In The Field with Randy

from Eye On Magazine December 2020

Things To Do

In The Field with Randy The Wheat Crop

Randy Chlapecka is an agronomist with Farmers Supply Association. He is retired from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension Service where he served as a County Extension Agent for over 32 years. He is an avid ASU Red Wolves fan and has announced Newport Greyhound sporting events since 1996. He also enjoys vegetable gardening.

I’d like to give an update on the wheat crop in this month’s Eye On article. I seem to be getting a few more calls than normal this fall regarding wheat. Wheat is not a huge acreage crop in our area, but for those that have wheat it is obviously important to them.

We basically had 2 planting seasons this fall. The first season was in the October 10-15 timeframe with the rest planted in November following a wet last half of October. We generally have good stands on all of the well-drained fields along with some weak stands in the holes on the flatter, less well-drained soils. The earlier fields have really tillered well, and with the above normal temperatures of November I expect the later planted fields to fill in pretty well also especially if nitrogen was part of the preplant fertilizer program.

With a few exceptions, postemergence weed control in wheat is generally something for early spring as soon as it warms up. If ryegrass is a problem, hopefully you got a preemergence herbicide like Zidua out there and got it activated. If you have emerged ryegrass, a fall application of Axial is probably the best way to control it. Many wait to early spring and you can typically get good suppression at that point, lessening competition effects and preventing seed production. You usually don’t get complete control with those later applications though.

There are several broadleaf weeds that I put in the category of “competitive broadleaves”. They are taller and therefore more competitive with the wheat and/or have seeds that can result in dockage if found in the grain sample. Examples include buttercup, cutleaf eveningprimrose, vetch, and horseweed. They are typically controlled in late February through mid-March, most commonly with an application of 2,4-D or Harmony Extra. Other possibilities depending on the situation include PowerFlex and Quelex.

There are several common weeds that are low growing and typically not very competitive especially if there is a good stand of wheat. A lot of times control is not needed. Exceptions would be in fields with thin wheat, late wheat, or where the weed populations are extremely thick. Herbicide options depending on the situation would include Axiom, Osprey, and PowerFlex.

Wild garlic is a problem due to the potential of dockage from contamination of the grain sample from the aerial bulblets of the wild garlic. Harmony Extra is the herbicide used for control.

For more information, feel free to contact me through Farmers Supply Association by cell phone at 870-318-0739, my e-mail is randychlapecka@gmail.com. N