As harvest approaches, we have been fielding questions from farmers about using Naturals in various fall applications, and two common threads keep popping up…
1. Which products are a fit for winter wheat acres?
2. And what can be applied to help break down residue following the combine?
The biological/natural market has many products that claim to have a fit across broad acres, but in the case of winter wheat, we have two products that really stick out.
CEREAL NS+
The first to consider is Cereal NS+. Launched in the spring of 2022, Cereal NS+ is a combination of Nutri-Cycle and Heat Shield, two foundational products of our Hefty Complete seed treatments for corn and soybeans. In this manner, Cereal NS+ is similar to Nutri-Shield, which is used in corn and soybeans. The major difference between the two products is Cereal NS+ has additional talc for better coverage on cereal grain seed. If you seed your winter wheat at a rate of 1.5 bushels per acre, a single 20-pound container will cover 240 acres.
Outside of providing a nice yield response, growers most commonly report about how well wheat treated with Cereal NS+ comes out of dormancy. This is due in part to the Heat Shield component in Cereal NS+, which contains six species of beneficial fungi to help the plant defend itself against multiple environmental stresses. Wheat planted in the fall must endure potentially harsh winters and a lack of moisture before spring. In these conditions, Heat Shield helps the plants manage those stresses.
The other factor that boosts spring recovery of winter wheat is the Nutri-Cycle component. Nutri-Cycle helps break down minerals into a plant-available form, providing critical nutrient relationships during early growth before dormancy. This gives the winter wheat greater potential to withstand winter environments, helping with winter kill and accelerating stand establishment in the spring following dormancy. With the power of Heat Shield and Nutri-Cycle working together as part of Cereal NS+ to reduce stress and improve survivability, your wheat crop has the potential to start stronger and thrive earlier in the spring versus an untreated crop. For easy application, simply add Cereal NS+ right on the seed in your air seeder or drill.
BOOST 10
Another fantastic product for winter wheat is Boost 10. Since winter wheat must restart photosynthetic processes to make energy again in the spring, it can take quite a while to get the crop off to a great start. Boost 10 is an amino acid package that aids the plant in jumpstarting those critical processes to make sugars and starches.
At just 8 oz per acre, Boost 10 can be applied right at green-up or during early herbicide timing. Summary trial results over the past two years have shown a significant response when using this $5 per acre treatment at green-up, with an average gain of more than seven bushels in 2021 and more than six bushels in 2022. We have found that applying amino acids early in the season can help winter wheat become more efficient in photosynthesis and improve how plants internally store and transport sugars generated in the photosynthesis process.
On the residue management side, if you want to increase the speed of breakdown this fall to make planting conditions easier for you in the spring, we have an excellent option for that, as well – D-Comp.
D-COMP
D-Comp is a consortium of bacteria and fungi specifically selected for its ability to break down residue. Corn stalks are comprised of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. The cellulose and hemicellulose contain all of the nutrients that can be cycled back into your soil profile as residue decomposes. However, when it comes to breaking residue down, the greatest challenge is the lignin component. Lignin acts as a glue that holds cells together. It gives residue its overall structure and surrounds the cellulose and hemicellulose, resisting their breakdown and release. White rot fungi are the only fungal species that can break down lignin. By including these fungal species in D-Comp along with multiple strains of beneficial fungi, D-Comp creates a one-two punch in terms of residue breakdown and releasing nutrients back to the soil, all while creating a better seed bed to plant into in the spring.
Many products claim to have a fit for broad acres in the biological space. Over time, we have found only a very few products capable of doing just that. When it comes to specific products to use with wheat in the fall or early spring, Cereal NS+ and Boost 10 have consistently shown to be a great fit while providing decent ROI. If your goal is to improve your seed bed and break down heavy residues such as those following corn harvest, D-Comp has shown in broad studies over three consecutive years that it can provide the dual purpose punch of breaking stalks down while providing a way to recycle nutrients back into the soil profile.