It’s that time of year to begin our Crop Alerts! We will be writing weekly to tell you what we are seeing in the field and what to be watching out for.

Time to Start Staging your Triticale for a Timely Harvest!

Now is the time to check the growth stage of your winter triticale. I was surprised by how far some of the earlier planted fields have progressed and have the flag leaf peeking out this week. Plants ranged from 18 to 27 inches in height. Some of those fields will be ready to harvest soon. Triticale should be harvested at Feekes stage 9 for optimal quality. At stage 8 the flag leaf is just emerging from the top of the plant. At Feekes 9, the collar of the flag leaf is visible. Picture: Growth stage 9 on the left. Note leaf collar on the flag leaf is visible and pushed out of the boot. Stage 8 on the right. Flag leaf collar is not visible and still down in the boot. The Team has a short video showing the optimal time for triticale harvest and how to determine Feekes stage 9, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIk2X-tM84Q.

Cereal Leaf Beetles are Out and About in Winter Grains

Cereal leaf beetles (CLB) have been out for a couple weeks now. This week I was able to see most adults paired up and mating. I was not able to find any eggs, but it won’t be long. There are no thresholds for adults in small grains. We will talk about scouting for eggs and larvae next week. Oats are the favored food source for CLB but not many oats are emerged yet, so wheat is what’s out there for them right now. I did find a high number of CLB in a triticale field. This normally would not concern me if this field was going to be harvested for forage. However, this field was going for seed. It will have to be scouted just like our wheat

Winter Wheat Update

Much of the wheat I looked at this week was at Feekes Stage 6 (one node visible) and 7 (two nodes visible). The weather has been good, and the wheat is moving quickly. I saw many farms spraying their herbicides and getting the final shot of nitrogen applied. Now is the time to get this done to get the best bang for your buck. I looked at some fields that sprayed their herbicides on last fall and they are really clean! There was a lot of winter annual weed pressure out there this spring (chickweed, purple dead nettle, and mustards) so hopefully all your spraying is done. Flag leaf will be emerging soon on the earlier planted fields. On April 28, USDA NASS NY rated the wheat crop as 0% very poor, 7% poor, 20% fair, 51% good and 22% excellent.

Pheromone Trap Update

Black cutworm (BCW) and common armyworm (CAW) pheromone traps were put up in six locations across the region on April 12. Remember, these moths do not overwinter in NY and get moved northward on storm fronts from the south. We caught the first BCW, two of them, on April 17 in Wyoming County. On April 24, we caught 16 BCW in that same trap and 32 this week! The trap in Penn Yan also caught 34 this week. We will start to keep track of growing degree days from April 24 forward.  When we hit that 90-degree day mark, BCW eggs will be hatching. CAW also announced themselves on April 24 with 11 caught in Yates County. This trap also caught 102 this week and there were 29 in the Wyoming County trap. We have found from past experiences that CAW like to lay their eggs in winter grains. Wheat, triticale and barley are all fair game and should be scouted as we move closer to head emergence.

Summary of Alfalfa Height and Prediction of % NDF- May 4, 2023

1^st Cutting Forage Quality Update

This is the first week of monitoring 1^st cutting for quality this year. Our procedure consists of using alfalfa height to predict Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) for alfalfa, alfalfa/grass mixed and grass stands. Alfalfa height has proven to be a reliable indicator of NDF values in the field.

Height indicators alfalfa and grass for NDF content are below:

• In general, we say 100% grass stands should be cut when nearby alfalfa is 14 inches tall to achieve the desired 50% NDF.
• Begin cutting 50/50 mixed alfalfa and grass stands when nearby alfalfa is 22 inches tall for the desired 44% NDF.
• Begin cutting 100% alfalfa stands when alfalfa is 28 inches tall for desired 40% NDF.

Predicted days to cut are based on daily NDF increases for grasses of 1% point, 50/50 mixed stands of 0.8% points and alfalfa of 0.5% point. NDF usually increases about 0.8 to 1.2/day for grasses expecting the lower end of that range in cooler weather and the higher end in warmer. Alfalfa NDF increases about 0.4 to 0.7/ day again depending on temperatures. Predictions are adjusted for the coming week’s weather and right now assuming normal growth.

In the attached spreadsheet locations around the region are listed where we have measured alfalfa height. You can use the location and elevation as a guide to conditions that may be similar to your farm.

As of today, May 1^st, 2024, alfalfa heights averaged 12 inches across all locations with grasses averaging 13 inches. Triticale and rye are swiftly approaching harvest stage. This was driven by the short burst of warm weather. We also experienced some cold nights and have seen some spring freeze injuries across the region. Like last year, rain is expected to move in during our triticale and grass harvest. For high quality feed, pure grass stands should be harvested just before the heads start to peek out. So, for northwestern New York, that means harvest should begin as soon as weather permits. Injured stands should be given the time to grow to build up those energy reserves. This will help the stand recover and regrow the rest of the summer. With the combination of warm weather and moisture, you need to be ready to take advantage of the breaks in weather. It is important that you get first cutting off in a timely manner for quality purposes, so please communicate in advance with your team on how you are going to plant corn and successfully harvest 1^st cutting.

**If your location is not listed above but you know the height of your alfalfa, this chart is for you:

Next report will be May 8.

Assisting Mike Stanyard and Jodi Letham is Field Support Staff – Melissa Keller