How farmers can tell if their winter wheat survived the cold

The green leaves of a winter wheat field may look encouraging to an untrained eye, but it’s not always the best measure of how well your cereal crop has survived the winter.

So, how can you assess your winter wheat or fall rye to give you peace of mind that the crop will grow once warmer temperatures kick in come spring?

Anne Kirk, cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says late April or early May is often a good time to dig up a few plants and assess their roots.

“The crown of the winter wheat plant is what stays alive over winter, and that’s where the new roots are coming out of,” says Kirk. “You can dig up your plants and you should see new, white, actively growing roots coming out from that crown.”

This is your indication that the crown is alive and will start to regrow once temperatures consistently stay above freezing.

If outdoor temperatures are still on the cold side and you want to know the viability of your winter cereal crop sooner, Kirk offers a second approach.

“If it’s early April, and you’re a little worried about your crop and trying to decide if you should make a re-seeding plan, you can go out dig up some plants. Keep them in their soil, put them in a pot in the house and add some water to see if those crowns are alive.”

In this case, new green shoots should begin to grow within a week – a good sign that your crop is okay.

Kirk said that all registered winter wheat and fall rye varieties have fairly good overwintering. Choosing seed from your provincial seed guide with a winter rating also helps ensure that your crop should survive most winter conditions.

A winter cereal crop that has overwintered well should have about 20 to 25 plants per square foot. Having fewer plants isn’t necessarily bad as long as it’s relatively even throughout the field, as the plant will compensate with tillering, Kirk said.

But if things haven’t gone your way and re-seeding is necessary, it’s important to choose a crop that won’t cause additional problems.

“Not seeding to a winter wheat crop is probably a good consideration. The risk is wheat streak mosaic virus.”

To avoid this plant virus, you need at least two weeks of no active growth in your field to replant spring wheat.

“It’s also hard to kill winter wheat,” Kirk said. “So even if you’re doing a herbicide or tillage, you’re going to end up with some winter wheat volunteers. So wheat streak mosaic is a risk.”

Source: Grainews