The cold front and the freezing temperatures that were brought to the northwest area have us worried about the wheat and canola crops. As of right now, the data is not looking good for us. The critical temperature at boot stage for wheat is 28 degrees for a minimum of two hours. If we stay at or below that, we will have a possibility of damage to wheat which in return, could make the plant head go sterile which would result in blank heads.

It is also a concerning factor with how fast the temperature falls. A quicker drop will cause more damage, as water in plant cells freezes. The ice that forms will break the cell walls, causing worse damage. Damage to plant stems could affect the amount of moisture and nutrients that are distributed.

The canola crop, too, suffered damage from the late freeze. What the impact of the late freezes, combined with the prolonged drought, will remain to be seen. It will not be for another five or six days before we see any damages in the canola. As seen in last year’s canola, late freezes did do damage to the canola crop, although we did have moisture to allow it to sucker out. It will be interesting to see how the lack of moisture will affect the upcoming canola crop.

Read the OSU Freeze Update

We scouted wheat fields and found brown wheat mites. However, it’s not in all the fields; it’s very sporadic.

Today was an interesting day as it started as a sunny, beautiful day. Mother Nature put a twist on things and teased us with what seemed like, a promising break in the clouds. Jared and I were in Omega spraying foliar nutrient test plots when the sky opened, spit on us and abruptly left. We got a few neat pictures in the process though. After finishing the plots, we scouted wheat fields and found brown wheat mites. However, it’s not in all the fields; it’s very sporadic. Some fields we found have a higher pressure in bird cherry oat aphids and others, a higher pressure in wheat mites. We encourage you to be out checking your fields for these critters.