Tall and Wooly Wheat in North Carolina

At the Joint Commodity Conference in Durham on Thursday the four commodities, corn, cotton, small grains and soybeans had individual break out sessions for their research updates, a deviation in format from previous years because they took place simultaneously, therefore, growers had to choose which update they wanted to hear.
 

NC State’s Dr. Randy Weisz gave the wheat update and opened with what a difference a year makes. This year’s wheat crop is in a wide range of growth stages across the state due to a wide range of planting times. Some fields are only an inch or two tall, and some is very tall, thick and wooly:
 

Weisz also recommended holding off on topdressing with nitrogen as long as possible, into the first of March if possible, as long as there’s no tillering. He also addressed the situation of many fields already having plenty of nitrogen in the soil, unused from last season’s crop. He strongly recommended a soil test before applying nitrogen.