- 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!
- Author: Mark Lundy
After almost 6 weeks without a substantial rainstorm, there is finally some precipitation starting to appear in the 10-day forecast for the Sacramento Valley. The lack of rain thus far has made it difficult to proceed with N fertilizer topdress applications in non-irrigated wheat fields this season. In addition, the warmer than normal temperatures have increased the rate of crop development such that many fall planted wheat crops are further along than would normally be the case at this time of year. Figures 1 and 2 below represent the cumulative rainfall since 10/1/2017 and the cumulative growing degree days (GDD) for wheat since 11/21/17, when we planted our experimental trials in Davis (each is compared to a 10-year...
- Author: Mark Lundy
- Contributor: Nicholas Alexander George
- Contributor: Michael Rodriguez
- Contributor: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
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The UC Grain Cropping Systems Lab and a cooperating network of UC Cooperative Extension agronomists established fall-planted small grain variety trials across the state of California from October to December 2017. These included: 10 locations with fall-planted common wheat (predominantly hard spring types) and triticale varieties; 5 locations with durum wheat varieties; 5 locations with barley varieties; and 2 locations with winter-type common wheat.
Precipitation has been below average and growing degree days (GDD) have been above average at the fall-planted trial locations during the first 6-8 weeks of growth. To see graphs of the...
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
- Contributor: Mark Lundy
After a dry beginning to the season, wheat growers might be trying to decide how to proceed with their nitrogen fertility program. If not irrigated, most wheat planted in the Sacramento Valley during November will likely have been stunted by the relatively dry conditions during the second half of November and throughout December (see Fig. 1, below). Some of the crops out there may need to be replanted entirely. If you're trying to work out how your stand is doing, consider some population sampling.
To get a rough estimate of your field's population, take several plant counts from random locations in the field. Lay a yard stick parallel to a row and count how many plants are still present in that row. Do this several times...
