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How to Decide if Reseeding is Necessary | |
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From the June 1, 2009 Issue of Agri-News | |
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| | There are a number of considerations producers should keep in mind when trying to decide whether or not to reseed a crop.
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“As an agronomist, I have been called out a number of times to examine crops that were possible candidates for reseeding," says Nick Underwood, Reduced Tillage agronomist for the Peace Region. "Sometimes it isn't that easy to decide. You not only have to decide whether the crop needs to be reseeded but also with what.”
The most likely crop to have a problem is canola. A common scenario sees the crop emerge and then get hit by a late hard frost, making it appear that reseeding is needed.
"First off, don't make any rash decisions," cautions Underwood. "Wait three to four days and then have a close look at the plants in different parts of the field to see if the growing point is dead or if there are signs of life. Count live plants per square foot in several places to come up with the number of living plants in the field or the part of the field in question."
Underwood says that the easiest way to count is per foot of row. "For a good canola crop you need 7 to 17 plants per square foot. The date is also a key consideration. The later you seed, or reseed, the lower the yield potential. A low plant count that was seeded early may do as well or better than a higher plant count that was reseeded late.”
If there are less than seven plants per square foot, a reasonable crop may still be anticipated. However, it will mature more slowly as it branches out to fill in the spaces.
"Weed control will be more important in this situation," notes Underwood. "If direct seeding, it will be necessary to spray out the remaining plants if a reseeding decision is made to change crops. In this instance, a cheap phenoxy herbicide will be required if the frozen crop is RR canola. A short-season barley is the best choice for reseeding in this case. If reseeding to canola, it should be resistant to the same herbicide as the original crop, but it should be a shorter season variety."
Reseeding cereals or peas is unusual because frost is unlikely to cause severe damage to those crops. “If the young crop is badly damaged by excess water, the reseeding will obviously be delayed and a crop change is likely," says Underwood. "This may provide an opportunity to change to a fall-seeded crop."
Underwood cautions to make sure that emergence is finished before assessing the crop and doing plant counts. “Also, confirm the cause of the poor plant stand. You want to make sure that the real problem wasn't that you seeded at the wrong depth or too quickly, and that the frost wasn't just the last straw."
"Reseeding is less common than it used to be because of direct seeding," adds Underwood. "When seeding the first time, aim for the right plant population at the right depth."
Contact:
Nick Underwood
780-814-1232 |
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This document is maintained by Rita Splawinski.
This information published to the web on May 27, 2009.
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