July 26th, 2024

Congratulations to Luke & his family on welcoming the newest addition to their family over the weekend, a baby girl! 🎀

Smoke from the wild fires out west brought down visibility in some areas through the province and helped to reduce heat stress on plants.  Rainfall varied this past week with areas receiving between 0 and 2+ inches.

The current weather conditions of continual rainfall, elevated temperatures, minimal wind and dense crop canopies are creating an ideal environment for fungal diseases. Fusarium head blight is noticeable in many wheat fields. This year has been a real challenge in timing  a fungicide application due to a high number of tillers. Weather also posed a challenge with timing.  A high percentage of wheat would have been ready to spray in the first few days of July but with significant rain storms developing, many producers chose to spray a little on the early side fearing the potential for significant lodging and or wet conditions that would have prevented travel by ground.

Back to the Fusarium we are now seeing. Looking at a number of fields this week I suspect that we are seeing more than just fuz. I am noticing many heads that are completely white or dying off prematurely. When you look at the leaves and stems they are also drying off. Some of these heads pull out easily which is often insect related (wheat stem sawfly) Others I suspect may be dying of weak roots (rot).  

Note: While we usually associate salmon pink coloring on the heads with fusarium, there are other fungal diseases that can result in similar pinkish colors on the glumes. It’s not always fusarium. 

If fusarium is a problem, you will see many heads that are partially affected with white spikelet(s) and chalky shriveled seeds etc. If you are mostly seeing complete heads that are compromised I would investigate further. 

Fall rye and winter wheat is almost ready for harvest. We have been seeing some Cereal Aphids, nothing to worry about as of yet, just a reminder to keep scouting your acres.  If you are not able to be out scouting or need help feel free to reach out to us at anytime, we are always here to help. 

This has been an interesting find for our scouts the past week. What you are looking at here is Parasitic wasp eggs. Cortesia wasps lay eggs on wheat head army worms, hatching a week to 10 days later and then chewing their way out of the wheat head armyworm body killing them. (the worm hanging in the picture)  In the amount we have found them, it doesn't signify an armyworm issue in any way. Seeing these is actually quire a good thing!

Join Jenn next Thursday August 1st at EcoTea's Soil Health Education Day. A 1/2 day at the Antara Research field scale trail sight, followed by a BBQ hosted with LD Seeds. 

Have a great weekend!

Bru and Jenn

⬇️Next Thursday: August 1st, 2024⬇️

Reminder: Cereal Aphids are out, it's time to keep an eye on your acres.

Weed Wednesday

with Luke Hemphill

Foxtail Barley

This week Luke is covering Foxtail Barley.  A perennial, reproduced by seed.  Foxtail barley produces roughly 200 sees per plant, which are dispersed by wind and animals. Seeds germinate early and can even overwinter, making it a very competitive plant. Adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, tolerates high salinity and high pH very well. Known to harbor several rust affecting cereal crops. Several herbicides prove effective control, namely Quizalofop (group 1) and Glyphosate  (group 9).  Research has shown that fall-applied glyphosate is more effective than spring-applied. Considered a tier 3 noxious weed in Manitoba. 

Photo Credits: Western Producer & Gov of MB

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