Ag Radio programs for June 28 - July 4, 2007

Harvest aid herbicides

This is Ag Outlook 2007 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. As I came back from 4-H camp, harvest was trying to get under way. Given the amount of weedy green growth I was seeing in many of the fields I shouldn't be surprised that my first phone call after 4-H camp was about a herbicide harvest aid in wheat. There are several options available for pre-harvest weed control in wheat. Many of them have restrictions so pay close attention. Glyphosate plus 2,4 - D is probably going to be the most commonly used mix. 1 to 2 pints of glyphosate plus 1 to 2 pints of 2,4-D will work pretty good BUT you need to wait 7 days before harvest. Of course, it's probably going to take that long to get the weeds dried down enough to where it will have been of help. Don't use this treatment if you are thinking of saving seed for replanting and don't harvest the straw for feed within two weeks of treatment. You can also use straight 2,4-D but that prohibits harvesting the straw for livestock feed at all. One product that you may want to consider is Aim. 1 to 2 ounces of Aim EW applied with crop oil concentrate will provide some quick dessication and permits harvest after 3 days. Since this product works primarily by foliage dessication it may be a little weak on the larger weeds, but it will help some. Dicamba and Ally or metsulfuron also have harvest aid labels, BUT they have waiting periods of anywhere from 10 to 14 days and I imagine most of you hope that you are done in another 14 days. Those would be good choices if you realize a problem is coming before the crop is fully mature. This has been Ag Outlook 2007 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Field Bindweed control

This is Ag Outlook 2007 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I may have talked about this earlier this year, but if I did, it is still important enough that I am going to talk about it again. Field bindweed is running horribly rampant right now. There are wheat fields that are going to have to be sprayed before they can be harvested. And in spring planted fields it is almost as bad. Which kind of surprises me as I would think that as long as we've had Roundup Ready technology I would have expected some decrease in row crop fields. Even in cool and warm season pastures we are seeing way more bindweed than I would care to see. Well, let's get started, after wheat harvest, and try to get some of this stuff under control. It becomes very tempting to just wait until September to burn down all the vegetation in the field, but by then the vines have already created a whole lot of seed that is going to sprout next spring and just continue the problem. As soon after harvest as possible, get out in those fields and treat UNLESS you used a harvest aid herbicide treatment. There are a lot of choices out there for controlling bindweed, but keep in mind that none of them are going to be a one treatment wonder. Areas with bad infestations will take multiple treatments over several years to really get the problem under control. But the post harvest product you use will depend on what your crop rotation is going to be. If you are going back to wheat this fall, or grain sorghum or corn next spring then Tordon would probably be a good choice. If soybeans are in your plans for 2008, then focus on glyphosate plus 2,4-D or dicamba. Most of these will all give good control. A follow up treatment in late Sept or early Oct in fallow fields would be good as well. This has been Ag Outlook 2007 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Selection of seed wheat

This is Ag Outlook 2007 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I really hope that most of you are not thinking about keeping back wheat seed from this year's crop. If you are, then you need to put it through a lot of cleaning to get rid of the light test weight seed. Over the years there have been numerous replicated studies done to look at this issue of planting low test weight seed wheat. By low test weight we mean anything under 56 pounds per bushel. 56 is the minimum that I would clean any seed wheat to, and would prefer 58 or higher. But in tests over the past 50 years looking at seed wheats ranging from 44 to 54 pounds per bushel, we do see some fairly significant impacts. First of all, test weight has no impact on germination percent, which explains why all that light test seed that we blow out the back of the combine creates so much volunteer in the field. But higher test weight seed does result in 20 to 40% improved field emergence. Higher test weight seed will emerge 4 to 6 days sooner. A bigger kernel produces a seedling that is healthier and has more vigor - that shouldn't be a surprise. On average, higher test weight seed resulted in about a 5 bushel yield increase. Heck, that'll pay for new seed most every year! And finally, test weight of the seed had no impact on the final test weight of the subsequent crop. One final thing that I hadn't though of before, planting light test weight seed results in a lot more seeds per pound and that can really start to mess around with final stands. So, if you are thinking of keeping back seed, figure out your cost of that seed by the time you clean it up to where it should be. In most cases, you're better off to find a reputable certified seed dealer and just by some new seed! This has been Ag Outlook 2007 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

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