How is the current health of our crops in Wisconsin? Is there any disease pressure present despite the drought? What can we expect for estimated overall yields? These all are million dollar questions, but UW-Extension Soybean Specialist Dr. Shawn Conley has the answers. He says disease levels are low this year however we’re not completely out of the woods. He provides some insight into the questions that are on many growers minds.
“There might be a low risk of white mold currently, however with the last rainfall event that occurred, we’re going to see a jump in soybeans,” explains Conley. “So it’s important to focus on R2 and early R3 for a white mold application.”
Damon Smith, UW-Disease Management Professor created an app called Tarspotter. This app has been indicating that there is a high risk of tar spot in Wisconsin. Conley says farmers should stay familiar with the app to be prepared as it is coming.
“The good thing about a wheat crop is that it’s generally drought resistant,” explains Conley. “We actually had a really good amount of rain over the spring. As we got into May we had a lot of rain in the water profile. So I expect our wheat crop to be probably better than last year.”
He adds that the weather patterns we’ve been having won’t really influence test weights. He believes that this year growers will have good, high test weights and really low dockage.
“When it comes to oats, due to a late planting and dry weather, I expect oat yield to take a decent hit and be below trend.”
Conley says that at this moment, soybean moisture is doing well. However, in about two weeks, we will need to start having rain every week to really finish the crop out successfully.
He adds, “I think farmers should pay attention to pricing and make sure they’re doing a good job working with their marketing scheme. I think there’s going to be a lot of fluctuations and a lot of price movement over the next few weeks. Be aware of what’s going on out there in your field.”
To learn more about the state of small grains in Wisconsin, check out Conley’s website, Cool Bean.
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