By Brian Hefty
Harvested wheat acreage in the U.S. will be down this year, again. That “should” mean pretty good prices for wheat. In other words, there is a lot of incentive for you to produce as many bushels as you can. What will you do yet this year to increase your yield? Here are 4 things many farmers are looking at right now that could help.
PLANT GROWTH HORMONES
Dad always used to call these types of products “foo-foo dust.” Thirty-five years ago, that’s probably all this category of products was. Today, the huge global companies including Monsanto, Bayer, BASF, Syngenta and others have heavily invested into the biological and plant growth hormone area. The way I look at it is if all these big companies will invest billions of dollars into this segment, there’s probably something there.
The other way I look at it is as Darren and I have visited some top farmers around the world, we find most of them using biological and/or plant growth hormone products. We have learned lessons from them and applied them on our farm, where we have now had success, too. Look, I’m not suggesting you go crazy and spend $100 an acre with multiple applications of these types of products today, but I would encourage you to try some of these things on your farm because there is yield to be gained and profit to be had.
One product you may consider late in the season for wheat is called HappyGro. It is contains plant growth hormones, and it’s something we have used with success on our farm. Talk to your agronomist about this or other choices in this category.
FERTILIZER
As long as you are careful, this is another area that can really help you. Nutrients like boron and nitrogen often positively impact wheat late in the season, but make sure you work with a good agronomist so you don’t over-do it.
The number one question I get about fertilizer this late in the season deals with protein in wheat. Studies have proven that if you have more nitrogen availability late in the season, you will have higher protein levels in wheat. In order to get that nitrogen into the plant, you can certainly streambar N on; use a nitrogen stabilizer or controlled-release nitrogen earlier in the season; or build up your organic matter levels over time so your soil naturally releases more N late in the season. The most immediate impact on protein, though, is foliar feeding liquid nitrogen over the top of wheat around flowering. However, it is also the most risky because you want to minimize leaf burn; and you also need rain soon after to get all the nitrogen that falls on the ground into the plant. Two gallons of N-Response per acre is our standard recommendation. Some farmers are using liquid urea instead because it burns less than 28%. Since this late nitrogen is often sprayed with a fungicide plus 10 gallons of water, you are diluting the concentration of the nitrogen enough that leaf burn is reduced.
FUNGICIDE
The most important thing you need to know about applying fungicide at heading is which products NOT to use. Strobilurin fungicides should never be applied at any wheat growth stage past flag leaf, or the odds of DON levels in wheat go up dramatically. The products we encourage you to use at heading are Prosaro, Caramba and Orius (generic Folicur). They are all in the triazole family of fungicides.
Orius is excellent on rust, including stripe rust, but is only marginal on head scab (fusarium head blight). The great thing about Orius is while it used to cost $15 an acre for Folicur (the name brand version), Orius now runs $2 an acre for the full 4 oz. use rate. If you are considering skipping the fungicide at heading, I would suggest you at least look at Orius, as $2 an acre is a small investment.
Prosaro from Bayer is a combination of Proline and Folicur. Prosaro is similar in control of rust to Orius, but is far superior on head scab. The use rate is 6.5 oz. to 8.2 oz., depending on your need for residual and the potential severity of the problem. Same thing with Caramba and its rate range of 13.5 oz. to 17 oz. Caramba from BASF is a straight product that is comparable to Prosaro. Both products will cost $13 to $18 per acre, but rebates and/or financing programs from each company could lower your net costs slightly.
Is it worth it to spray for disease? The problem with fungicide applications is they must be applied before disease sets in. You can’t scout, identify the problem, and then spray while still maximizing yield. That’s why it is always more hit and miss with fungicides compared to insecticide and herbicide treatments. However, the ratio of the cost of treatment to the wheat price is pretty good right now, making your odds better than normal to get a good ROI. Keep in mind, too, that diseases need three things before they can ravage your crops: a host, a favorable environment and the presence of the disease. If you are planting relatively susceptible varieties and conditions turn wetter and/or more humid, you’ve got a far greater risk and far greater chance for a good ROI with a fungicide than if you are planting relatively tolerant varieties in a drought year.
Timing is key. If you decide to treat for scab, rust and other diseases at heading, our recommendation is to spray when you are at 10% to 15% flowering. I know this is a small window, but it’s traditionally when we’ve seen the most yield response.
INSECTICIDE
Insecticide applications in wheat are rapidly growing for three main reasons: the value of the crop (between yield and price) is worth much more than normal; the cost of insecticides has dropped to record low levels (most cost $2 an acre for the full rate); and there seem to be more bugs present each year.
If you have very low levels of harmful insects, we discourage spraying an insecticide. Scout your fields prior to spraying, and if you are finding insects like aphids, grasshoppers or certain flies that could cause a problem at any point during the season, spray. The pyrethroids, such as Silencer and Declare, are highly effective on most wheat insects and can be mixed with almost any fungicide or herbicide product you use. More care must be used when applying Lorsban, as that product can add more leaf burn than the pyrethroids. However, Lorsban is definitely better on mites than Silencer and Declare, if mites are present.
While it may be a tough choice to spray or not spray in your area, there are fortunately some very inexpensive alternatives that may make your decision easier. Again, the full rate of Orius is just $2 an acre, and an additional $2 worth of Silencer or Declare will wipe out most bugs. If you want better scab control, switch from Orius to Caramba or Prosaro. HappyGro is around $4 an acre or less, and fertilizer is cheap, right? Just kidding. Regardless of cost, the important thing is to focus on ROI. I don’t care if I invest $2 or $10, I just want that money to pay me back on average at a good rate.