The bad and the ugly

Needless to say, I will not plant this hybrid next year. It was a one time venture to determine if it was a reasonable replacement of an old time favorite. Will continue the quest next year with other potential candidates.

The Good

These photos show what is possible when rainfall arrives ten days earlier than the photos in the previous posts.

.60 of an inch is all it took to stave off disaster.

The beans were double cropped into wheat stubble after harvest.

These photos show the impact severe moisture stress during the boot stage has on the head condition and ability to produce grain. Looking at the center photo, 85G01 is on the left side of the screen. 8505 is on the right side.


The left photo is a field of 85G01. It should be completely headed out. Moisture conditions are similar to the field near the shed in the background where 8505 and 85G01 are planted side by side. It indicates 85G01 has a distinct lack of drought tolerance, much less than 8505.

Moisture-wise, rainfall was spotty from planting until last week. We finally received adequate moisture to stop the crop from detereorating further.

The hit and miss of Mother Nature's rainfall

Forgive me, Mother Nature, I'm not at all impressed with your behavior of late. Your rain clouds promise relief from the heat, and yet, they failed to deliver when and where it is most needed.

Before the 18th of August, this field received less than 2 inches of rainfall since it was planted in early June. Note the curled, upright leaves that indicates the plant is in exteme stress due to lack of moisture. An inch of rain a week earlier would have made an entirely different picture.