Desperate harvest attempts last fall left many fields badly rutted. Most of these same fields were flooded again this spring and summer.
Although some farms are preparing to get those fields into shape for seeding to a winter wheat crop in about a month, there are concerns.
“The biggest question we’re getting calls on is the concern about seeding into adequate stubble,” said Mitchell Timmerman, a soils specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
While soil moisture conditions will be perfect for winter wheat establishment, there are serious crop insurance implications, said Timmerman. Survival usually requires that winter wheat be seeded into standing stubble.
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The problem with 2004 stubble is that the fields being considered for winter wheat are the same fields that got torn up last fall by combines and trucks. Plus, crop insurance wants new stubble, not leftovers.
“Those fields are in rough shape,” said Timmerman. “The ruts are deep. By the time you make enough passes to get a field into condition for seeding, you will have lost all your stubble. You need standing stubble, not only for crop insurance, but also to give this crop decent odds against winterkill.
“Winter wheat does not do a good job of trapping snow. It’s not rigid like standing stubble. Going into winter, it’s more like grass. It just bends over. You need some kind of rigid standing stubble to act like a snow fence.”
According to Winter Cereals Canada, 10 centimetre tall stubble requires 20 standing sticks per sq. foot for adequate snow trap. At the high end of the scale, 30 cm tall stubble only requires six standing sticks per sq. foot. This is the amount of standing stubble required after the seeding operation. Up to twice this amount before seeding may be required if the seeder knocks down a lot of stubble. (See chart)
“The other risk is that if the fields being considered were in cereals for 2004, you could be facing disease problems by putting them in winter wheat.”
There are instances where winter wheat seeded on bare ground overwinters satisfactorily, said Manitoba Agriculture fertility specialist John Heard. He said this can happen with mild winters or in areas with bush cover where fields are not windswept.
Manitoba Crop Insurance coverage requirements for stubble specify that it must be from a crop harvested in the same year that the winter wheat is seeded, and can include most hay and forage seed crops, cereals and oilseeds, sunflowers, corn, millet and buckwheat.
If winter wheat is not seeded into eligible stubble and then winterkills, insurance coverage is limited to a 25 percent reseed benefit. If the crop winterkills with seeding into the eligible stubble, then it is eligible for up to 75 percent of coverage.
“Appropriate stubble is that which will remain upright through the winter,” said Heard. “Ideally stubble consists of stiff stems and not just upright leaves. When vegetative plants are terminated with glyphosate they are likely to lie over and decompose, contributing more to seeding problems than as snow trapping stubble.
“Some weeds, providing they produce upright stems, will serve the purpose. However, it will be a compromise in how long you can leave weeds to consume water and produce stubble versus their potential for reseeding with more weed seeds.”
Heard said that if the only option is to seed into a bare field, growers should consider other factors that may contribute to winter hardiness. Seeding about two weeks earlier than recommended produces a well established plant with three or more leaves. The plant tillers out with a fully developed crown that is more winter hardy.
However, seeding a month earlier than the recommended date for your area will actually contribute to winterkill. This extreme early seeding allows the crown and cells within the crown to become very large and susceptible to freezing. Excessive vegetative growth causes the plants to be more susceptible to disease.
Heard said winter hardiness and recovery from winter injury are enhanced by seed-placing a substantial amount of phosphorus, in the range of 30 or more pounds per acre.
The seeding rate should be at least two bushels per acre to establish 25 plants per sq. foot. He said a producer should always check the winter hardiness of the variety for each specific growing area.
Cereals or millet can be seeded to establish eligible stubble, plus they may provide salable green feed and they dry out soils, said Heard.
However, cereals introduce the risk of wheat streak mosaic virus. Other stubble producing plants that have been evaluated with some success are flax and Polish canola seeded in mid-July.
“Seeded yellow blossom or sweet clover has performed well for some growers in Saskatchewan. Seeded in early July, the plants are clipped at a two-foot height and sprayed out, producing sticks for snow catch. This offers water consumption and some nitrogen contribution if inoculated.”
Although markets are not always lucrative for fall rye, it may be a last resort if the stubble is not there and new stubble cannot be grown on time.
“Lastly, consider planting fall rye since it is more tolerant of colder temperatures than winter wheat,” said Heard.
