Assessing Frost Damage

MAY 28, 2015

A number of acres of beans were damaged by the frost over the weekend. If you have population below 110,00 then you should be looking at replanting. It appears the fields that were damaged the most were early planted fields in no till with high residue levels and lower topography. If the beans were frozen below the cotyledon they will not regrow. If the unifoliates were frozen and the cotyledons are still green the bean is still alive and will be okay. Corn is also showing a fair bit of frost injury. If the growing point is green then the plant is still alive. The only problem with this is the growing point has to push through the dead tissue and sometimes this is not possible and the plant still ends up dying or growing distorted.

We have had little rainfall in last few weeks to activate chemical. So please walk your fields to check for week escapes. If you do this approximately 25 days after planting this will give you a good idea if have to respray. Most of the no till ground I have been across looks still very clean for weeds.

A lot of cereal fields both winter wheat and spring crops are taking on a yellow color. This is a result of a manganese deficiency. It is a water soluble nutrient and the drier it gets the more the problem is going to show up. It is very easy to diagnose as field turns yellow except were equipment has driven and these strips will stay green. This is a big issue in the Elmira area most cereal fields have this problem. A foliar application of Manganese or a rain will solve the problem.