Ten Days

June 6, 2013

Ten days doesn't seem like much time in the scheme of things. It hardly makes a dent in the span of 365 days. It's about a third of a month. But as the 2013 wheat crop nears harvest, 10 days was long enough to shift a predominately green landscape to a golden hue.

June 16. 2013

Look more closely, and there's still plenty of green in the fields. It will likely be several days before the combines begin rolling through the fields here in south central Kansas. But the transformation is still pretty remarkable in the span of only 240 hours. 

We scouted some fields as Father's Day 2013 came to a close. As Randy rubbed wheat heads into his palm, he found some variation in the amount of wheat berries separated from chaff. It will likely vary from one variety to another.

This field has two different varieties planted - Stout and Everest. We'll see which is the winner in the yield category this year.

Wheat isn't the only crop impacted in 10 days.

June 6, 2013

Another 1.4 inches of rain over the weekend has helped get the corn off to a good start.

June 16, 2013

The two corn photos above were taken in the same spot, 10 days apart. We've been fortunate to receive some timely rains for the corn crop, our first dryland corn venture here on the County Line.

The corn planted in the photo in the upper left was planted earlier than the other corn, so it's even bigger.

We're glad to have the rain on the corn crop, alfalfa and pastures, even though it slows down the start of Wheat Harvest 2013. We're not turning down rain after the past two summers, that's for sure!

It's a Bird ... It's a Plane!

I have a heads' up for you on the 2013 wheat crop.

Really, the heads are up.

That's not the only thing that was up this weekend. So was a cropduster, who sprayed our wheat fields with fungicide Sunday morning. We were on our way to church, so I didn't have time to stay and watch for very long. The pilot probably didn't need an audience anyway.

It would not be an occupation for me. I like a little more space between the plane and the ground, thank you very much.

The pilot was applying Tilt, a fungicide, to our wheat crop. Usually, we have the Kanza Co-op apply it with a ground rig, but this year, the ground was too wet because of our recent rains (another 0.70 inch total last week on top of 1.60 inch the week before. Just so you don't get the wrong impression, we are most definitely NOT complaining about the moisture!). The co-op contracted with a cropduster to make aerial applications.

The fungicide provides good protection against leaf rust and stripe rust, which decrease yield. It's a preventative measure - applied before there's a problem - rather than a curative application.

In several years of field trials at Kansas State University, the application of fungicides between the flag leaf and flowering stages of wheat development resulted in a yield boost of 4 to 14 percent.

It's kind of a calculated risk: Will the cost of the fungicide pay off with a better crop? Only time will tell. After some calculations, Randy thinks if the fungicide saves 2 bushels of wheat per acre, it will pay for itself.

A foliar fungicide application will not make a 40-bushel crop into a 60-bushel crop, but it will prevent a 60-bushel crop from being reduced to a 40-bushel crop by foliar disease.

Bob Hunger, an Oklahoma State University wheat disease specialist,
and Jeff Edwards, an OSU Extension wheat specialist

So, is your bag of flour safe after farmers spray fungicide on the developing crop? Yes, as long as farmers follow the restrictions on when to apply it and how long after the application the crop is harvested.

Believe me, farmers and their families want a safe and affordable food supply, too. We buy bags of flour at the store. We buy that loaf of wheat bread and feed it to our families.

There is still a lot of time - and uncertainty - between now and harvest. We've probably already had some yield loss from freeze damage. Weather, hail and disease could conspire against us, too. But, as usual, my farmer is a glass-half-full kind of guy. So, he's betting that the investment will pay off.

(For larger photos of the cropduster, click on the photos.)

S'wheat' Harvest? Time Will Tell

The bright blue sky and beautiful clouds against the green wheat made for a picture-perfect day in Kansas.

What a difference a year makes! The wheat field photo above was taken late last week. The one below was taken April 30, 2012.

Last year, the wheat was fully headed, and we were on our way to the earliest harvest ever, along with record temperatures for the spring. We started wheat harvest on May 26, Memorial Day weekend, last year.

It won't be early this year. The rule of thumb is that harvest will begin about 6 weeks after the wheat is headed. That hasn't happened yet.

Last week, Randy checked wheat fields after the latest round of freezing temperatures. When he broke open the stalks, he found some heads that were white and mushy, indicating freeze damage. (Click here for more on our own brand of wheat "surgery.") However, he also found heads that looked like they would continue to grow and produce grain for Harvest 2013, like the one shown below.

He says he is cautiously optimistic. (It seems to me he is always optimistic.) We did get an additional 1.60 inches of rain last week, and, as the old farmer saying goes, "Rain makes grain."

He hopes that there's a slow transition into summer temperatures. The wheat heads will fill better if it doesn't shift gears from freezing to 90 degrees over the span of a week or two.

The 2013 Winter Wheat Tour participants have pegged the Kansas wheat crop at 313.8 million bushels, well below last year’s actual total of 360 million bushels and the five-year average of 341 million bushels. They crisscrossed Kansas last week and made 570 stops at wheat fields to make their prediction for Harvest 2013. The crop is suffering the most in western Kansas, where drought and freezes have combined for a knock-out punch for some fields.

Another farmer saying? "A lot can happen between a prediction and harvest."

Gone But Not Forgotten

Taken February 22, 2013, after the first round of snow. We received a total of 20 inches during two storms.

The blanket of white that covered wheat fields has become patchwork after more moderate temperatures this week. The snow is about gone, but it's not forgotten because we continue to be thankful for the moisture after suffering the second year of drought on the County Line.

Randy says it was an ideal snow for the wheat, since it provided moisture and slowed the growth of the 2013 wheat crop. Talk at the coffee shop is that maybe we won't be cutting wheat in May this year.

As Kansas Wheat reports, the two winter storms piled up snowfall totals ranging from more than 24 inches in south central Kansas and eastern Kansas, to 6 inches in southwest Kansas and nearly a foot in northwest and north central Kansas. We got about 20 inches total of snow here on the County Line. The snowfall - with actual precipitation amounts ranging from 1/4 inch to more than 2 inches throughout the state - will help offset the extremely dry conditions into which many farmers planted last fall.(Plant into dust and your bins will bust? )

Dry conditions are nothing new. In 2011, there was very little surface moisture, but there was subsoil moisture a few inches down to keep the wheat alive until spring rains fell. For the 2013 crop, however, there is little topsoil or subsoil moisture available to the wheat crop. 

The new Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service report this week noted that the melting snow has improved soil moisture in parts of the state. Water levels in stock ponds are also showing slight improvement. But the agency says more moisture is still needed. Topsoil moisture levels across Kansas are now rated 49 percent short to very short, while subsoil moisture levels are 83 percent short to very short. Stock water supplies are 85 percent short to very short.
Meanwhile, 35 percent of the winter wheat crop is rate in poor to very poor condition. About 41 percent of the wheat is in fair condition, with 23 percent rated good and 1 percent in excellent condition.

We are counting our blessings as we watch the vivid green wheat emerge from its blanket of white. And, while there's a long way to go until Wheat Harvest 2013, cautious optimism seems to be a by-product. 

Jim Shroyer, Extension agronomist for Kansas State University, told Kansas Wheat  there are areas of Kansas that appear to have a good crop thus far, but he's not one to make predictions.

"Even poor stands can be helped with the right temperature and the right amount of precipitation. Me prognosticating from this point on is pointless. If it is above normal temperatures from this point on, yields will be hurt. However, if we get average to below normal temperatures, and we have good wheat stands, we could have a respectable crop. Temperatures are the teller." 

Jim Shroyer, KSU Extension

Though the snowfall helped, it is by no means a drought-buster. Two years of moisture deficit can't be eliminated through a couple of snowstorms, no matter how timely they were. We'll hope the preliminary weather forecasts for additional weekend rainfall arrive in Kansas.

February 26, 2013, after the second snowstorm

We'll also pray that there's no late freeze.

"When the daytime temperatures are greater than 60 or 70 degrees, and nighttime temperatures don't get close to freezing, I get a little worried - especially if it is too early in the year. In the middle of February, that's not a good thing to have. In this case, the wheat crop begins to lose its winterhardiness."

Jim Shroyer, KSU Extension 

Back in 1989, an 85 degree day in January gave way to single digits with below zero wind chill the next day. Because the wheat broke dormancy early, the freeze killed the wheat.

 "Ideally, we would have a gradual increase in temperature over time. But that doesn't often happen in Kansas," Shroyer said.

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Thanks to Bill Spiegel at Kansas Wheat for the information on the wheat crop and the interview with Jim Shroyer.