Agricultural News
2015 Oklahoma Wheat Review- Jeff Edwards Talks Lessons Learned- and 2016 Decisions Ahead
Tue, 18 Aug 2015 16:53:04 CDT
Jeff Edwards has moved on from his long time position at Oklahoma State University as the Extension Small Grains Specialist for Oklahoma- but he is still performing some of the duties associated with that job since assuming the position as Head of the Plant and Soil Science Department in the Division of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Edwards officially took on that role August first- but he talked about what he and other members of the Wheat Improvement Team learned over the course of the 2015 Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop growing season during the Oklahoma Wheat Review held on Tuesday at Redlands Community College in El Reno.
Dr. Edwards told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays "we learned a lot- you know sometimes the school of hard knocks teaches you some valuable lessons" and said at the top of the list of things that he learned was "wheat streak mosaic is no longer just a problem in the Oklahoma Panhandle and that it can be an issue that can create difficulties between neighbors. The vector for that virus is the wheat curl mite, and and if it moves from one neighbor to another we can have issues there." The key to control, according to Dr. Edwards, is to make sure any volunteer wheat on your land is totally dead two weeks ahead of planting the next year's crop.
Dr. Edwards also said that wheat is really a tough plant. Most people in the wheat industry know that- but Dr. Edwards said he saw it again in 2015 when in the spring, he saw a field that he felt for certain would not product a single bushel, due to being frozen out. But ideal conditions brought secondary growth out- and the field ended up making about 35 bushels an acre this past June. "Wheat has tremendous ability for recovery" is the lesson that Dr. Edwards said he was reminded of this past growing season.
Hays and Edwards also talked about the yield and test weight response seen in 2015 to the application of a foliar fungicide- and what that means to producers as they make decisions about what varieties to plant for the 2016 growing season. Edwards also spoke of the need to make a decision ahead of planting of what you want to do with the crop- graze only, graze and harvest for grain or shoot for a grain harvest only- making your choice in this area allows you to pick the right variety and the right planting window for success in the upcoming growing season.
You can hear the entire conversation that Hays had with Edwards by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
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