MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The conference is set for March 27, 2001 at the San Angelo Convention Center. The Tom Green and Runnels County Field Crops committees have put together a very informative educational program and I want to encourage everyone to participate in the conference. More details later.

REMINDER: Please return your "Pest Management News" questionnaire if you haven't done so. This evaluation is important and will be used to direct our program in the future. Thanks to all who have already return it.

On Tuesday, January 23, there will be three CEUs offered at the Permian Basin Cotton Conference in Stanton. Those interested in attending need to contact Lee Howard (Stanton at 915-756-3316).

On Wednesday, January 24, there will be CEUs offered at the multi county meeting held in Anson. Those interested in attending need to contact Todd Vinyard (Anson at 915-823-2432).

On Monday, February 5, there will be a Last Chance CEU Roundup at St. Mary's Church Hall. Five CEUs will be offered-two hours Laws and Regs, two hours IPM and one hour General.

For more information or to preregister by Friday, February 2, 2001, please call Marty Gibbs 365-2219, Rick Minzenmayer 365-5212 or Michael Palmer 732-4304. Cost of the course is $25.00 which includes a noon meal.

For more CEU information, visit the TDA Pesticide CEU Page.

We have a wide range of ages in wheat crops this year. Some wheat was dry sowed in September and other wheat was planted in mid-December. Some of it is not up to a stand yet. The cool soil temperature is resulting in a purple coloration in some of the younger wheat and this occurred primarily from low phosphorus uptake by the plant. Root development on the mid-December planted wheat will be weak and the plant will stress easily if soil moisture reserves are depleted.

Small grain fields which were planted early and had plants that were lush and actively growing experienced injury by the freezing temperatures. Most of the injury was on the leaf tips and the plants should recover without a major impact to yield.

Much of the wheat planted in the Southern Rolling Plains was planted in late November thru mid-December. Late planted wheat will mature later than early planted wheat. Late maturity will expose the crop to higher temperatures and more drought stress during grain fill. The potential for disease such as leaf rust and stem rust is usually higher during the latter part of the growing season causing more risk to the maturing crop.

Seedlings which emerge in December and January are at much greater risk of winterkill. Wheat survives better if there is time to establish a secondary root system and some tillus prior to extremely cold weather. Wheat grows very slowly at low temperature and is essentially dormant below 40 degrees. Keep all this in mind when making management decisions on your crop.

Base your fertilization program on long-term averages and not on last year's production. Moderate nitrogen and phosphorus rates have given economical yield increases in seasons of adequate rainfall. Small grains which are grazed usually need more fertilizer than ungrazed grain. Nitrogen increases forage production but grazing also removes much of the nitrogen applied in the fall.

"Rule of thumb" each bushel of wheat requires 2.0 pounds of nitrogen for production. Therefore, a producer with a realistic yield goal of 30 bushels, for example, would need 60 pounds of available nitrogen to produce that yield. Part of that nitrogen is already present, so a good soil test would tell you how much additional nitrogen would be needed to produce that yield goal.

Nutrient intake increases dramatically once tilling has occurred. Wheat uses 68% of its nitrogen by the boot stage. The remaining 32% is taken up between boot and milk stage.

January and early February are a good time to top dress wheat with a nitrogen fertilizer. The small grain crop demand for winter is low through most of the growing season. At the time of jointing, the water use increases and continues to increase until the stage of gall ill ripening begins.

Educational programs conducted by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, handicap or national origin. The information given herein is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is implied.