Heat Canker in Wheat, Barley, and Oats

Jun 05, 2019

The last couple of days the weather has given us some dry sunny weather with high winds. This has been great to have fields finally dry off and make strides with planting any remaining acres. Unfortunately, this also exposed young small grain seedlings to the same conditions. The daytime heat at the soil surface has caused heat canker. The tender young tissue at the soil surface basically has been ‘cooked’ and this appears as a yellow band that is slightly constricted (Photo 1). As the leaf continues to grow, this yellow band (1/8 - 1/4") moves upward and away from the soil surface. If the hot and dry weather lasts for several days, repeated bands can become visible. Because of the high winds, the tips of leaves may break off at the yellow band and give a field a very ragged appearance. Damage from heat canker is temporary and should not affect further growth and development.

Photo 1 – Barley seedlings with the yellow, constricted appearance

symptomatic for heat canker

Source:umn.edu

Video: EP 73 Diversity is Resiliency – Stories of Regeneration Part 6

During the growing season of 2023 as summer turned into fall, the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast and Regeneration Canada were on the final leg of the Stories of Regeneration tour. After covering most of the Prairies and most of central and eastern Canada in the summer, our months-long journey came to an end in Canada’s two most western provinces around harvest time.

This next phase of our journey brought us to Cawston, British Columbia, acclaimed as the Organic Farming Capital of Canada. At Snowy Mountain Farms, managed by Aaron Goddard and his family, you will find a 12-acre farm that boasts over 70 varieties of fruits such as cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, pears, apples, and quince. Aaron employs regenerative agriculture practices to cultivate and sustain living soils, which are essential for producing fruit that is not only delicious but also rich in nutrients.