- Author: Nicholas Clark
- Author: Thomas Getts
- Author: Giuliano C. Galdi
- Author: Taylor Nelsen
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This is the third post in a blog series focused on improving nitrogen (N) use efficiency in California small grains. This post discusses two hand-held devices that indicate plant N levels in small grains to help optimize fertilizer decisions. The tools help determine plant vigor by measuring light reflected from the whole plant canopy or absorbed by a single leaf. Comparing measurements made in and immediately outside of N rich zones in representative areas of the field helps determine if the crop is likely to respond to more N fertilizer. The plant N levels indicated by the hand-held devices complement other important information, which are...
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
- Author: Nick Clark
- Author: Sarah Light
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
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This is our second in a series of blog posts on improving nitrogen (N) use efficiency in California small grains. This post focuses on the use of N-rich reference zones to assess in-season N status and make management decisions based on crop need. Our goal is to help growers and consultants learn how to use N-rich zones to improve small grain N fertilizer use efficiency and reduce negative environmental outcomes. To demonstrate what we know about this practice across the small grain growing regions of the state, our team has helped growers establish N-rich zones in their fields across a wide range of soil and climatic conditions. These demonstration sites are in the Sacramento Valley, Delta Region, San Joaquin Valley, and the...
- Author: Mark Lundy
- Author: Taylor Nelsen
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
- Author: Nicholas Clark
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Measuring soil nitrogen (N) prior to fertilizing can improve N fertilizer management. The soil nitrate quick test is a simple and low-cost test. It provides a ballpark estimate of the soil nitrate-N concentration in the rootzone. Nitrate is a highly plant-available form of nitrogen. Using the soil nitrate quick test when N fertilizer decisions are being made will help define a range of fertilizer rates appropriate for that field. This can provide several benefits. These include improved N use efficiency, lower input costs, improved grain yield or grain protein, and reduced N loss to the air or below the crop rootzone.
Over the...
- Author: Sarah Light
We hope you can join us for our field day! Agenda and directions are below. Contact Sarah Light with questions: selight@ucanr.edu ~ 530-822-7515.
Wheat Field Day
Colusa County, CA
Tuesday March 12th, 2019 ~ 8:30-11:00am
8:30 am Registration
9:00...
- Author: Mark Lundy
After a relatively dry start to the rainfall season from October through early November, rainfall in California since November has been above average. About halfway through the rainy season, year-to-date precipitation totals are approximately 20-30% greater than the 10-year average in the small grain growing regions of California (Figure 1).
Growing degree days (GDD: 86F max; 45F min) for common wheat and other small grains have been accumulating more rapidly than the 10-year average since the middle of November (Figure 2), which has been primarily a function of warmer than average night-time temperatures (Figure 3).
The UC Small Grain Testing Program established small grain variety...