Lloyd was dealing with missing plants, dead plants and one-leaf plants in his wheat field near Redvers, Alta.
During our visit, we had a lot of factors to consider. Lloyd’s first concern was frost damage, even though wheat has a high tolerance. We ruled this out as the damage was more evident on higher ground.
We considered stress and slow growth due to cold weather and soil conditions, but Lloyd said he used a seed treatment, and the mortality pattern did not fit weather-related stress on its own.
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It was when we discussed Lloyd’s application that another major factor became apparent. His air seeder uses a split boot, but there is very close proximity of seed and fertilizer. The other drill places the fertilizer in a definite band beside and below the seed row.
Lloyd and I agreed in the end it was a coincidental combination of factors that led to his poor wheat. The proximity of high fertilizer rates to the seed and young plants seemed to be the main culprit. This was helped along by the cold ground, which prevented the rapid dispersion of the nitrogen from the band to the surrounding soil, thus burning some seed. Slow plant growth did not allow the roots to grow rapidly through that band which fatally injured some of the young wheat plants.
There are a few things Lloyd could consider in the future. Lower fertilizer rates would minimize his chance of burning seed, although of course this isn’t a viable option for producers trying to maximize yields. Lloyd could also band high rates of fertilizer at a safer distance from the seed, but the problem here would be the cost of changing seeding tools.
An additive, such as Agrotain, can make high fertilizer rates more seed safe. If this is an option for you, consider a product that can be used with either liquid or dry fertilizer. Lloyd could also consider ESN (coated urea), which can be used at much higher rates than urea without affecting the seed. This difference would be far more pronounced in crops such as canola and flax.
To be honest, Lloyd made out better than he could have. Had the weather been dry as opposed to the cool we had, there very well could have been bigger differences in yield throughout the field or between the different seeding tools. The injury to his wheat could have been far more severe. Lloyd had never seen a problem like this in his wheat before and in all fairness, it has be chalked up to a rare combination of factors that caused the problem.
Kim Warburton is the location manager for Richardson Pioneer at Antler, Sask.
