WHEAT UPDATE
Here’s a quick update on the current situation of the wheat crop in the St. Lawrence area. I have checked several fields this week and we are starting to pick up stripe rust in quite a few fields in the area. This is not overly surprising considering the cool, wet conditions that we experienced just a few weeks back. However, I check with several agronomist from here all the way to Corpus just last week and the only reported cases were in Runnels County. At this point in time with the low levels of disease pressure and the warmer, dry weather that we are experiencing I am not overly concerned about stripe rust. However, it still needs to be monitor so it does not get out of control and end up reducing yields come harvest. A list of approved fungicides can be found on our county website here: Fungicides for Wheat
Another issue that is slowly starting to appear are aphids. I have seen a complex of greenbugs, Russian wheat aphids, and bird cherry-oat aphids. Much like stripe rust, these aphids are at very low levels currently and in most cases are serving as a food source for beneficials. If they stay in check, we should have decent a beneficial population to move into other crops later in the spring. But again, like the stripe rust, we still need to watch these populations to make sure they do not explode on us. Our guide for thresholds and suggested chemical options can be found here: Managing Insects in Small Grains
Another issue that is slowly starting to appear are aphids. I have seen a complex of greenbugs, Russian wheat aphids, and bird cherry-oat aphids. Much like stripe rust, these aphids are at very low levels currently and in most cases are serving as a food source for beneficials. If they stay in check, we should have decent a beneficial population to move into other crops later in the spring. But again, like the stripe rust, we still need to watch these populations to make sure they do not explode on us. Our guide for thresholds and suggested chemical options can be found here: Managing Insects in Small Grains
If you have any questions feel free to give me a call.
