Freeze warning

[48]

Liven this up a bit 48....with the pioneer, it can be used as filler, like the ditch weed is/was with good chit
several years ago...vans from California we'd never seen before traveling county roads looking for filler...

When the little head turns mushy, it's a goner, and still, for seeding purposes, we have had ICE on the heads
for an extended period of time...and the seed was good, other times, just patchy frost and the entire field
was sterile...the following days give it a chance to heal if there is any healing to be done...not bad for memory
48, even for an old fart!

Dennis: I have never seen freezing drizzle build up on headed wheat that I can re-call, but I can tell you why it made seed that would germ....assuming it doesn't go flat on the ground. Ice is a constant 32, and 32 won't hurt wheat regardless of the growth stage. The ice is insulating it. I've seen them do this in CA orange groves. With the patchy frost, there is no insulation so if the temp keeps going down, you're screwed.

[dennis1]

Now time for the politics of it all. My first memory of a political wheat, my uncles were calling it Kennedy wheat..
big bushy heads and nothing in'm....the rust threat is out and about now too....turning combines black from the
rust dust...

[r3020]

Cut a few open this morning, they still look green. Ice only half as thick this morning. Dodged the bullet?

[davidm479]

how far up the stalk is it Ron---------------------dave

[48]

Cut a few open this morning, they still look green. Ice only half as thick this morning. Dodged the bullet?

r3020: It means absolutely nothing to slit heads open right after a freeze. You need to wait at least 2 weeks. Insurance adjusters won't come out til 2 weeks after you report the freeze.

[SteigerGreen]

48: You are right on with the ice insulating. This is the only thing that makes it possible to grow strawberries in MI. They start irrigating when temps near 32, as the temp drops ice builds up on the blossoms and insulates them, they keep irrigating until the ice melts off meaning temps have risen back above 32. Too bad the other fruit guys employ this same technique. I am hearing that a lot of fruit got hurt last night with some reporting temps around 24 degrees. I could hear the humming of wind machines starting at about 11 last night. Must be awful to burn that $4 diesel most of the night and still lose your crop. When the temps get down that low it doesn't matter how much air you move you can't save the crop. A couple years ago temps got down to about 25 and the neighbor told me the grapes froze everywhere except about 5 feet from the fan, figured the tractor running the wind machine put off enough heat to save the plants right next to the fan. Some guys on really high ground might salvage a decent crop but they still have a long way to go before the worry of frost is gone, for the lower lying areas the crop is lost already, better hope for a second bud or maybe a third. LOL Shame to see but all farming is a crapshoot, glad we aren't in the fruit farming biz........Steiger

[steffy]

so has anyone called the adjusters yet? If you got that cold I would call and get on the list.The sooner it gets adjusted the sooner you can get something back in.

[BinswOH]

Not sure if our magnolia tree is covered but it is looking pretty grim. Leaves were about half grown out yesterday and today all but a few near the trunk are limp and discolored. We're wondering if the Magnolia has the ability to produce a new set of leaves. Should we be watering it to help it out?

[r3020]

Dave, the flag leaf is just beginning to emerge. No need for an adjuster, only insurance on our wheat is hail.

[dennis1]

so has anyone called the adjusters yet? If you got that cold I would call and get on the list.The sooner it gets adjusted the sooner you can get something back in.

As stated earlier, it will be 2/two weeks before an adjuster looks....they may be scarce, it's getting to be quite
an area that got/getting cold...

Home > Grains > Freeze puts North Carolina, Virginia wheat at risk
Freeze puts North Carolina, Virginia wheat at risk
Roy Roberson
Apr. 12, 2012 12:47pm

EMAIL
inShare

Comments 0

• Clearly, the most at-risk crop is wheat. However, significant acreage of canola is in full bloom in North Carolina, and is at or near the cold temperature line for damage at this stage of growth.

• Based on weather conditions over the winter and leading up to the recent freeze, growers may be in for bad news on their on wheat crop.

The jury will be out for a while as to the damage to wheat and other winter crops caused by last night’s sub-freezing temperatures in North Carolina and Virginia.
Advertisement
Penton Media - Southeast Farm press, Click Here!

Also at risk is early planted corn, some of which was planted as much as three weeks early to take advantage of unseasonably warm temperatures.

The forecast for tonight calls for sub-freezing temperatures as far south as southern North Carolina. Forecasts, for example, in Charlotte call for 31 degree lows and 60 degree highs for tomorrow (April 13).

Temperatures on the morning of April 12 dipped into the low to mid-20s in western areas of North Carolina and Virginia and below freezing throughout most of both states. Though not a prolonged or severe freeze, these low temperatures may affect a number of fall crops and early planted spring crops.

Clearly, the most at-risk crop is wheat. However, significant acreage of canola is in full bloom in North Carolina, and is at or near the cold temperature line for damage at this stage of growth.

North Carolina State Small Grain Specialist Randy Weisz says wheat growers should wait 5 to 7 days and then look at the heads. If there are heads or parts of heads that are turning white that is freeze damage.

In an e-mail memo to growers and others interested in small grain production in North Carolina, Weisz suggests a Kansas State University website as a good source to measure freeze damage to wheat. The site is http://www.smallgrains.ncsu.edu/_Pub...eezeInjury.pdf.

Of particular interest to North Carolina and Virginia growers is the following excerpt from the Kansas State report: “Spring freeze injury occurs when low temperatures coincide with sensitive plant growth stages. Injury can cover large areas of the state or only a few fields or parts of fields. It is most severe along rivers, valleys, and depressions in fields where cold air settles.

The risk of spring freeze injury is greater when wheat initiates spring growth early due to higher than average temperatures and inadequate moisture and advances through its developmental stages quicker than normal. If a freeze occurs, wheat has a greater chance of being damaged because it is further advanced.”

Based on weather conditions over the winter and leading up to the recent freeze, growers may be in for bad news on their on wheat crop.

In some areas of the Southeast, not only did they see record or near record temperatures throughout the winter, they also saw record-shattering high temperatures in March.

In Alabama, for example, the average high temperature in March shattered the old mark by eight degrees F.

rroberson@farmpress.com