Ag Radio programs for July 26 - August 1, 2007

Soybean Aphids

This is Ag Outlook 2007 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I have to admit that I am working at a disadvantage right now. I was out of state from July 11 - to the 22nd, attending national county agents meeting in Michigan. Then I got home and headed right into the county fair. So I haven't had a chance to do any scouting of soybean fields for soybean aphids, but they were reported in the state around th 15th of July. This is far earlier than we have seen them in recent years and does start to send up a caution flag. I also saw soybean fields in Illinois and Iowa being sprayed last week for what I'm betting was aphids. So we need to be watching this potential problem real close. One of the problems with scouting for soybean aphids is that we don't really have good information on economic thresholds in Kansas and much of the work done in other states was based on $4.50 soybeans, not 7 to 8 dollar beans. But, once beans are blooming and podding, it is generally felt that 250 aphids per plant are required before treatments can be justified. Now, that also assumes that there are no aphid predators present like ladybugs, lacewings or parasitic wasps. In past years we may have seen aphids in late August, but the predatory insects seemed to have been able to keep the aphids under control. So what we need to do is to start walking through some bean fields in the coming days. We only have one aphid in Kansas that will get on soybeans, so if there are aphids, they are soybean aphids. Walk along and look on the undersides of the upper leaves. If you start to find very many, give me a call so I can come out and help analyze the populations. This has been Ag Outlook 2007 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Securing Wheat Seed

This is Ag Outlook 2007 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. If you have not yet started lining up your wheat seed for this fall, I would strongly encourage you to get to work on that! Wheat seed is going to be in a relatively tight supply situation this fall, especially the varieties that are well adapted to our area. But let's proceed with caution. First and foremost, purchase only from a reputable dealer that you know well. There is probably going to be a lot of brown bag wheat seed out there this year. There's another work for brown bag wheat seed, it's called black market, and it is illegal. The wheat seed companies, including K-State are going to be paying very close attention to this issue this coming year and it doesn't matter if you are buying it, selling it or processing it, you can be fined and pay some pretty healthy penalties. If you aren't sure if a seed source is legitimate or not, contact the Kansas Crop Improvement Association or go directly to the company. I'll be more than happy to ask some questions for you to help you stay out of any illegal situations. Beyond that, let's also make sure that you are buying varieties that are adapted to our part of Kansas. Western Kansas had some good wheat crops this year with incredible quality. But keep in mind that Western Kansas doesn't have to deal with soil borne mosaic or spindle streak mosaic, we do. So avoid varieties like TAM 110, 111 or 112, Wahoo or Longhorn. I would also steer clear of varieties from Nebraska - they are simply too late in the season for our best results. And finally, let's avoid a repeat of last year. Don't get in a hurry to start planting. I still think that our best yields will come from fields planted October 10th to 15th. This has been Ag Outlook 2007 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Volunteer Wheat Control

This is Ag Outlook 2007 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. We're moving on into August which means that we are still two months away from wheat planting. But it isn't too early to be thinking about controlling that volunteer wheat. We've been getting those spotty thunderstorms of summer that can dump an inch of rain on you and leave your neighbor dry. Those showers are going to start sprouting a lot of that light weight wheat that went right through the combine. Some fields were already turning green by mid July, and now things are going to really start to green up. That volunteer wheat harbors wheat curl mites, the vector for wheat streak mosaic. It also creates a great place for Hessian Fly to hide. It creates food for all sorts of nuisance pests and uses up potentially valuable soil moisture. Yes, it is true that we say as long as you kill all volunteer two weeks prior to wheat planting time you shouldn't have a problem with wheat curl mites, BUT what about all those other issues? Volunteer wheat can be amazingly hard to kill, and if by chance it get's sprouted and starts growing and then happens to be drought stressed at the time you are trying to kill it a month from now, you could be having problems. Take advantage of those times when the volunteer is small and growing actively - it'll be easier to control. You may want to consider a field cultivator, or if you want to stay strict no till, use some glyphosate. I would encourage you to use a little 2,4-D or dicamba with that glyphosate to add additional control on broadleaf weeds - it's just one little step you can take to reduce the risk of developing a glyphosate resistant weed population. But let's all be good neighbors and control that volunteer wheat! This has been Ag Outlook 2007 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

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