A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) and the Ministry of Rural Affairs (MRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 5pm. For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAF and MRA website: www.ontario.ca/omafra.
WINTER WHEAT – RAMPING IT UP
by Peter Johnson, Cereals Specialist, OMAF & MRA
Ontario Wheat Performance Trials First To Include Fungicides in Evaluation
Years ago, no one sprayed wheat with a fungicide, and even rarely with a herbicide. Today, if you don’t spray a fusarium fungicide on your wheat crop, you aren’t a real wheat farmer. The fusarium issues this year have really driven this point home.
Performance trials are meant to “mirror” the management practices of growers. In 2010, the Ontario Cereal Crop Committee (OCCC) realized that the cereal performance trials needed to address this issue. “Managed” trials (fungicides applied) were included with our normal unsprayed trials to determine if this changed the rankings of the varieties.
While the relative rankings did not change much, in some cases it made a significant impact. In 2013, trials continued with financial support from the Grain Farmers of Ontario, Cribit Seeds, Szentimery Seeds, Bayer, Syngenta, and BASF. For the first time in Ontario, and as far as I am aware the first time in North America, both managed and unmanaged data is available! This is a huge win for producers.
Go to the OCCC website, www.gocereals.ca and look at the “Variety Trials”. Table 1A, 2A and 3A show the relative yields of both managed and unsprayed trials. Check it out, and pick the best variety for the management options you apply.
Picking Top Wheat Genetics
By now you have probably looked at the wheat variety trials (www.gocereals.ca). Many growers anxiously await the data from Area I or Area II, as that is where their farm is. Wrong! Each year we generate biplots to determine if varieties rank the same from site to site within an area. Almost never do the individual sites from Area I and Area II match up uniformly into those geographic areas. In 2013, everything matched up nearly perfectly for all sites, with the exception of Ottawa (Area III), Palmerston (Area II) and Woodslee (Area I). Palmerston and Ottawa paired with each other. Woodslee was off all by itself, with variety rankings essentially unrelated to all the other sites. Go figure.
What chart should you look at then? Use the Area I / II combined data (Table 1 at www.gocereals.ca ). Area III really is different, as winterkill and icing are much greater problems at these eastern Ontario locations. However, for the rest of the province, the more data you have to look at, the more likely you will pick a winning variety year in and year out. It is called “wide area adaptability”.
We go to a lot of effort to generate this information. You might as well use it the best you can, and in that way, you will pick top genetics!
Death To Fall Nitrogen On Wheat!
Every fall I fight this battle. Some agronomist somewhere will get the bright idea that fall nitrogen (N) can increase wheat yields. In some other jurisdictions, fall nitrogen is a standard recommendation. Well, maybe for them, but in Ontario, It just isn’t so!
Beginning in the fall of 2009, trials were conducted to investigate if fall N could have a yield benefit. I’m all about yield, so if this was something that would work, I’m on it. After 4 years of replicated research trials on more than 20 sites, we are moving on. It simply doesn’t work. Refer to www.ontariosoilcrop.org/docs/v9crpadv_cer1-2012_winter_wheat_nitrogen_response_interim_report.pdf
Never once in those 20+ trials did a fall N application followed by a spring N application yield more than the same amount of nitrogen applied only in the spring. The best we could achieve was an equal yield, but usually it yielded less. Generally, an estimated 50% of the fall-applied N was lost, and the other 50% was available for the crop in the spring. This is wrong on many fronts. Fall N means another trip across the field. Fall N that is not utilized by the crop means more nitrogen has the potential to become an environmental problem. And fall N that does not increase yield makes me lose money. Bottom line – Don’t do it!
SLOW MOVING VEHICLE SIGNS – OMAFRA Connects – September, 2013
A slow-moving vehicle sign warns other road users that the vehicle displaying the sign is travelling at 40 km/h or less. When towing an implement (e.g., wagon, tillage equipment, a header wagon, etc.) with a truck, a sign must be placed on the rear of the combination and the combination must travel at or under 40 km/h. Protect yourself and others while on the road.
COMING EVENTS
Oct. 11 – 14 Erin Fall Fair. For more information call 519-833-2808.
Oct. 15 Return Your Unwanted or Obsolete Pesticides and Food Animal Medications at Woodrill Farms, Guelph. For more information call 519-821-1018.
Oct. 18 – 20 Walkerton Fall Fair. For more information call 519-881-1251.
Oct. 23 Return Your Unwanted or Obsolete Pesticides and Food Animal Medications at North Wellington Co-op. For more information call 519-338-2331.
