Question for wheat farmers.

Chris(WA) · Aug 30, 2012

I was in the Inland Empire earlier this week. Watching the wheat harvest in the Mighty Palouse! Man what guts to farm that terrain! Even saw a couple BIG 4 wheel drive combines with duals on the main drives. Just devouring wheat! A joy just to watch!
Anyway, my question. I saw wheel tracks in the un-cut wheat. Then I saw a big spray rig being moved. It was not in a field but I kinda put two and two together. If that is what was making the tracks, what are they spraying for so late in the season? Insects?
Go Cougs!And Vandals!

oldtanker · Aug 30, 2012

(quoted from post at 07:49:06 08/30/12) I was in the Inland Empire earlier this week. Watching the wheat harvest in the Mighty Palouse! Man what guts to farm that terrain! Even saw a couple BIG 4 wheel drive combines with duals on the main drives. Just devouring wheat! A joy just to watch!
Anyway, my question. I saw wheel tracks in the un-cut wheat. Then I saw a big spray rig being moved. It was not in a field but I kinda put two and two together. If that is what was making the tracks, what are they spraying for so late in the season? Insects?
Go Cougs!And Vandals!

Chris. Here in MN some guys spray before they combine to kill the weeds that might plug up a combine. Others spray right behind the bine to kill off weeds if they no till.

Rick

Wheat Farmer · Aug 30, 2012

Yep Chris is correct. If we had a weed problem before harvest we would spray with a plane. After harvest with big trucks. Most of the time we left the stubble through the winter to catch snow. This is not a photo of spraying wheat ground but one spraying pasture. 120' boom.

Jon Hagen · Aug 30, 2012

In the prarie states / provences, wheat is sprayed with fungicide to prevent plant diseases like scab or leaf diseases. In late season as the seeds are filling there can be a yield / quality benifit from applying liquid nitrogen by ground sprayer using nozzle bars.

Where the growing season is short up north, often wheat is sprayed with glyphosate to kill any low area green crop or green weeds, everything drys uniformly. Pre harvest burn down has pretty well eliminated swathing to dry the crop before harvest.
The grain quality, weeds eliminated and harvest ease makes up for the grain run down by the sprayer.

Uncle Ernie · Aug 30, 2012

That is some spray rig!

sixtyninegmc · Aug 30, 2012

And there is no residual glyphosate in/on the grain?

Hoofer B · Aug 30, 2012

Is that a Miller NItro??? They make them 15 miles away from me in WI.

LenND · Aug 30, 2012

Some of the large farmers here spray the wheat with Roundup so it will be ready to combine a few days earlier. What a waste of time, fuel and chemicals. I think.

Jon Hagen · Aug 30, 2012

As long as you leave a minimum of 14 days between spraying and harvest, they claim all glyphosate has been broken down by weather and sunlight. Lab tests seem to prove that correct.

sixtyninegmc · Aug 30, 2012

Still just seems like a bad idea to me, but that just means used swathers will be cheaper when I look for one.

Jon Hagen · Aug 30, 2012

Yes, I also still have a very good swather sitting in the shed unused for the last 10? years.
Being a bit old school, It was a bit hard for me to see those sprayer tracks through the standing wheat.
That all changes though, when you have a late cold harvest season with green low spots or tough green weeds in the crop.
After spraying, all the crop and weeds dry evenly.
It's a real joy how easily that uniformly dry crop goes through the combine, goes in the truck uniformly dry too, plus all the weeds you killed before they can go to seed.

Question for wheat farmers.

Chris(WA)

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oldtanker

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Wheat Farmer

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Jon Hagen

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Uncle Ernie

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sixtyninegmc

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Hoofer B

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LenND

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Jon Hagen

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sixtyninegmc

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Jon Hagen

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