Seed Treatment for Winter Wheat
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Some pests and diseases of winter wheat can start affecting the crop before it’s even out of the ground. That’s one reason BASF is focusing on seed treatments. Technical service rep Curtis Rainbolt. Says there’s one pest in particular that their product Teraxxa F4 can really help with.
Rainbolt… “Wireworms can really thin down the stand that you have. And so that can reduce yields quite a bit, but also increase your weed problems just because you don't have that crop competition. So we've been excited. It's been a lot of fun working with a product like Teraxxa which really fit that need.”
Rainbolt said this early control can help with both weed management and yield.
Rainbolt… “Wireworms are actually the laal stage of click beetles. And depending on the species, and we have a lot of species that it can affect your wheat. They stay in the soil for three to five years, before they pupate and become an adult. And so during that time, they're actively feeding and when the wheat seed starts to germinate and respire, they're attracted to that carbon dioxide. And so they'll come up if there's soil moisture, they'll come up and start trying to feed on that seed at that point. But if conditions are right, mainly soil temperatures being cool enough and enough soil moisture, they'll come up close to the surface or above the surface and feed on the wheat plant. And at that point they can knock out tillers.”
Learn more at agriculture.basf.us.
