[Jack Hydrazine]

Winter Wheat Winter Injury and Kill
http://cropwatch.unl.edu/2015-wheat-winterkill
24MAR2015

It was a tough winter for wheat with severe winterkill evident in areas of Nebraska, with southwest Nebraska reporting the highest levels, according to the March 20 Nebraska Wheat Crop Report published by the Nebraska Wheat Board. The most severe fields had 60% to 80% damage with less severe fields showing 40% to 50% damage. Soil moisture is short due to warm temperatures in November that led to rapid growth depleting the soil profile.

Winter wheat varieties vary in tolerance to winter injury or winter kill. This is one of the many factors involved in the winter injury this year. Some varieties had almost 100% injury and kill.

With the harsher winter conditions, the effects of practices such as seeding date and seedbed preparation are more evident. Early-seeded winter wheat used soil water last fall, leaving little moisture in the soil profile in some areas. Dry soil heats up and cools down six times faster than moist soil, increasing winter injury and winterkill. Late-seeded winter wheat also sustained damage in some areas as it was not well enough established to tolerate the harsh winter conditions. In some fields greener plants in wheel tracks suggest the importance of preparing a firmer seedbed throughout the field.

[citizen]

That is the sort of food producing information our politicians should be educating the public about instead of running around bleating about man-caused climate disruptions and how we must have a carbon tax to combat it. Dastardly types they be.

[spokeshave]

Norway is not known as a major grain producer.....

However....

“The official view in Norway is in contrast to what the people experience because of cooling weather:

1). Late spring gives flooding and avalanches when late snow-melting in the mountains.

2). Water pipes freeze because of early and deep frost in the winter.

3). Insect populations down 40% in 5 years because of cool and wet summers.

4). This of cause is bad for pollination of fruit and berries.

5). The grain harvest in Norway this summer is down 18% from average the last 5 years, despite increase in area and better seeds. But officially it is getting warmer.”