NorKan Dry Fertilizer Plant
Concordia, KS
James Peter (standing at right), Farmway Co-op's Clay Center Crop Production location manager, welcomes guests to the Avail/NutriSphere-N meeting held at the Clay Center Methodist Church.
Jericho Hammond (seated) Clay Center Crop Production bookkeeper, visits with producers as the register for the Clay Center meeting held in March. Approximately 50+ producers from Clay Center, Miltonvale, Leonarville and surrounding areas were in attendance at the meeting.
| State lifts wheat embargo
The Kansas Department of Agriculture announced this afternoon (June 25) that it has lifted the confinement of wheat at three elevators and in 20 fields covering 1,545 acres in south central Kansas. Tests of wheat samples harvested from these fields indicate that levels of fungicide residue on the wheat are well within safe limits.
Protecting the integrity of the Kansas Wheat crop and the reputation of our state as a provider of wheat to the world is of utmost importance, said Dusti Fritz, Kansas Wheat CEO. We feel confident that a limited number of wheat fields in northwest Kansas, also under investigation, will yield the same good results.
Below-average Kansas wheat crops the last two years have increased the importance of a successful harvest this year to help replenish record-low world stocks of wheat. Many Kansas wheat producers have risen to that challenge by investing in a fungicide application for their crop. Fungicides are used to control wheat rust diseases which can have a severe impact on wheat yields. Farmers who use fungicides are simply following good management practices.
Fungicide use by farmers in wheat can be partially attributed to the Easter freeze of 2007. That freeze and heavy rains thereafter forced farmers to abandon many wheat fields. This reduced the amount of seed available from varieties that have some rust resistance. Thus, farmers may have had to resort to planting seed from available varieties without resistance.
The current situation arose due to concerns of the label requirements of certain fungicide products. The labels indicate application of the product at or just prior to the wheat plant heading, but also dictate a 30-45 day waiting period before the wheat can be harvested. In Kansas, the time period between wheat heading and harvesting is often less than 30 days. Farmers cannot take the risk of allowing ripe wheat to stay in the fields exposed to the elements to meet the 45-day requirement.
Research by some of the involved fungicide companies indicate that fungicide residue levels on the wheat reach acceptable levels in much less than the required 30-45 days. Kansas Wheat will work with the fungicide manufacturers over the coming months to reach a solution to the challenging label requirements.
Fungicides are an important tool for Kansas wheat farmers and steps must be taken to ensure they are able to use the products on their wheat, Fritz said.
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