Great moisture!!....

Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of moisture hit much of our geography. This spring has brought upon a lot of the same circumstances as what we saw last year. If you placed a large portion of you nutrients into the soil, receiving large amounts of moisture like we have may leach away some of your nutrients...especially nitrogen. What we don't want to have happen is the crop running out and reducing the yield. There are many different ways we can give the crop what it needs. One identifier would be taking tissue samples. From there we could identify what levels you are presently at and what we can do to fix the problem if there is one. If you wait until the crop shows deficiency, the crop has already lost some of its yield potential. A couple of the different ways you can doctor up the crop is by utilizing foliar products, injection through pivot, or side dressing. Our Inspex program is designed to identify what the crop is needing and then make the proper application via injection, ground rig, aerial applications, side dressing etc. Contact your Panhandle Coop Agronomist and have them put you on the schedule to do some scouting. (Interns and agronomists are in place to evaluate your crops)

Another issue that everyone needs to be aware of is the disease pressure that the cool wet weather can bring on. We have indicated some rust in the area on the wheat crop. This is the perfect storm to allow rust to negatively affect yields. In many areas, the flag leaf is just about to emerge from the crop. That is the most vital part of the plant that needs to be taken care of.

The perfect disease triangle: Pathogen, host, and climatic conditions. Take care of the crop.

Crop Scouting

As planters continue rolling, crops are emerging from the soil. There are many issues that can occur to a seedling and there are many things that can happen to the crop once it is up. From weeds, to insects, to disease...etc, a firm scouting program is highly advised. Between our Agronomists as well as the Interns, we will have people scouting the country side. Contact your agronomist and talk with him or her about getting on the schedule for scouting. In a very short amount of time an issue can come up and damage your crop in no more than a couple days. The work of putting the seed in the ground is just the beginning. Our scouting will also offer tissue sampling and identify what the plant really needs to achieve top yield. Ask your agronomist about our Inspex program, and work together to put more bushels in the bin.

Wheat spraying

I would like for everyone to pay attention to the tank mixes that you will be using on your wheat crop now. The conventional tilled wheat is showing to be passed joint stage now. A lot of the no-till wheat in the area that we are seeing is still in the safe zone but it will not take long before it grows past that. Read over your labels. There are products out there that can be sprayed up until flag leaf so there is still time to get the crop doctored up. Please read over your labels so you don't cause any yield loss to your crop. If you have questions about the stage of your wheat crop, contact one of our agronomists and they can take a look at it and identify what means of chemistry to put spray on.

Soil Temperature and Planting, Megalab

The average readings for the soil temperature is pushing up against 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Corn seed needs to be in the ground. Today a mild cold front is going to push through the area but after that, warm seasonal temperatures should move in.

If you have not paid any attention to your wheat crop, it needs to be done now. Our Inspex program will cover the scouting portion as well as utilizing Megalab and tissue samples to identify what the crop is really deficient in. The Megalab system will generate a recommendation tailored to you operation. We can then establish what measures need to be taken to adjust the nutrient uptake in the plant. The products can be applied by ground, aerial, or by fertigation. We have adequate moisture in the soil to build a crop so make sure you give it the tools to produce the highest yield for the crops potential. This system is setup for all the different crops grown in our territory.