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Posted 10 April 2009. Crop Management. Producers Should Monitor Wheat Fields for Freeze Damage Kansas State University. www.ag.ksu.edu Manhattan, Kansas (April 8, 2009)--When temperatures dipped well below freezing the night of April 6-7, it may have caused moderate to significant damage to wheat in parts of Kansas, said Kansas State University agronomist Jim Shroyer.
“Wheat that has either one or two joints can be injured by several hours of temperatures in the low 20s or lower,” said Shroyer, who is a crops specialist with K-State Research and Extension. “Even wheat that is not yet jointed will probably have some damage to the leaves, but this is just cosmetic injury that will not affect yields.” Producers should not make any quick decisions about the condition of their wheat crop, however, he said. “It will take several days of warm weather following the freezes to evaluate the condition of the crop and its yield potential,” Shroyer said. “Even if some of the main tillers are injured or killed, producers should wait to see if enough other tillers have survived to compensate for the lost yield potential.” If areas of a field lodge shortly after the freeze, that may indicate damage to the lower stems, he said. “Producers should keep an eye on this wheat over the next week or so, and examine the lower stems,” he said. “Damage may not be immediately evident. If there are darkened or watersoaked lesions near the base of the stems, or if the stems are split, those tillers are damaged and will die. It’s also possible that stems may simply have leaned over due to the combination of high winds and wet conditions. In that case, the stems may eventually become upright again.” Patience is the key at this point in the season, he added. There should be time left in April to destroy the crop if necessary and plant corn, and even more time to plant grain sorghum, soybeans, or sunflowers, if herbicide carryover restrictions allow and depending on crop insurance considerations. The most important thing to right after a freeze is to carefully evaluate the effect of the freeze on the wheat, he said. More information is available by contacting Shroyer at 785-532-5776 or jshroyer@ksu.edu. Information is also available in the Extension publication C646: “Spring Freeze Injury to Kansas Wheat,” available on the Web at: www.oznet.ksu.edu/library. Contact: |
