AIR MARCH 3, 1999

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. A little bit of a return to more normal March weather, although that nice weather of the last week or so was certainly handy for getting some field work done.

I’ve noticed a few wheat fields, not looking right, and so have a few of you as you’ve been asking me about it. There are several possible things going on in fields this spring. Certainly with the nice weather we’ve been having wheat fields have or should have been greening up quite nicely now. Some fields are just looking a little off color right now - we can’t rule out a little nitrogen deficiency, especially on the earlier planted bigger fields. That should disappear with the topdressing activities going on right now. We are seeing some diseases showing up already though. Yellowing areas in fields, especially wetter areas is probably soil borne or spindle streak mosaic. Most everything that we are planting anymore has pretty good soil borne mosaic resistance however spindle streak is another story. 2137 is probably going to be one of the more susceptible of the widely planted varieties. Look for leaves that are showing yellow streaks on a green background as a clue to spindle streak. This compares to green spots on a yellow background for Soilborne mosaic. We could be seeing a little tan spot already. This disease overwinters on old stubble so if you are seeing any leaf spots I would suspect it to be tan spot. Wheat streak mosaic was being seen in southern and western Kansas, but if you planted next to big, rank volunteer, and you’re wheat isn’t looking too good, this might be a good suspect. It’s too early to tell about leaf rust - most of the plants burned down pretty good last fall but there may still be some protected areas harboring some overwintering spores. I’ll be at an agent update all day today on diseases and insects so I’m hoping to get the latest update. Further west there have also been problems with army cutworms, so if you are seeing wheat, or fall planted alfalfa that’s just disappearing I’d suspect insect damage. And if you’re finding something that just defies explanation, and we did last week, give me a call and I’ll play plant detective!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary county Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook '99.

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