Cereal Seminar at Farm Fair

We are excited to announce that the Columbia Basin Cereal Seminar and Sustainable Ag Forum is joining forces with the Farm Fair and Trade Show in Hermiston this November 29^th to present a full day of cereal educational presentations.  The cereal sessions will feature topics about diseases, insects, and production practices for both dryland and irrigated cereal producers from cereal experts from Oregon and Washington. Get the latest information as researchers and extension specialists share results from 2012 field trials along with the latest information on new variety development and a variety of other topics.

  If you have not ever attended the Hermiston Farm Fair and Trade Show – it will run from Wednesday, November 28, through Friday, November 30, 2012 at the Hermiston Conference Center, 415 S. Hwy 395.  The Farm Fair is an agricultural forum co-sponsored by OSU Extension Service, the Agriculture Committee and the Greater Hermiston Chamber of Commerce. More than 50 agriculture-related businesses from around the region will be displaying their wares and services, both inside and outside the Conference Center. Agriculture-related seminars are offered all three days.

  The Potato Production Seminar is all day Wednesday on the main stage. The General Session will run concurrently in the Altrusa Room.  As mentioned, Thursday the Cereal Session will cover wheat and corn on the main stage.  Thursday morning in the Altrusa room in the General Session continues.  Pesticide Core credits can be earned Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.  Friday morning the general Pesticide Session will have pesticide recertification credits on the main stage.

  All sessions are free to attendees except for a $10.00 fee for Core Programs. No pre-registration is required. Oregon, Washington and Idaho pesticide recertification credits will be available, in addition to CCA credits. An at-a-glance agenda is available and a full Farm Fair agenda with pesticide credit hours will be available by mid to late November.

  The Hermiston Farm Fair Banquet will be held on Thursday night at Desert River Inn. Dinner will be prime rib, $25 per person.  A no-host social hour will begin the evening at 6:00 p.m. Entertainment will be by the Buttercreek Boys. Tickets are available from the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce. 

  The Farm Fair is also a great opportunity to gain knowledge and visit with friends and neighbors over a variety of freshly prepared refreshments courtesy of our local food processors.  Come and treat yourself at the 39^th Annual Hermiston Farm Fair.

Early seeding canola -follow up question

One of our blog readers asked the question, "How did the rains and temperatures affect the results in 2011?"

The following is Don Wysocki's reply:

 

In my opinion,  results of early planted winter canola are subject to the same variation that wheat yields are each year.   The 2011 harvest was a good year for yield.  The 2012 harvest year was not quite so good, but still a good year.

The difference in early versus Sept 1 planting is the ability to get a consistent stand.  The early planting does not increase yield over a September 1 planting if the September 1 planting establishes and has an adequate stand.  It is just that its much more difficult to get a stand September 1  than it is June 15.   We see yield potential loss after September 20 even with good stands.  The two most important factors for canola yield are 

• stand establishment and 
• bloom period.   

Planting early gets over the first.  Mother nature is still in charge on bloom and available water for the crop.

Sincerely, Don

New OSU wheat releases & yield trials

New OSU Variety Releases Kaseberg and Ladd

Kaseberg is a 2012 soft white winter wheat release. It is primarily adapted to dryland and irrigated production areas of western and eastern Oregon, southeastern and south central Washington. Its strengths are excellent yield potential across a range of rainfall zones, resistant to current races of stripe rust at a level similar to Skiles, medium stature, a maturity date similar to Legion and Skiles, and to top it all off – excellent milling and baking quality for our end customers.

Weaknesses of note for Kaseberg is that it is similar to Stephens in the disease package – it is susceptible to strawbreaker footrot, Cephalosporium stripe, Fusarium crown rot, and Soilborne Wheat Mosaic Virus.

Ladd is a second new soft white winter wheat release for OSU in 2012. It is primarily adapted to dryland and irrigated production areas of eastern Oregon and southeastern and south central Washington. It is an excellent yielder under irrigation and high rainfall. It is resistant to Soilborne Wheat Mosaic Virus, and strawbreaker footrot. It is moderately resistant to current races of stripe rust – similar to Legion. It is short stature with a maturity similar to Tubbs 06. Both new releases are open releases with PVP pending.

2012 Oregon Soft White Winter Elite Yield Trials

Jacob & Micheal Hales celebrate successful harvest!!

On my website, you will find yield trial results from across the region, and it is updated with new information as it is available. For Umatilla County there is excellent info from an irrigated trial in Hermiston, and dryland trials from east of Pendleton and east of Milton Freewater. The Rugg site did not have any irrigation before or during the season. The Milton Freewater site is a new location. The notes on each location are important for putting the data in perspective. The severe lodging and late season lodging impacted yields at the Milton Freewater site, while the Hermiston location had very little stripe rust. The Hermiston site was impacted by Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus. If you are planning to seed early this fall, I recommend seed treatment for the control of aphids as BYDV can have a significant impact on yields. We have seen increased fall flights of aphids with the increased acreages of field corn in the area and would expect that trend to continue if we have an open and extended fall.

Result from my Drill Strip Variety trial at Hales near Midway will also be available online and are in my newsletter that we are mailing hard copies of today.

 

Early seeded canola gains traction in Oregon

  Early seeded canola – now why didn’t I think of that? Thankfully, Oregon State University Soil Scientist Don Wysocki has never given up on canola, even when acreages dropped and prices were in the tank. The result of his dedication, and perhaps just plain stubbornness, is the idea of seeding winter canola in June, instead of August and September, and this idea has gotten some traction in the region.

 Don first seeded canola in June and again in July of 2010 in a trial at Pendleton on non-irrigated land. He presented his research trials testing the idea in June 2011, and has continued the research project in 2012.

  Preliminary results from the 2010-11 trial were promising with the June seeding yielding in the 2500-3000 lb. range. The June 17^th seeding had a good stand, while the July 7^th seeding had a spotty stand but still resulted in positive yields. These results confirmed again what Don already knew – that if you can get a stand established before September 20^th you general will have a good yield. Delay seeding until October 1^st waiting for moisture and the yield potential drops by 30%. This research vastly expands the window for successful seeding winter canola. Fields generally have good soil moisture in June.

  These preliminary results have resulted in some growers experimenting with the idea in their fields. We have observed a few things to date worthy of note:

• A uniform stand is desirable, but plants in an erratic stand have the ability to branch and fill in over time. Average plant populations as low as 2 plants/sq. ft. can produce full yields when planted early.  Stands of 4 plants/sq. ft. are ideal,
• There is no effective broad leaf weed control in canola, so time of early planting and field selection are important.  The target is to plant while there is still good seed zone water, but avoid the flush of Russian thistle or kochia.  Also avoid fields where these weeds have been a significant problem,
• Aphids may buildup in the summer or fall – but no treatment is recommended because those leaves will be lost during the winter any way,
• Flea beetles may be a problem at emergence, an insecticide seed treatment is an inexpensive method to avoid this, and
• When planting, be sure to plant winter type canola that has a vernalization requirement so bolting and bloom does not occur until after the winter period.

  Research has shown over the years that canola in a wheat fallow rotation has benefits for breaking disease cycles and provides an opportunity to do weed control of grassy weeds. With higher prices and a less risky seeding window, we may continue to see canola acreage increase around the area. ~Mary K Corp & Don Wysocki

For more information on canola - check out this Extension publication: Canola Production Guide

Wheat variety trials updates

Yield results from the OSU statewide variety trials continue to come in. Results from the Lexington site are now available at my Cereal Central website.

As a clarification on last week's post, it appears that I misspoke and that indeed the trials at Hermiston did not include an insecticide in the seed treatment. If you are seeding early in the fall, I do recommend using an insecticide treatment on your seed.

The last couple of years we have seen an increase of aphid flights. With the increase of corn fields distributed widely throughout the irrigated acres in the region- we are likely to see continuing pressure from aphids which act as transmitters of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus.

Thunderstorms and lightning impact area farms

Helix City Hall, Helix, Oregon

Fallow field erosion

Last week's thunderstorms and lightning impacted area farms in Umatilla County. Fields north of Pendleton had erosion in sheets which is very unusual, and also following the tillage lines which is more common.
As fallow fields this time of year have been tilled and prepped for fall seeding, the level of residue left on the soil surface offers little protection from the type of deluge of rain that a thunderstorm cell drops on a concentrated area.

In the rolling hills of our dryland farming area, the water, surface residue(straw pieces from last year's crop), and soil ends up collecting in roadside ditches and concentrating into significant amounts as the city of Helix can attest to.... In the case of thunderstorms - the rate and intensity of the downpour overwhelm the soils ability of capture the water and thus the fields at the heart of the storm saw some significant levels of soil loss.
On my drive home Friday, I was watch yet another thunderstorm and lightning event. The lightning started a fire in a field of wheat causing about $30,000 in losses according to local new media.

To finish the day, a double rainbow appeared during my evening walk...which really explains without words why I love living here in eastern Oregon...for life is certainly never boring, and if you don't like the weather, just wait an hour and it will change.

Cheers, Mary

Yield results from Oregon State University Statewide Variety testing

The harvest results are starting to come in from the 2012 OSU Statewide Wheat Variety Testing program. The first results are from the Hermiston Research and Extension Center. These trials are for soft white and hard winter varieties. 

There was a severe and uniform infection of barley yellow dwarf virus at the Hermiston site which significantly reduced grain yields, plant height, and maturity.There were some visual differences in the disease expression seen during the Wheat Field Day early this year. While the seed was treated with an insecticide at planting, with a long open fall with significant aphid pressure the seed treatment did not last long enough to prevent infection last fall.

OR08047P94 tops the list for the second year in a row, and "Mary" makes a good showing after being rank 11th last year. 

We will be posting the variety trial results on my website OSU CerealCentral as they are available.  So be watch for future updates.