Winnipeg-based Richardson on Monday announced expanded rail car spots for its elevators at Lacombe, Carseland, Provost and Olds, Alta.; Estevan, Whitewood and Nokomis, Sask.; and its Dundonald elevator about 20 km north of Portage la Prairie, Man.

At Whitewood, about 110 km south of Yorkton, the expansion work will also include upgraded storage capacity, bringing it up to about 44,800 tonnes from its current 31,140. A company spokesperson said the upgrades will also boost that site’s loading speed to 134 cars in 16 hours.

The expansion work is due to start later this summer for completion by the end of next year, Richardson said.

The expansions, CPKC said, will allow future trains from these sites to run under the railway’s 8,500-foot (2.6-kilometre) High Efficiency Product (HEP) model.

CPKC’s standard unit train for grain, which today runs up to 7,000 feet (2.1 km), is the model Richardson today ships from 27 CPKC-served elevators in Canada and one in the northern U.S.

In 2018, before its merger with Kansas City Southern, CP unveiled new high-efficiency grain hopper cars for the HEP model, featuring a five per cent shorter frame capable of carrying 10 per cent greater weight and 15 per cent more volume than previous-generation hopper cars. In all, CP said at the time, the 8,500-foot HEP train model is expected to allow a train to handle about 44 percent more grain.

Richardson’s newest elevator, commissioned earlier this year at Carmichael, Sask., about 65 km southwest of Swift Current, marks the grain handler’s first 8,500-foot HEP-compatible site, with a loop track to handle up to 175 high cube-style rail cars.

Richardson president Darwin Sobkow said in a release Monday the expansions at the eight Prairie elevators “will increase capacity and efficiency, enabling Richardson to further benefit from CPKC’s single-line network reaching Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.”

CPKC executive vice-president John Brooks said in the same release Monday that “Richardson’s ability to run longer trains will mean more grain shipped per train, tighter cycles and more Richardson trains moving across our expanded, single-line network throughout the season.”

The move follows the completion in April of CPKC’s merger, which officially ties CP’s track to Kansas City’s lines in the U.S. and Mexico.

That single-line rail network will also make for a “seamless pipeline” between Richardson’s Prairie elevators in “durum-rich areas in Saskatchewan” and its U.S. durum flour milling operation, Italgrani, at St. Louis, CPKC said Monday.

“Furthermore, the combined network and markets in the southern U.S. and Mexico are opening new doors to Richardson for their grains, oilseeds and processed products.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Steve Biggar, associate vice-president of fertilizer and energy products for Winnipeg-based Richardson, said it was the right time for the company to launch CirrusX because of new treaters the company has installed to allow liquid products to be applied onto granular fertilizers.

“Over half of our locations have these new treating systems and most of our customers are able to access the technology either at their local site or at a neighbouring Richardson location,” he said.

CirrusX, a liquid product, could be used in combination with granular fertilizers to improve efficiency of the fertilizer and control loss of nitrogen due to volatilization, denitrification and leaching.

Biggar said that Richardson chose a nitrogen stabilizer as its first proprietary crop input because having the new treating equipment made entering the market easy.

“For us it made sense because we have control over the whole supply chain in terms of bringing the material in in totes, hooking those totes up to a treater that is attached to our fertilizer blender and then shipping out the blends to our customers,” he said.

CirrusX is already on the market and available for purchase, but those looking to get their hands on CirrusX will have to go directly to a Richardson Pioneer location. Biggar said CirrusX is a Richardson Pioneer-exclusive product, and the company has no plans to wholesale the product to other retailers.

“Typically, how we would recommend a product like this would be through one of our agronomists or salespeople,” said Biggar.

Currently, there is no plan for Richardson to release a pricing deal for growers who already use their products.

“We have over 100 certified crop advisors who work with customers to develop individual crop plans. We’ll be approaching the market mainly through our own sales and agronomy people.”

Going forward, Richardson will be looking to gradually add to and expand its own line of products.

“We’re looking at other foliar micronutrient products,” said Biggar. “We probably would look at some crop protection products. We’re looking for products that have proven value and a good track record.”

Richardson hopes the launch of CirrusX will help its customers attain the 4R Nutrient Stewardship method to increase crop yields.

Richardson Pioneer, Biggar said, is a “firm supporter” of 4R, a framework meant to help farmers achieve optimal crop production by way of the four R’s: right fertilizer source, right rate, right time and right place.

“We know that growers don’t want to spend any more money on fertilizer than they have to, so having urea that is treated with CirrusX will allow growers to have the right nitrogen source and ensures the nutrients are available at the right time.”

Richardson believes its customers are sustainable growers and world leaders in following best practices when using fertilizer, he said. “We see CirrusX as just another tool to allow growers to increase their efficiency and reduce their environmental footprint.”

— Hannah Polk reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Regina.

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Driving through lush, green farmland near Elfros, Sask., one day in July, I had a peaceful, easy feeling as I watched a gentle breeze rock the growing crops back and forth in the passing fields. It was a perfect summer day, one that farmers and agronomists dream about.

The dream came to an abrupt halt as I pulled up to a barley field that Sam, a customer of mine who runs a 4,000-acre mixed grain farm, had called me about.

It had been a dry spring but farms in the area were doing relatively well. In the past week there had been a substantial amount of precipitation, which had perked up crops, but that wasn’t the case in this field.

“We have a big problem here,” said Sam, pointing to a glaring patch of discoloured barley plants. “I have never seen anything like this, ever. It’s like almost overnight they turned yellow.”

As I surveyed the barley crop, it was clear the yellowing wasn’t consistent across the field but was limited to some areas along the main grid which, to Sam’s chagrin, were in full view of his neighbour’s critical eyes. When I inspected some of the affected plants, other symptoms were revealed — leaves that were necrotic and leaf tips that were turning brown.

Sam had grown barley before, but this was the first time he’d tried this new feed variety. Sam told me he thought the disease package on the variety was decent, so he was surprised to see what he believed could be a disease outbreak in the field.

As the two of us walked through the damaged crop, Sam continued telling me about the history of the field.

“I always fertilize macros for what the crop needs, and since I started broadcasting my micro blend containing zinc, boron and copper, the yields have been terrific across the farm. This field, though, has been nothing but trouble,” Sam said.

“I couldn’t spray it two years ago because it was too darn wet. I’ve been playing catch up on weed control ever since, and now this.”

Sam thought he had finally got a grip on the weeds after applying a comprehensive weed management program that incorporated residual and multi-mode of action herbicides.

Because I’d never seen anything like this before, I decided the best strategy was to get tissue samples from some affected plants tested. I told Sam I thought that should provide an answer to the mystery of what was going on with his barley crop.

“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Sam said. “As the saying goes, I have to stay optimistic or else I wouldn’t still be farming!”

Crop Advisor’s Solution: Excess boron to blame for barley yellowing

The lab results of the affected tissue samples we sent for testing revealed boron toxicity was the most likely culprit for the yellowing barley, since it was in the very high range with 214.4 ppm.

Boron was one of the micronutrients Sam had broadcast over the barley field earlier in the season. Boron is mobile in the soil, and it appeared the substantial precipitation after the nutrient was applied had pushed the boron deeper into the plant’s root zone, causing the affected barley to turn yellow later in the season.

Excessive boron also causes stem elongation, which could explain why the symptoms had become much more noticeable in what seemed like very little time.

After discussing the results of the tissue tests, Sam and I agreed the best course of action was to monitor the issue with further testing. I was able to get back out to the field after another big rain- storm to collect more tissue samples, and this time the testing showed the amount of boron in problem areas of the field had climbed to 366.0 ppm.

At this point, there wasn’t anything that could be done to correct the boron toxicity issue. Fortunately for Sam, it was limited to only certain parts of the barley field and it didn’t turn out to be a huge yield drag come harvest time, as the crop yielded very close to that of his other barley fields, which showed no symptoms.

As this case shows, boron toxicity symptoms can be very irregular across fields. In this instance, though, the problem was com- pounded by an operator error, which I learned about after a discussion with Sam. It turned out when Sam had applied boron and other nutrients to the barley field, he’d been trying out a brand-new floater he’d just purchased and was adjusting application rates on the fly. This led to overapplication in some areas, which was obviously detrimental to the crop.

After acknowledging his mistake, Sam was able to laugh about it — joking he should refrain from operating any equipment that was less than 20 years old from now on, and that Toby, his 12-year-old, more tech savvy son, should be put in charge of running the newer equipment on the farm.

Jackie Medvid, CCA, TechAg, works for Richardson Pioneer Ltd. in Foam Lake, Sask.

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The Winnipeg company’s current site, on Canadian National Railway (CN) track about six kilometres north of the town of Swan River, is anchored by a wooden crib workhouse and up until 2001 had about 4,850 tonnes of storage capacity.

Richardson in 2002 began to add steel bin storage at the site, which according to the Canadian Grain Commission has capacity today for about 28,310 tonnes of grain.

“While the current original wood structure has served an important role in supporting our customers within the Swan River Valley, it is nearing the end of its useful life span,” Richardson Pioneer’s chief operations officer Darwin Sobkow said Monday in a release.

The new high-throughput, which Richardson expects to complete by August next year, is to have 36,600 tonnes of storage capacity and a loop track system to load 150 rail cars.

The new site will also have high-speed receiving and loadout, a “modern and efficient” grain cleaning system and a new 4,600-square foot office, the company said.

The site will remain “fully operational during the entire construction period through the existing grain and crop inputs facilities,” Richardson said.

The company, Sobkow said, has had a “significant presence” in the Swan River Valley for over 40 years and redevelopment there is “the next logical course of action.”

Privately-held Richardson is the only major Prairie grain handler with capacity at Swan River. In 2007 it also picked up an older elevator in town from Agricore United, as the latter company prepared to merge into Viterra.

However, under order from the federal Competition Bureau that year, Richardson dealt that site away to Cargill, which already owned another small older elevator nearby.

Cargill in 2015 shut down and demolished both its Swan River elevators, saying they would need “significant and costly” upgrades to remain in operation. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The Winnipeg company said Thursday it expects to complete a new high-throughput grain elevator by fall next year on Canadian National Railway (CN) track at Huallen, about 35 km west of Grande Prairie.

The Huallen elevator will have 45,000 tonnes of storage capacity and a loop track system to load up to 150 rail cars, Richardson said.

The new build will give Richardson Pioneer presence in the County of Grande Prairie, which Tom Hamilton, the company’s senior vice-president for agribusiness operations, described in a release Thursday as “one of the most productive regions in Western Canada.”

The company’s grain handle in the larger Peace region also includes Alberta elevators at Rycroft and Nampa and a facility at Dawson Creek, B.C.

Further north, Richardson also recently replaced an older elevator with a new high-throughput facility at High Level, Alta., which “has significantly expanded shipping capacity in a region historically underserved,” the company said.

Once the Huallen elevator is complete, Richardson said it will build a retail crop inputs facility at the site, to be open in late 2022. That operation will include a high-speed fertilizer blender and 10,000-square foot warehouse, the company said.

The Huallen crop inputs facility “will enable us to provide a full-service option for both grain and agronomics,” Hamilton said.

“This will include offering our customers leading seed, fertilizer and crop protection technologies in addition to year-round support with CropWatch agronomic services and CropMatrix digital services.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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John, who grows mainly wheat, canola and peas on his farm near Canora, Sask., called me in late August to report a problem his swather operator had spotted while swathing a canola field.

Within the field, he said, there were numerous patches with canola plants that were undersized and had odd-coloured stems. John hadn’t seen anything like this before in his canola fields, and he asked me to come out to have a look for myself.

When I arrived at the field, I observed there was no pattern to the patches — for example, they weren’t only in the low spots.

I could see the affected canola plants were stunted and had prematurely ripened. The field had been swathed, so the discoloured stems that John had referred to were clearly visible. When I pulled up a few plants to have a look at the roots, they appeared to be normal.

I didn’t detect much in the way of insect damage in the field, and there were no red flags when I questioned John about his weed control program, indicating that herbicide carry-over wasn’t to blame.

I also asked John about the field history, and when he told me the field had a two-year rotation and the same variety of canola had been grown there the last few seasons, I began to suspect it was disease causing the problem in John’s canola crop. But which one?

Crop Advisor’s Solution: Blackleg to blame for John’s ailing canola

I knew then the symptoms across John’s canola field were likely due to increased disease pressure and blackleg was the most likely culprit. This was confirmed when I clipped the stems near the base of the affected plants and observed stem rot, which is characteristic of blackleg.

Blackleg is a crop residue-borne disease, and the number of spores it produces is greatly reduced when there is at least a two-year break between canola crops in a rotation. The main preventative measure for blackleg, therefore, is to use at least a three-year rotation, which wasn’t the case in John’s canola field.

The other recommendation to prevent the occurrence of blackleg in canola is to switch up varieties and use new genetics that contain different blackleg resistance genes. If varieties with the same genetics are used repeatedly, the disease strains that don’t match the resistance genes begin to dominate, thereby increasing the risk of blackleg infection.

John assured me he’d proactively take steps to avoid another blackleg outbreak from happening next year by switching to canola varieties with different blackleg resistant packages and that he would also work toward increasing the length of his crop rotation.

John and I also discussed how he could mitigate the severity of blackleg infections in the future by regularly scouting for blackleg and utilizing an appropriate fungicide when necessary to help ward off the disease.

Tess Strand, CCA, 4R NMS, TechAg, works for Richardson Pioneer Ltd. in Wadena, Sask.

Professional designations: Editor’s note

We noticed that Tess Strand had some professional designations we hadn’t used in this magazine before, so we thought we’d provide a quick refresher on what all these letters mean.

PAg: Professional agrologist with a four-year university degree
TechAg: Technical agrologist with a diploma or degree from a school or college
4R NMS: Nutrient management specialist
CCA: Certified crop advisor
BSc: Bachelor of science university degree

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Like most farmers, Tom has dealt with his share of insect pests. He’s encountered many different pests at his 6,000-acre mixed grain operation near Wadena, Sask., over the years, but this past August he came across a new insect that had him stumped.

Tom called me in early August to say he’d been out inspecting one of his barley fields at head emergence when he’d spotted some unusual little worms crawling around in the awns of some plants. He had no idea what they were, and because he’d already seen cutworms and flea beetles in his crop earlier in the season, he was worried this unfamiliar insect could cause further problems.

Tom asked if I could come out right away to help identify the worms. I arrived at his farm and started scouting the barley field, but I couldn’t see any sign of the insect.

Tom, like most producers in the area, had had a challenging year dealing with emergence and insect issues throughout the season, so I was aware that he’d been monitoring his crops very carefully to ensure nothing else went wrong. I knew there had to be something there or else Tom wouldn’t have called me, so I kept looking.

Finally, I encountered a barley plant with the insect Tom had described. I could see lots of the worms crawling around next to an armyworm that I also observed on the plant. Looking around, I spotted more worms and some cocoons on other barley plants and even on some wild oats that were also in the field.

I wasn’t sure what I was looking at either, but when I consulted my textbook on field pests to identify the insect, it became clear what this insect was and just what kind of threat it posed to Tom’s barley crop. When I informed Tom, the answer to those questions took him by surprise.

Crop Advisor’s Solution: Not all insects are pests

After consulting my textbook on field pests, I knew what I was looking at wasn’t a pest at all!

The worms and cocoons belonged to a beneficial insect called the Braconid wasp, which parasitizes caterpillar pests such as armyworms. Braconid wasps lay their eggs in the caterpillars, which then hatch and produce larvae that consume the caterpillars from the inside out.

The little worms I found with the armyworm were, in fact, Braconid wasp larvae, which had likely just emerged from the armyworm. Within hours of emerging from their insect hosts, the larvae will cocoon and continue their life cycle.

When I gave Tom the news, he was relieved to hear he didn’t have another problem insect on his hands. I told him nature has a way of taking care of pests, and I advised Tom to leave the Braconid wasps to do their job in his barley crop.

Reanne Denomie, PAg, CCA, BSc, works for Richardson Pioneer in Wadena, Sask.

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The arm of Winnipeg’s Richardson International said Monday it has started construction on a new elevator at High Level in northwestern Alberta, about 200 km south of the province’s border with the Northwest Territories.

The new facility, connected to Canadian National Railway (CN) track, will have 32,000 tonnes of storage capacity and a loop track configuration able to load 135 rail cars, the company said.

Richardson Pioneer’s current wooden crib elevator at High Level has 6,500 tonnes of storage capacity.

The new facility, expected to be complete by fall 2020, will “work closely” with Richardson Pioneer’s new crop inputs business at nearby La Crete, bought in February from AgLand Seed and Chemical.

“The High Level area, with its solid and loyal customer base, is an important market for us,” Darwin Sobkow, the company’s executive vice-president of operations, said in Monday’s release.

“The construction of this new facility, along with the recently acquired crop input business in La Crete, shows our long-term commitment to the area and ensures we will be able to meet our customers’ growing needs.”

The company, in its release, also hailed the “collaborative efforts” of High Level town officials and of the High Level Agricultural Exhibition Association, which it said “ensured the project proceeded in a timely manner.”

The Town of High Level, in a separate release, said the new elevator’s site will take up a section of land formerly occupied by the association.

“In order to facilitate the new project, the town has been working with the (association) to relocate to a new site nearby and are currently working to prepare the lot in advance,” the town said.

High Level Mayor Crystal McAteer hailed the announcement as “a dream come true” for the town, adding that area farmers “will be able to save valuable time and thousands of dollars in transportation costs from not having to drive all the way to other grain handling facilities.”

Town officials, she said, are “extremely grateful” to the association “for seeing the benefit of the new grain terminal to the entire region and once again agreeing to move their infrastructure to a new location.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Dave, who farms 6,000 acres of wheat, barley, peas and canola in Central Alberta, was trying out a new canola seed variety, which was in its first market year. The variety had clubroot resistance and had also been selected for some pod shatter tolerance.

Throughout the growing season, the canola crop had developed normally, and it was a generally healthy crop. Dave hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the crop and I had been out to the field a few times to scout throughout the season. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

The crop was planted on a quarter section new to Dave — he’d only been farming it for a few years. It was highly productive land and had been fertilized with a premium blend. A fungicide application had been made on the canola crop at 30 per cent flower for protection against sclerotinia as in-season rainfall and a dense crop canopy were conducive to disease development.

In early September, when Dave was swathing the crop, he noticed the pods were shelling out more than he expected. Dave thought that perhaps there was something wrong with the new variety.

“Something is wrong with this variety,” he said. “It is shelling out at swathing time. I have never had a variety shell like this while swathing before!”

He said the field’s hilltops, where the soils were drier and lighter, were most affected by the shelling. He hadn’t noticed any shelling prior to swathing. The day he swathed had been hot, Dave added.

Eager to get to work on this problem, I met Dave at the field, parking by the roadside and donning my booties for walking in the field. Because the field was completely swathed, it was easier to walk through; however, I was worried Dave’s call had come too late for a diagnosis.

Dave took me directly to the spot where he first noticed the shelling and then we moved on to some other locations. The field was rolling with a few high and low spots.

While we were walking through the field, possible sources of the shelling issue were running through my mind. For example, a nutrient deficiency can cause some areas to stage or ripen differently than the rest of the field. If the plants ripen off too quickly, it can cause the pods to shell out.

However, annual soil tests have been conducted on this field and fertilizer is applied accordingly. This field had been managed with a balanced fertility program, so there was no reason for the plants to run out of nutrients and ripen prematurely.

Excess moisture or drought conditions can also encourage plants to prematurely ripen. Yet, precipitation levels had been average during that growing season, so soil moisture was adequate for the crop to develop normally.

Another possible answer could have been the conditions at which the crop had been swathed, as hot, dry conditions in the afternoon can cause excessive pod shelling.

When I asked Dave about the conditions at swathing, he said most of the field was swathed in the early morning or late evening, during the dewy or cool hours of the day so I knew environmental conditions at swath-timing shouldn’t have contributed to more pod shatter.

Blackleg disease incidence in Dave’s crop was medium to medium-high, which may have contributed to the advanced maturity and high levels of pod shatter in this field. However, I thought it was likely that blackleg was compounding another larger issue in the crop.

As Dave and I were examining plants by pulling them up out of the soil, we noticed some of the roots looked funny — almost like there was an abundance of organic matter or extra loamy soil collecting at the roots.

Here was my first bit of concrete evidence for the cause of the pod shelling.

Crop Advisor’s Solution: Clubroot didn’t get the best of this producer. Not this time, anyway

Clubroot, which is caused by a fungus-like protist, causes galls to form on the plants’ roots. Once a field starts to ripen off, especially after swathing, the galls start to break down and release spores, causing the odd appearance of the plants’ roots.

This evidence led me to believe there was a good chance of a clubroot breakthrough in this field: the pathogen had overcome the genetic resistance in the variety. Dave and I spent a good amount of time in the field pulling plants and examining roots. Eventually, we found some galls that hadn’t broken down as much as the others. We collected these samples to send to the University of Alberta’s Plant Pathology Laboratory for testing.

The test results confirmed clubroot had overcome the variety’s genetic resistance because of the high spore load and the strain of clubroot present in the soil. The crop had been planted in a quarter section Dave had been farming for only a few years.

It was possible the affected plants could have been volunteers, which would not have clubroot resistance. However, this was unlikely because the field was very clean and the plants were pulled from the seed row.

The spores causing clubroot can linger in the soil for up to 20 years. There is no cure for clubroot and no fungicides are available to mitigate the disease’s effect on canola plants.

When scouting, identify the cause of symptoms in a crop, such as wilting, stunting, yellowing, and premature ripening (as in this case). Do not make assumptions that the symptoms are a result of environmental conditions, such as drought or excess moisture, new variety issues, or other diseases that may not affect the crop as greatly, such as blackleg.

There are some measures growers can take to prevent or mitigate clubroot symptoms, such as implementing longer crop rotations, choosing clubroot-resistant cultivars, and controlling weeds that are hosts to clubroot. Weeds that can also be infected by the disease include stinkweed, wild mustard, flixweed, shepherd’s-purse, and perennial ryegrass.

Resting clubroot spores can be readily moved in soil and transported in many different ways including, but not limited to, wind, water, erosion, animals, implements, and vehicles, to name a few. Direct seeding is another cultural practice that may reduce erosion and spore movement. You can also seed clubroot-infected soils last and clean implements thoroughly after you are finished in that field.

Growers should sanitize equipment, vehicles, tools, hands, clothes and shoes that enter canola-infected fields with a solution of at least two per cent hypochlorite bleach to prevent clubroot spread. All soil should be removed from vehicles and implements, especially if it is suspected that the soil on the equipment has clubroot spores in it.

Growers and all visitors should wear washable boots or disposable booties when entering fields to prevent the spread of clubroot. When seeding canola, ensure that it is a clubroot-resistant variety.

In confirmed clubroot regions, it is recommended to use multigenic clubroot genetics. In some scenarios, some counties even require that multigenic resistant varieties are used. The new clubroot-resistant varieties have performed well and have a lot of research and breeding behind them to make canola a profitable option on the farm when clubroot is present or not.

Clubroot has been confirmed in many Alberta counties, farms and fields. Each county has a slightly different approach to clubroot management; growers and agronomists should understand the protocols set up in their home counties.

Even with the newest technologies, Dave’s crop was negatively affected by clubroot. Luckily, the clubroot in Dave’s field had a negligible effect on yield. Since there was premature shelling, the volunteers must be controlled in following years, but the majority of the field was not affected and the outbreak was mostly contained to a small area. He will continue to manage clubroot by following the clubroot management protocol that is set out by the county in which he resides.

Jaclyn Hunter works for Richardson Pioneer in Legacy Junction, Camrose, Alta.

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I received a call from Tom mid-June last year after he noticed his wheat crop was yellowing and there was a reduction in plant stand following his in-crop herbicide application.

Tom, who owns a 2,500-acre mixed farm in the Meadow Lake region, thought the stand loss could be the result of an injury from the fertilizer applied in a sideband at seeding.

“We’ve been seeing this for the past three years — right after I bought my new drill,” he said. “I’m positive it’s fertilizer injury. We’ve been adjusting the distance between the fertilizer and the seed, but we keep seeing the same symptoms.”

I made my way out to Tom’s farm. I wanted to see the plant symptoms for myself.

When I arrived at the field, I found the crop was a pale yellowish-green colour and the plant stand seemed marginal considering there was an adequate amount of moisture available to the crop.

The youngest leaves were pale green in colour and were exhibiting interveinal chlorosis. The lower leaves and the tips of the newest leaves were starting to die off. The injured plants occurred in patches throughout the field. In addition to yellowing, damaged plants were stunted and their leaves were twisting and pinched off.

Everything checked out with respect to Tom’s in-crop herbicide application. The herbicide was applied consistent with the label recommendations and there were no residual herbicides that had been applied to the field. Furthermore, the plants’ symptoms did not look like they had been caused by herbicide injury.

I asked Tom about his fertilizer plan. He had applied the same blend he does every year, including the years before he bought the new drill. Additionally, there was adequate distance between the fertilizer and the seed-row, allowing us to conclude the reduction in plant stand was not a result of fertilizer injury.

Tom wondered if excess moisture could have caused these symptoms in his wheat crop. The area had received a lot of precipitation, but it wasn’t enough to severely affect the entire region. In addition, neighbouring crops were managing the moisture just fine. Only Tom’s field was exhibiting symptoms.

“I’m stumped,” said Tom. I was not. It was very clear why Tom’s crop was experiencing these symptoms.

Crop Advisor’s Solution: Yellowish-green patches in wheat crop caused by copper deficiency

Once I confirmed Tom hadn’t applied any crop protection products that could produce these symptoms, I felt confident these plants were suffering from a copper deficiency. When I suggested this theory to Tom, he was doubtful.

“I don’t think it’s a copper deficiency. We sprayed a foliar copper product last year and we didn’t see a yield benefit,” said Tom.

We decided to send in samples from areas of the field that had both highly- and mildly-damaged plants for tissue tests. The test results confirmed a copper deficiency. The plants with the most severe symptoms were also the most deficient in copper.

Tom also had a number of soil test results from this field from previous years. These soil test results suggested a copper deficiency because they showed Tom’s field had high organic matter (eight per cent), which is one of the common characteristics associated with copper deficiencies.

It’s important to know the soil’s characteristics and the interactions that can take place within the soil. Soil texture, pH and organic matter are just a few factors to consider when you are concerned about micronutrient deficiencies.

By the time the tissue test results were available, the crop was starting to head out. We had missed the staging opportunity for foliar copper products.

Tom had stopped using granular copper five years ago because he felt he wasn’t benefitting from the fertilizer application. Since then, the soil reserves had been depleted and the crop was beginning to experience deficiency symptoms. These severe deficiency symptoms likely could have been avoided had he continued to consider copper in his fertilizer program.

Tom plans on adjusting his fertility plan this spring by adding copper fertilizer to his blend. We will continue to monitor nutrient levels with tissue tests and apply foliar nutrient products if necessary.

Delaine Feil works for Richardson Pioneer in North Battleford, Sask.

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