Freeze Events: With last week’s cold spell, it’s hard to know exactly how it will impact flowering trees, shrubs, and fruit trees. It really depends on the bud/flowering stage at the time of the freezing temperatures. I’ve also received a number of questions regarding wheat and how bad it looks due to frost right now. In some cases, the injury may look worse due to leaf burn from fertilizer and/or fertilizer + herbicide applications shortly before the freeze events. We need to be patient and allow time with anticipated warmer temps to watch recovery. Ultimately, wheat in the tillering stage is quite tolerant of frost with minimal yield impact expected down to 12F for 2 hours. Once the wheat begins jointing (growing point moves above ground), temperatures like what we experienced of 24F for 2 hours can moderately to significantly impact yield. While upper leaves may be burned off from frost, there’s actually a micro-climate effect within the wheat canopy which is warmer closer to the ground (depending on the wheat stand). If the soil had quite a bit of moisture prior to freeze events, it also helps buffer the soil temperatures, reducing freeze injury. What I look at: is the wheat in tillering or jointing stage? Do you notice any splitting of tillers at the base of the plants? If the wheat is jointing, split the stem to look at the growing point (I use a box cutter for wheat this small). Is the growing point white and healthy or yellow/brown and mushy? Wheat can tolerate much, but I can also appreciate how many of you are trying to make decisions. You can also check out the freeze to wheat article in CropWatch and more localized to our area, Nathan Mueller’s blog: http://croptechcafe.org/multiple-spring-freeze-events-impact-winter-wheat/.

Regarding alfalfa, it’s another ‘wait and see’ situation. Please see this week’s CropWatch

Check the upper-most cluster of buds to determine any affects. This is where the growing point is located. If this cluster is froze off, look at axillary buds along main stem and new buds from crown for new growth.

at cropwatch.unl.edu for more info. The more growth actually results in potential for increased damage and it also depends on the air temperature and duration of freeze. New seedlings can be pretty resilient due to being close to warm soil, protected by companion crops like oats, or due to natural seedling tolerance. Damage can range from upper stems and leaves wilting and turning brown to a hard freeze causing plants to completely wilt down and fall over. What I watch for are new buds…buds that are within the canopy that weren’t exposed to frost, new axillary buds that develop from upper stems that have frozen off, and new crown buds. In 2007, some chose to remove the dead plant material from the plants to stimulate growth. Dr. Bruce Anderson found the plants reacted to the killed tops from frost the same as they would from a normal cutting. Thus, we’d recommend observing how the alfalfa responds  and ultimately doing nothing for the time being. Cutting alfalfa for hay with only 6” of growth in most fields wouldn’t be practical and can weaken plants. Anticipate first cutting to be delayed as a result of these multiple freeze events.

Planting: While you might not share this sentiment, I was grateful last week was so clearly not the right conditions to plant for this area of the State! It seems extra tempting when there’s a couple of really nice days prior to a cold snap. Outside of ‘is it ok to plant’ or ‘should I plant corn or beans’, my main planting question is regarding soybean seeding rates. We now have 13 years of on-farm research from this part of the State in 15” (planted not drilled) and 30” rows in silt loam/clay loam soils showing no yield benefit to planting greater than 120,000 seeds/acre. These studies included a seed treatment when soybean was planted in late April/early May. Otherwise, no yield differences were achieved from 120K to 180K regardless if seed treatment was used. We share more in this week’s CropWatch. With sudden death syndrome being bad in 2019, I’ve also received questions on seed treatments such as Ilevo® or Saltro® for it. I will share the research next week. Bottom line: economically I would only consider this if you have a history of SDS. Even so, environmental conditions don’t always favor SDS. You could consider using SDS treated seed along areas with a creek or intermittent stream running through the field or lower areas of the field where water ponds and using non-SDS treated seed in the rest of the field. Early planting doesn’t automatically favor SDS. Water during flowering and levels of soybean cyst nematode can favor it. Will share the data next week. And, a reminder to check your seed tag regarding proper PPE to wear when handling any treated seed. Here’s wishing you a safe planting season!