Air November 12, 2003

Thank you Gary, and good morning everyone. We finally had that good hard freeze that many of us have been waiting for. That should pretty well shut down the sorghum, put the alfalfa to sleep, and help with a lot of our allergies. In fact, the only two things that it probably didn't shut down were the musk thistle and field bindweed! Enough said on that.

It looks like we're starting to get fall harvest and wheat planting finally wrapped up. IF you are still trying to get a little more wheat in the ground, plan on planting at least 120 pounds of seed per acre. And you will still see some yield reduction - you may want to consider changing your rotation around if you still can. After fall harvest is over, I always encourage you to take some time to make some notes about your fields and crops this year. I know that most producers have no problem remembering what numbers performed the best for them, but keep track of all the varieties or hybrids planted, how they yielded, and then include a synopsis of fertility, weed and insect control and the weather that each field experienced. A good hybrid with the wrong weather can bomb and cause you to drop it when the next five years it may do great. I'm not sure if I can tell you anymore what an average crop year is around here, but don't make too many hasty decisions based on just one year's worth of results. Now here is where the record keeping gets a little tricky. Get yourself some extra copies of field maps from the FSA or NRCS. Then drive to each field and spend a little time walking around, while it is still fresh in your mind, and write down where the weed problems were and what kind of weeds they were. If you don't know what kind of weeds they were, bring me the frozen remains and if I don't know, I can find someone who does! Even if you've got wheat going in on soybean grounds or any other rotation where you don't think it's a big deal because we can always hit it with roundup some year soon, keep track of this information. We are heading into an era before long of designer herbicides where we can really target specific weed problems. But we have to have a good idea of who the enemy is before they can be targeted. Then also note areas of the field with other production problems so we can start to track down causes. It all comes down to management and good management requires good information!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2003.

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