As the unusually warm winter of 2011-12 transitioned to a warm spring, a common topic of conversation has been that the winter wheat is getting too big too fast. The threat of a late spring frost, when wheat is in an advanced growth stage and impacts to yields are greater is still possible.

A common strategy in production management is to reduce the number of trips across the field during the growing season. This is one way to reduce costs and hopefully maximize efficiencies of fuel and time. This may mean combining herbicides and fertilizers to feed the crop and manage weed pressure.

With this exceptionally warm spring we have had, the winter wheat is progressing faster than normal. Most spring wheat planting finished up before April this year. As you are out scouting your wheat fields you might find your crop infected with a viral disease known as Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV). WSMV symptoms are often found first along the edge of a field or in patches near wheat volunteers.

Scouting is the process of monitoring fields and crops during a growing season. It can provide producers with field specific information on pest pressure and crop injury.  Scouting has become more valuable in recent years because input costs and crop prices have risen significantly, justifying the time and expense associated with scouting. Information obtained from scouting is essential to the appropriate selection and application of pest management procedures and can also be used to help with management decisions for succeeding crops.

The warm spring season this year has us all looking forward to planting our fields and home gardens.  Winter wheat has greened up, and flowers are making their appearance three weeks early or more.  Even though we are looking forward to getting our seeds in the ground, it’s still not too late for a spring frost to affect our plants.

The Prospective Plantings report shows South Dakota growers again intend to plant fewer acres to wheat. The intended 2.45 million acres in 2012 is well below the intended and actual acres in 2011. Winter wheat seedings were announced back in January as down 3% from 2011. The surprise is spring wheat, where the intended 1.1 million acres would be the lowest on record. The ability to get into fields and a recent price rally has producers discussing a few more spring wheat acres.

Some no-till growers may have surface applied urea or liquid 28% (1/2 urea) nitrogen fertilizers late last fall after soil temperatures had cooled.  Normally we think of N fertilizers as being fairly safe from losses once soil temperatures are below 50 degrees F.  Although the conversion of urea into ammonium is slowed with cooler temperatures, it doesn’t stop the process.  

Many producers  prepaid crop inputs for tax purpose last fall and early winter,  some of which have been delivered and spread, i.e. fertilizer, and others which you are financing with the supplier until delivery. Nevertheless, cost will be higher for non-land expenses for the 2012 crop.