Mother Nature has fooled me once again. Last week I wrote about the rising cost of fertilizer. Even when fertilizer is not expensive, I try to never waste any. Each spring I struggle with the most efficient way to fertilize my wheat fields. If I apply too early, on frozen ground, I risk losing some of the expensive nutrient as runoff. Not only would that be bad for the environment, it is also bad for my wallet.
I wait until the wheat has broken dormancy, when it becomes green and lush. The risk is that it may stay too wet to be able to drive the heavy machines on the field to apply my nitrogen without making tracks in the field. Delaying the application, or failing to make it at all, would definitely hurt yield. While I do enjoy the eye appeal of my green fields of wheat growing at a time when the most fields are bare and drab looking, I prefer to make money growing wheat.
Ideally, I would apply half of my nitrogen about April 1 and the other half about 3 weeks later. It is rare for the ground to be acceptable for that first application. Trying two applications is best for yield, but it adds cost of the extra trip, and making time for the second application could be difficult if the corn and bean planting has hit full speed.
The agronomy advice for wheat is to have some nitrogen on early to help with greening up and tillering of the plants. Then apply again later closer to seed head formation/emergence so the nitrogen is best utilized to maximize grain and not stalk growth. When the weather forecasts were out about March 15th it appeared that we were about to enter a very rainy spell. Most forecasts were for major storm systems to push through the upper Midwest every 2-3 days for the next 2 weeks. I panicked and applied fertilizer to all 3 of my wheat fields.
Three waves of rain did pass through Will County at the end of March. The first two were minimal, and on March 27 a very large storm barely clipped southern Will County with much heavier rain totals for Kankakee and areas south. It turns out we are now very dry, especially for this time of year. It is now April 1, and I will spend the next several days planting spring crops on soils that are very satisfactory.
I jumped the gun and applied my fertilizer earlier than necessary. I was wrong about my concern for wet weather arriving and washing out my fertilizer applications. Time will tell if the weather the next 3 months will produce an excellent crop of wheat. The prospects for corn and soybeans look bright, and I do not want a wheat crop that becomes a loss leader for my farm.
Here is an interesting side note to his week’s article. Many times when writing I will verify that the word I have written is being used correctly. Many years ago my dad would use the term “stooling out” in reference to wheat and oat crops for spring growth. For the last 30 years I have heard the term “tillering.” I wonder if Mr Google can confirm my vocabulary. So I quickly type in my search bar “tillering definition” and Mr Google quickly finds the definition as “the production of lateral shoots, especially a grass or cereal from the base of the stem.”
Most of the definitions for stooling involve the process of evacuating the bowels. However, you can also find a botany definition that says, “to send up shoots or suckers on a plant.” I can now see why tillering has become the predominant terminology.
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