By Romulo Lollato, Wheat and Forages Specialist
All varieties in our report are currently past first hollow stem (FHS) in the Hutchinson region (Table 1).
Dual-purpose wheat producers wishing to harvest the wheat crop for grain should have already removed cattle from their wheat crop regardless of variety selection. Grazing past FHS can lead to yield losses ranging from 1-5 percent per day, depending on weather conditions at grazing termination. Hot, dry weather, increases yield losses associated with grazing past FHS. For more details on how to scout for FHS, please refer to Agronomy eUpdate article “Optimal time to remove cattle from wheat pastures: First hollow stem” in the Feb. 5, 2016 issue.
Table 1. Length of hollow stem measured on March 15, 2016 of 23 wheat varieties sown Sept. 26, 2015 near Hutchinson. The critical FHS length for purposes of cattle removal is 1.5 cm.
Variety | Hollow stem length | Stems at FHS |
| | cm | % |
1863 | - | - |
Bentley | 1.8 | 70 |
Danby | 1.8 | 80 |
Doublestop CL Plus | 1.6 | 70 |
Duster | 2.9 | 90 |
Everest | 3.3 | 100 |
Gallagher | - | - |
KanMark | 3.7 | 100 |
LCS Chrome | 1.5 | 60 |
LCS Mint | 1.8 | 80 |
LCS Pistol | 4.3 | 100 |
LCS Wizard | 2.8 | 100 |
Overley | 4.4 | 100 |
Ruby Lee | 5.3 | 100 |
SY Flint | 4.2 | 100 |
SY Wolf | 3.2 | 100 |
T158 | 2.2 | 90 |
TAM 114 | 4.3 | 100 |
WB4303 | - | - |
WB4458 | 3.8 | 100 |
*WB-Cedar | - | - |
WB-Grainfield | 2.6 | 100 |
*WB-Redhawk | - | - |
Variety | P < 0.01 | |
LSD (0.05) | 1.3 | |
* These varieties were beyond FHS on the last report. |
The intention of this seasonal report to is provide producers a weekly update on first hollow stem of different wheat varieties in the current growing season. Producers should use this information as a guide, but it is extremely important to monitor FHS from an ungrazed portion of each individual wheat pasture to take the decision of removing cattle from wheat pastures.