West Texas Agronomy

One of the big questions of growing Kernza in our environment is if we can accumulate enough chilling hours for vernalization.

It’s great to see some seed heads in our variety trial at San Angelo. There’s some inconsistency of maturity among plants, but it’s an exciting start for the first growing season of the trial!

Leaf rust was slow to develop across much of our area before these April showers, but it is moving now, particularly in susceptible varieties. Please keep an eye out. Fungicide applications should be considered especially:

1. If the wheat is still pre-heading. The greatest ROI is protecting flag leaf and boot. Applications might still pay up through flowering, but if the wheat is already filling grain, it is less likely to be justified. For our current crop, later planted or later maturing varieties have the greatest potential to capitalize on the favorable weather we've had, but are also most vulnerable to rust.

2. If the wheat variety is susceptible to leaf rust. Resistant varieties can still have some rust, but it is less-often economical to spray. The level of resistance out there varies, and every year is unique, so it is important to scout and monitor regardless.

Reports of disease have increased this year, and growers from Hutchinson, Oldham, Carson, Deaf Smith, Randall, Castro, Swisher, Lamb, Hale, Lubbock, Tom Green and Hill counties have submitted samples to the Texas High Plains Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. The samples have shown infections including Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus, Triticum Mosaic, High Plains Disease, Barley Yellow Dwarf and more. Visit the THPPDD website to learn how to submit samples: https://buff.ly/lhkHY4t

It's time to find out which winter forage/cover crops the sheep like the most! This has become a fun and exciting collaboration with Texas A&M AgriLife Sheep and Goat Extension.

We're trying something new and have a Kernza (intermediate wheatgrass) variety trial at San Angelo this year. This is a cool-season perennial with potential as a dual-use grain and forage crop, although we expect it may struggle to survive our summers in West Texas.

We hope this trial will indicate whether or not certain varieties can persist here, and whether or not any can vernalize (accumulate enough chilling hours) to produce a harvestable grain crop. This photo is one of the good-looking plots that is starting to joint.

We are looking forward to a great program with speakers from Texas Animal Health Commission, USDA Farm Service Agency, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and more. Producers can obtain up to 4 CEU hours for their Private Applicator License. Vendors, meal, Homeowner program and more.

Where it gets hot and dry and windy, the main objectives of a cover crop are the physical functions of surface residue: protect the soil, regulate soil temperature, improve water infiltration and retention, etc. This is often achieved with a cheap wheat or rye cover, or by simply maintaining the stubble from a previous grain or hay crop. When we start trying to gain more (like nitrogen contributions from a legume cover crop), the game changes. The wheat (back-right) in this photo will need to be terminated soon (maybe around boot) as it is already jointing. The winter peas (front-left) need more time to do their thing if we expect any appreciable N fixation. The mix (front-right) is at risk of the wheat requiring termination well before the peas can contribute. This is the second year of a field experiment evaluating termination timing across different cover crop species vs. a mixture vs. no-cover fallow (back-center). The first termination timing happened today. We think it's cool. Stay tuned.

We're getting a good look at differences in cold tolerance among forage, cover crop, and wheat varieties. Most of them will recover and grow out of it, but the second photo is an entry in our heirloom wheat trial that was trying to run too fast and started jointing in January. He might not be ok.