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Larocque said he found he could apply up
to 180 pounds of nitrogen and, with the
properly timed PGR, the crop remained
standing. Crop height was about 10 inches
shorter compared to untreated crop.
“Overall, I am very encouraged by
what PGRs can offer farmers with the
proper management,” he said. “I believe
they will take us to the next level by
giving farmers a tool to manage their
lodging risk. On average, I think we’ll be
able to apply another 20 to 30 pounds
of nitrogen and realize between 10 to 20
bushels per acre higher yields.”
His main caution, however, is that “the
timing of Ethrel is absolutely critical for
the PGR to be effective and not cause
crop injury.
“Apply Ethrel at late flag leaf or just
prior to awn emergence. You want the
main stem and the tillers to be in full flag
leaf stage. Application before flag can
kill off tillers, while application at awn
emergence will reduce kernel numbers.”
While he said he likes the price point of
the product—ranging from $4 to $6 per
acre—he said management is critical and
the challenge for producers with a lot of
acres is to use the product at the proper
time on every acre.
“If you’re thinking about using a PGR
like Ethrel, understand the risks, proceed
with caution, but realize it could be a
valuable tool in your quest for higher
barley yields,” said Larocque.
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Tom Tregunno, Engage Agro product
manager for Manipulator, said the
flexibility of the product will help to
attract more farmers to the concept of
using a plant growth regulator.
“It’s not something all farmers will use,
but it will probably have the best fit in
the irrigation areas and within the black
soil zone, or in areas where growing
conditions are good even on a year-to-
year basis,” Tregunno said.
“It is amazing to see how this
product works in Europe. Of course,
much of the U.K. has perfect growing
conditions for wheat. They can apply
up to 200 pounds of nitrogen and,
even with lower seeding rates, achieve
yields well over 100 bushels per acre.
And they may be applying multiple
applications of a PGR during the
growing season. We’ll not likely be
doing that here, but it is an example of
how it is used.”
Tregunno said because Manipulator
can be used within a wider temperature
range and a wider timing range, in many
Spring
2014
grains
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TRIAL RUN:
A uniform field of Champion barley is seen here after a PGR applicaton of Ethrel.
With an application of 333 ml/ac, the barley is uniform in height with minimal lodging.