Air October 4, 2000

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. The weather is trying to turn a little more seasonal, perhaps getting there in fits and starts.

We’re already into the first week of October. We are at that recommended start date for planting wheat. So the question on many folks minds is: do we go ahead and start planting or wait or what??? Planting wheat the first half of October will, in the long run, give you the best wheat yield. Wheat planted after October 15th will usually start to suffer some yield loss and that loss increases noticeably for wheat planted after November 1st. That’s if normal weather occurs. Last year wasn’t normal. Much of the wheat planted after October 1st did not really emerge until December or January. It looked only so so all year and ended up being our best wheat. The wheat planted early looked good until early May when it ran out of moisture and died prematurely. Unless it gets real wet in a big hurry, I’d just try to get started some time in the next ten days and then try to be finished up by the end of the month. Why? Well, all we can really count on is that we might have average conditions from this day out. The long range climate outlook (which has been pretty accurate so far for this year) calls for above normal temperatures through the winter, and above normal precipitation through the winter, starting in November or December. It also calls for normal precipitation through late spring and summer and below normal temperatures through the summer. If this holds true, then wheat planted in October would stand a very good chance of getting a good start and obtaining periodic growth through the late fall and winter, much like we saw last year. And with predicitons of normal precip and below normal temperatures from late spring through summer, this could result in very good head fill conditions in April, May and June. I would also encourage more starter fertilizer than normal, inlcuding some potassium chloride, and increases in seeding rates of 10 to 15%. So, unless you see two weeks of rainy weather on the horizon just get around to planting your wheat sometime this month, and then turn your attention to getting equipment put away for winter so you can get ready to take care of all the livestock feed and health problems we’ll get from the wet winter!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2000.

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