Many Fields at T3 Fungicide Timing
As we have seen in years past, early planting with even emergence matters, this cannot be stressed enough! There are really two wheat crops in Ontario, the early September planted wheat and the Thanksgiving and on planted wheat. The variability in heading within fields this year is unbelievable. In a year like this with high risk of fusarium and DON, it is a huge advantage to have evenly heading wheat.
Uneven emergence in the fall due to inadequate residue management creates a fusarium timing headache. When there are significant differences in heading date, it is impossible to time the field just right to get the most value from T3 fungicides. Another observation that is causing uneven heading is wheel tracks from early applications of nitrogen, or manure that has been applied if the same tracks were not used all season. The plants in the wheel tracks are one growth stage behind!
Usually we do not see these tracks, however this year they are visible in many fields. For maximum efficacy of T3 fungicides, you want to aim for 50% flower on at least 75% of the heads in the field. With the unevenness of the wheat this year, that might be very challenging to achieve. See Tim’s comments on application tips for best control.
For the most part, the area London and south most of the wheat has been sprayed with a T3 fungicide. There might be the odd late planted field that is not quite there yet. In the area London north, T3 applications are about 40-50% done. The remainder are at day 0 to +2. In the Niagara region, T3 applications have been made on the early planted wheat with the later planted wheat not far behind.
North of London (Area 2) and East through to Ottawa Valley (Area 3) is preparing to be sprayed this week, or in the midst of spraying. Many fields are just seeing heads emerge, but some are full head and early flowering at the proper spray timing. The weather seems to be changing this week and may help with Fusarium control, but we still feel it is absolutely essential that we protect our crop with a T3 fungicide for 2 reasons, Fusarium control and Stripe Rust.
