Air September 8, 2004

Thank you Jerry, and good morning everyone.

Varying amounts of rain over the area over the weekend - thank you very much for that. Every little bit is helpful. Just a reminder that the State Fair gets cranked up in Hutchinson tomorrow and runs through the 19th. It may seem a little late this year, but that's just a function of how late Labor Day occurs. Don't worry about it, just go and enjoy it!!

We had a few folks wanting to get alfalfa planted last month that couldn't and are now wondering, given the little shower, if there is still time. Yes, but not much. Get it planted quickly!! How about soil tests? If you haven't gotten your wheat ground soil tested yet, there's still time. I'm seeing a lot of wheat being underfertilized, which is a good way to lose money!

Want to hit a couple more pre wheat planting topics the rest of this morning. First of all, seed acquisition - PLEASE make sure that you are buying your certified seed from a certified seed dealer. The concept of brown bagged, or unbagged seed, does not relieve the buyer, the seller OR any seed processor from liability if the variety involved is a protected variety. Don't put you or your farm at risk - deal only with those who are certified seed dealers. Next, seed bed preparation. The rain over the weekend was certainly helpful to get some more volunteer wheat sprouted, and we should start to get some cheat sprouted also. Remember, we need two weeks of brown, meaning either totally dead foliage or bare soil, before wheat planting to reduce the risk of wheat curl mites. Something we haven't hit as hard in recent years, but we still need to be talking about, is planting time. I've noticed a tendency to push that planting date up before the first of October. Early planted wheat is going to be at a much greater risk of hessian fly, wheat curl mite, various aphid infestations which usually bring barley yellow dwarf virus and finally winterkill. All of these problems are lessened greatly by waiting until October 5th to start planting. So go ahead and start getting wheat ground worked, and certainly finish getting your wheat seed laid in, but lets hold off on the planting until October!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2004.

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