agronomist says that if a producer has
approximately 30 percent of the tillers in
tact this is a gray area. The crop may go
either way. If a producer has 50 percent or
more of the stems still surviving, Shroyer
suggest keeping the crop.
Ottawa County farmer Steve Clanton who farms
one mile north and three miles west of
Minneapolis says he plans to make a decision
this week on whether to keep his wheat crop
or abandon it.
“It
all hinges on seed availability and how much
wheat potential you think you have out
there,” Clanton said. “Whichever way you go
it’s a gamble.”
Kansas
Agricultural Statistics Service reported
April 23 that only 27 percent of the state’s
winter wheat crop escaped freeze damage, and
that the remaining wheat suffered far more
than had been feared.
The agency estimated freeze damage to the
Kansas crop as 29 percent severe, 24 percent
moderate and 20 percent light. The new
condition report pegged 41 percent of this
season’s winter wheat as being in poor to
very poor. Conditions for the rest of this
year’s wheat: 25 percent fair, 24 percent
good and 10 percent excellent.
Wheat freeze
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