JACKSON, Tenn. — Tennessee wheat growers this week are determining crop damage from the hard freeze that hit March 15-16.

 

Wheat injury will be apparent about a week after the freeze, said Tyson Raper, UT cotton and small grains specialist, in Jackson.

  

“We’re starting to see a little leaf injury in some spots, but we really don’t know how bad the damage will be as of yet,” he said in a March 17 interview. “It takes approximately three to five days for the symptoms to really develop, as far as damage to the growing point.”

 

Winter wheat plantings in the Jackson and Medina area were at the Feekes 7 and 8 stages last week. At that stage, the wheat plant’s growth point is above ground level, and the plant is more susceptible to frost damage.

 

“Jointing typically does not occur until late March, but our mild winter has allowed much of the timely planted wheat to mature faster than normal,” Raper said.

 

Temperatures dipping into the 20s, combined with wheat at advanced maturity stages, will almost guarantee damage to Tennessee wheat.

 

“We had reports of temperatures reaching 23 in southern Tennessee at the Mississippi line,” Raper said.

 

Jointing wheat is more susceptible to freeze damage when temperatures dip below 26 degrees, according to Kansas State University.

 

Delayed plantings and late wheat germination last fall because of drought will benefit some fields.

 

“Late-planted fields that are just beginning to joint, those are going to be the fields that are least impacted by this cold snap,” Raper said.

 

Similar temperatures occurred March 11, but west Tennessee wheat fields appeared to have dodged any damage from that freeze. Snow cover, ground saturation and lush green growth apparently helped protect damage to wheat growing points.

 

The damage will extend all the way across Tennessee’s major growing areas, from western Delta fields to Middle Tennessee. Overnight temperatures on March 15-16 dipped below 20 in the Nashville area and were in the mid-20s 

at Knoxville. “I believe we’re going to see injury in just about every Tennessee wheat field. The extent of that injury is going to vary depending on growth stage,” Raper said.

 

Growers with wheat fields that experience severe freeze injury will be deciding whether to plant another crop. A big part of that decision process is which wheat herbicides were applied, as some herbicides can still damage springplanted crops.

 

Finesse, Powerflex and Osprey herbicides can limit replanting options for corn, cotton and grain sorghum, according to Larry Steckel, UT weed scientist at Jackson.

 

“Fortunately, the two most commonly used wheat herbicides in our state, Harmony Extra and Axial, have fairly short plant back intervals to corn, cotton, soybean and grain sorghum,” he said.

 

Tennessee farmers sowed 400,000 acres of winter wheat last fall, according to USDA. That was down 12 percent from 2015 seedings and 25 percent off

2014 wheat acreage sown in Tennessee.

 

Kentucky, Missouri damage

 

Much of western Kentucky saw dry fall seeding conditions that delayed germination. That kept the Kentucky wheat crop at maturity stages not vulnerable to hard freezes in February. But many Kentucky wheat fields grew in late February and early March and were likely vulnerable to last week’s freeze. An emergency wheat field school was scheduled for March 21 at the Western Kentucky Research and Education Center in Princeton to help producers evaluate the extent of freeze damage and make decisions on their wheat fields’ futures.

 

Kentucky winter wheat acreage remained about the same as last season, 550,000 acres, with most of that planted in western Kentucky. Replanting to other row crops, as well as livestock feeding, are possible ways for wheat growers to avoid losses from yield-damaging freeze injury.

 

Wheat injury will also extend west and south of Tennessee. “I do think we’re going to see injury into Missouri and Arkansas,” Raper said.

 

Overnight temperatures at the University of Missouri Fisher Delta Research Center, in Portageville, fell to 22 degrees on March 15. Missouri wheat acreage is down to 640,000 acres sowed last fall. That is a big drop from recent seasons.

 

Missouri farmers planted 760,000 wheat acres in 2015 and 880,000 acres in 2014.