- Author: Mark Lundy
- Contributor: Taylor Nelsen
Thanks to everyone who participated in our field day held in Davis last week! We appreciate the support of this event by the California Crop Improvement Association and the California Wheat Commission, as well as our colleagues within the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences and UC Cooperative Extension.
Handouts from last week's event in Davis are available at the below links, with the associated speaker indicated in parenthesis. A copy of the day's agenda can be found here:
- Author: Mark Lundy
With the majority of fall-planted California small grain crops reaching grain ripening stages and annual precipitation mostly finished, let's review 2017-18 seasonal weather patterns across the small grain regions of the state and at the UC small grain testing sites.
The season started out warmer and drier than usual, with infrequent rainfall events from November through February and precipitation totals that were roughly half of historical totals (Figure 1). This was accompanied by warmer than average temperatures over the same period, which resulted in more rapid development of small grain crops during the vegetative period of growth than would be the case in a normal year (Figure 2).
In contrast,...
- Author: Mark Lundy
This is a reminder that the annual Small Grains/Alfalfa-Forages Field Day to be held at the University of California, Davis Agronomy Field Headquarters from 8AM – 4:30PM.
The event showcases UC efforts in breeding and agronomic research related to small grains, alfalfa and forage crops and is one of the longest running field days in the state. The schedule for the day is available here:
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
- Contributor: Mark Lundy
I have received a couple inquiries from Pest Control Advisors about wheat that is showing leaf tip yellowing and burning (Fig. 1). Their suspicion is frost injury, and with the weather we have experienced over the last several weeks, their suspicion is likely true.
There isn't a hard-fast rule of when frost injury will occur because several factors influence its occurrence and severity. The factors include the temperature but also the duration of cold exposure, the plant growth stage, and the growing conditions. The UC Small Grains Production Manual (see page 101) states that injury may occur with temperatures at or below 35⁰F and that even just a couple...
- Author: Mark Lundy
Please mark your calendars for the annual Small Grains/Alfalfa-Forages Field Day to be held at the University of California, Davis Agronomy Field Headquarters from 8AM – 4:30PM. We will send out an agenda closer to the date. We hope to see you there!