Cattle should be removed from wheat pastures when the crop reaches first hollow stem (FHS). Grazing past this stage can severely affect wheat yields (for a full explanation, please refer to the eUpdate article “Optimal time to remove cattle from wheat pastures: First hollow stem”).
First hollow stem update
In order to screen for FHS during this important time in the growing season, the K-State Extension Wheat and Forages crew measures FHS on a weekly basis in 28 different commonly grown wheat varieties in Kansas. The varieties are in a September-sown replicated trial at the South Central Experiment Field near Hutchinson.
Ten stems are split open per variety per replication (Figure 1), for a total of 40 stems monitored per variety. The average length of hollow stem is reported for each variety in Table 1. Twenty varieties had already reached first hollow stem on March 18, 2020, and the remaining eight varieties had reached first hollow stem by March 26, 2020.
Figure 1. Ten main wheat stems were split open per replication per variety to estimate first hollow stem for this report, for a total of 40 stems split per variety. Photo by Romulo Lollato, K-State Research and Extension.
Table 1. Length of hollow stem measured March 26, 2020 of 28 wheat varieties sown mid-September 2019 at the South Central Experiment Field near Hutchinson. The critical FHS length is 1.5 cm (about a half-inch or the diameter of a dime).
|
Variety |
First hollow stem (cm) |
||||
|
2/25/2020 |
3/2/2020 |
3/11/2020 |
3/18/2020 |
3/26/2020 |
|
|
09BC308-14-16 |
0.07 |
0.25 |
0.62 |
1.51 |
. |
|
AM Cartwright |
0.23 |
0.31 |
0.60 |
1.24 |
6.45 |
|
AM Eastwood |
0.11 |
0.19 |
0.41 |
1.00 |
7.05 |
|
Bentley |
0.11 |
0.34 |
0.68 |
1.28 |
4.80 |
|
Bob Dole |
0.06 |
0.15 |
0.54 |
1.04 |
7.16 |
|
Doublestop CL Plus |
0.06 |
0.22 |
0.46 |
1.75 |
. |
|
Gallagher |
0.14 |
0.33 |
0.58 |
1.83 |
. |
|
Green Hammer |
0.05 |
0.16 |
0.52 |
1.93 |
. |
|
Guardian |
0.04 |
0.18 |
0.70 |
1.47 |
7.33 |
|
KS Dallas |
0.11 |
0.29 |
0.72 |
1.82 |
. |
|
KS Silverado |
0.12 |
0.26 |
0.72 |
1.77 |
. |
|
KS Western Star |
0.11 |
0.29 |
0.64 |
2.04 |
. |
|
LCS Valiant |
0.07 |
0.29 |
0.47 |
1.27 |
7.10 |
|
Long Branch |
0.28 |
0.43 |
1.15 |
4.02 |
. |
|
Paradise |
0.08 |
0.34 |
0.60 |
1.77 |
. |
|
Rock Star |
0.08 |
0.27 |
0.57 |
1.57 |
. |
|
Showdown |
0.12 |
0.32 |
0.67 |
2.07 |
. |
|
Smith's Gold |
0.11 |
0.28 |
0.49 |
0.81 |
7.70 |
|
SY Achieve CL2 |
0.12 |
0.28 |
0.70 |
2.16 |
. |
|
SY Wolverine |
0.14 |
0.23 |
0.66 |
1.79 |
. |
|
TAM205 |
0.08 |
0.29 |
0.78 |
1.82 |
. |
|
WB4269 |
0.10 |
0.22 |
0.53 |
0.97 |
7.03 |
|
WB4303 |
0.09 |
0.21 |
0.51 |
1.64 |
. |
|
WB4595 |
0.21 |
0.33 |
0.68 |
1.74 |
. |
|
WB4699 |
0.01 |
0.21 |
0.51 |
1.54 |
. |
|
WB4792 |
0.11 |
0.36 |
0.86 |
2.35 |
. |
|
Whistler |
0.06 |
0.32 |
0.64 |
2.11 |
. |
|
Zenda |
0.08 |
0.28 |
0.63 |
1.77 |
. |
All varieties evaluated in this trial had reached first hollow stem by March 26, 2020. We advise producers to closely monitor their wheat pastures at this time as they should be very likely attaining or already past first hollow stem.
The intention of this report is to provide producers an update on the progress of first hollow stem development in different wheat varieties. 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 make the decision of removing cattle from wheat pastures.
Contact author:
Romulo Lollato, Wheat and Forages Specialist
lollato@ksu.edu
Co-authors:
Kavan Mark, Research Assistant
Roberta Rebesquini, Visiting Assistant Scientist
Renan Oliveira Batista, Visiting Assistant Scientist
Marcos Feliciano, Visiting Assistant Scientist
Andrei Dobner, Visiting Assistant Scientist