 Okay, well it's noon, so we're going to get started. I want to thank everybody for joining us and welcome to the NDSU Extension Agricultural Challenges webinar. Unfortunately, we had the need to host this webinar series. I'm not going to dwell on the issues, and all of you are aware of the challenges facing agriculture producers this year. Specifically, this topic was chosen with reports that we've gotten in our county offices that the percentage is a wheat harvest and is variable. Some places was 100%, but some areas it's 60% is still remaining in the fields. And then those that were lucky enough to get it harvested are running into lots of issues with quality and having their wheat rejected at the elevators. So we're getting lots of questions, what are the options available to producers for this wheat? So that's what we're going to be focusing on today. Just a couple housekeeping items before we get started. If you are not speaking, please mute your line so we don't get any feedback. We are going to be holding all our questions until the end of the webinar. You have the option that you can either ask them live or you can put them in the chat box and we'll be monitoring the chat box so that you don't get forgotten about if you do type your question in instead of asking it live. Again, these will be recorded and posted on the NDSU extension livestock management webpage and I will show you where to find that when we wrap up. So I'm going to kick this off so we can get started and have lots of time for questions. Our first speaker is going to be Joel Ransom and he is going to talk about the agronomic concerns and options for on harvested wheat. He's an extension agronomist here in Fargo. Good afternoon. Though I practice this, I need to do it again, I guess. Okay, everybody hear me okay? And the PowerPoint's up okay? Yes, everything looks good. All right, so I've been asked to speak about the agronomic concerns associated with unharvested wheat and of course, as was already mentioned, we've already had a tough year. And we're probably even more concerned about, if we think in the state as a whole is probably also wheat that has not met the standard for million grade. In the last week's crop progress report indicated 5% of the spring wheat in the state was still in the field and harvested 9% of the Durham. This week there was no report of spring wheat still in the field, but I'm assuming that that's simply because the question wasn't asked and that 6% was still remaining. So I think it does suggest that there's still a fair amount of wheat unharvested. But even with that I think not just the wheat that's in the field, but there's also many bushels of wheat that were harvested late or that were rained on prior to harvest that will probably not meet standards for milling grade due to this weather related damage. So let me just talk about what kind of damage that we see and how that affects the value of the crop and what one can do with it. I think they're first of all low falling numbers. The second would be grain that got rained on is likely to have some sprouted kernels. And then finally I'm going to talk about high levels of dawn, which are associated with use their headlight. Let's talk first about the grading levels that were price discounts come into effect so falling numbers anything below 300 usually is considered might may get a discount and the amount of discount may vary by location. And so I think I've heard something like a penny a second is a potential discount below 300 but again I would think that might vary depending on the area where you're at. As far as damage kernels are concerned or sprouted kernels, kernels, more than 4% damage kernels including sprouted kernels cause grain to be related grade three or lower and typically is unacceptable for breadmaking and discounts will certainly come into effect. And then the dawn levels we have an advisory level of one part per million in food. So typically discounts began at either one or two parts per million. Generally they can mill out about one part per million or about half of the dawn levels and so sometimes discounts don't begin until they're a bit higher than one part per million that's deemed safe for human consumption. So what are the causes of low falling numbers and most typically it's associated with grain being wedded after it's reached harvest moisture enzymes are produced to degrade the starch and that makes breadmaking somewhat difficult. You can have low falling numbers without visible germinated kernels and I think that there have been some growers have been concerned about that that they actually have very sound kernels going in, but have low falling numbers and are subject to some discount. I think it's fair to say that if you have visible sprouted kernels you're always going to have low falling numbers. Now, what about what are the causes of pre harvest termination where you actually see some sprouts and of course it's associated with high humidity and rainfall and it usually happens after the kernels have passed through a period of after ripening. And so your kernels have actually had to dry down to a point of, I'd say about 20 to 25% moisture and then be rewetted. There is some sensitivity or difference in sprouting ability of varieties. We at NDSU don't do any screening for this at the moment, but there are some really very reliable numbers coming out of U of M. But I think if you look at our list of varieties you'll see that most are fairly resistant to pre harvest sprouting. So we can still have sprouting even with some kind of high levels of resistance if we have the right conditions. What do we do with the sprout damage grant? I think that's the question that is on everyone's mind. I think animal feed it's very, I think most of the data would suggest that the feed value is very high even though you may have some sprout. I think the main issue with being able to sell it for milling is because of its bill functionality. You could also consider using the seed the following season that you want to check and recheck germination. I think most of the data would suggest that sprouted kernels can be effective for seed being used for seed, but I would certainly check germination in the spring if the intent was to do that because we may lose some condition. These are kernels that are more likely to be lose condition. And if you see sprouted seedling parts on the sprouted seed, these should also be avoided any seed lots with that. High levels of dawn are associated with the fusarium fungus. As I mentioned earlier, wheat is most sensitive to scab during flowering. It's very possible that we could have seed lots that have sprouted low falling numbers where we did not have significant levels of dawn. And it would be vice versa. You may have seed lots that are high levels of dawn that had no problem with low falling numbers or scabby kernels. I would, before using wheat for animal feed, I would certainly have it tested for down levels. So you know what you're dealing with. You can have sound kernels that have high levels of dawn. And if you have scabby looking kernels, you're definitely going to have high levels of dawn. So that's a red flag if you have scabby kernels, but I would still have sound kernels also tested for dawn. Okay, so using grain that has wheat that has high levels of dawn, you could raise the field. And I think there'll be others that will be talking briefly about that. You could claim aggressively and try to reduce the dawn to a reasonable level that might be marketable. Certainly feed the harvested grain, but there are prescribed limits on the amount of dawn that can be fed. And I think other speakers will be addressing that. And again, you can use the seed the following year. I think if the seed lot is cleaned well, it has good germination. There is good data to support that it'll function quite well as a foresee. So I think that's what I wanted to cover. For those of you have joined us late while the next speaker is getting loaded their slides loaded. I just want to remind you that if you haven't, please make sure that you're muted. I think everybody has been doing a great job of that. And then also we'll be holding the questions to the end. If you're worried, you're going to forget your question. You can type it in the chat box and we will address that at the end. So our next speaker is Jana Block. She is a livestock system specialist at the Headinger Research Extension Center. And she is going to be talking about livestock nutrition when feeding, standing wheat. All right. Can you see and hear me? Everything good? Okay. All right. So this is definitely a unique situation and unique challenges this year. So it's kind of a what we know versus what we don't scenario. I think we know fairly well how to graze winter wheat and then harvest a grain crop. I think we know how to harvest grain and then graze standing stubble. These are a couple of pictures I'll share with you from here at the Research Center and Headinger. I think what we don't know is what to do when we have standing grain that is facing some challenging conditions that we talked about such as snow or standing water. And then this is some mature wheat that was harvested as hay and is now sprouting in the haystack. So today we're going to try to provide you with some general recommendations. But we understand that there's most likely a lot of unique scenarios out there that may require some individual follow up. So please don't hesitate to do that. So what we know about feeding wheat either in grain or hay. So wheat grain is very high quality and very palatable, has a higher crude protein content than most of our small grains and energy value similar to that of corn. It's very low in fiber and high in starch and the starch is fermented very quickly in the room and so that can lead to a lot of digestive disorders such as the ones listed here and can also have caused some erratic feeding behavior cattle going off and on feed with different digestive problems. So we put up a lot of wheat hay in North Dakota, especially during a drought year when it looks like it's not going to make grain. But ideally we would know that ahead of time and harvest that before the dose stage to get the best quality. So at this point we're probably dealing with more of a grain plus straw mixture. Obviously everything is fairly mature. And then there's also fair physical characteristics such as ons and the hard texture of the straw that can impact palatability and the ability of those animals to actually physically eat the grain, the standing grain. So it's going to be extremely variable in terms of what the cattle are going to eat and also the quality that is available to them. So in terms of recommendations for feeding wheat, we definitely have some upper limits on how much you can use in the diet depending on whether you're looking at a high grain ration, or more of a supplement for mature beef cow type ration that's based on forage. So we always talk about avoiding self feeding, which in a lot of situations if we're talking about grazing standing wheat it's definitely going to be a self feeding situation. So it's important to consider techniques such as strip grazing or some way of reducing the amount available to the animals. Regardless, a slow adaptation is going to be critical. If you're thinking about grazing standing wheat, it's best to get those animals started on some type of grain wheat would be best at a pound or two a day and then gradually working them up. And we'll talk about some other adaptation things prior to grazing as well. So it's important to make sure that you're providing high levels of roughage. So it would be a good idea to provide free choice hay out on pasture if possible. Might also consider providing buffers such as limestone or sodium bicarb which is just essentially baking soda and or ionophores to try to kind of limit some of those digestive disturbances. So obviously grazing standing grain versus feeding wheat grain changes the feeding situation. In Australia reported that digestibility was decreased by over 25% when they fed whole wheat, which had a seed coat versus rolled wheat that did not. So this may help reduce the risk of digestive disorders, but we honestly can't say for sure, based on individuals individual situations so you're going to need to know how much grain is available and I believe Miranda is going to talk about that later in this presentation. Also should consider collecting a representative sample of the fields that you plan to graze and submitting that to the lab for analysis so that you know what type of nutrients you're supplying. Joel mentioned sprouted grain. He's correct. There's really no differences in sprouted grain versus undamaged grain in terms of feeding value. We do know that a great deal of starch is used up in the plant to produce a seedling and so this again may help reduce the risk of acidosis but we can't say for sure that it's completely eliminated. And the other challenge is dealing with the increased risk of mold, mycotoxins, ergot and other potential contaminants that you might have in the field. So we really have to you know this is a lot of what if situations all we can do is apply what we know to the to the situation and use our common sense. Don't turn hungry cows out on wheat pasture. If you're going to be using wheat pasture for a significant amount of time you're going to want to provide a mineral supplement wheat straw and wheat grain are both low in calcium. They're also deficient in some trace minerals such as zinc and so especially for pregnant cows those are going to be important to provide. Again the buffers and ionophores if those are necessary depending on how much grain is out there and that can be incorporated into your mineral supplement no problem. I think again just because of the individual nature of these situations your observation and keeping an eye on things is going to be really important. Making necessary adjustments to maintain cow condition and health and I would really urge you not to hesitate to call on us. The county agents are available to come out and check out your situation they can consult with specialists to help you figure out you know the best management practices for your situation. So that's all I have. Thank you, Jana. Our next speaker is going to be Dr. Gerald Stucka and he is going to talk about livestock health considerations when grazing standing meat. Thank you. Thank you Miranda. Trying to bring up my there we go. Bring it up. There we go. Does this come up for everyone? I'm assuming it does. Yeah, thanks. Thanks for letting us share this information with you and actually Jana and I are going to overlap quite a bit here. But I do want to mention this as we start there is a lot of unharvested feed and we're going to talk about this later in the week as well and focus on specific crops. But I want you to think about the fact that those of you that have beef cows have a wonderful resource to harvest things that can't be harvested. So I want you to work what we're trying to do here is manage the flexibility of that beef cow without causing problems or health risks in her life. So I got a picture there of an harvested corn that's actually silenced corn that hasn't been put up. Soybeans that are down and on the one on the one on the right is a harvested wheat field but actually there's regrowth coming out there and so there's always something for that cow to eat. During the after the grazing season which is where we are right now. Jana mentioned this earlier. The risk of grazing wheat is the fact that we can take in too much carbohydrate rates or starch into a short of a time where you but whereby you get rapid fermentation and Jana mentioned that as well. Because wheat is a highly soluble starch and it will ferment pretty rapidly. The hard seed coat does protect it a little bit but it gets wet inside the room and implementation begins. So what results in too much acid production which is a condition we call acidosis the Cadillac like they're drunk. Their manure becomes loose loose in some cases if you really examine manure closely will have a little bubbles in it and that's pretty good evidence that you got acidosis going on. This some of the sweet sequels that can happen with acidosis you might end up with respiratory disease and calves. You may actually induce abortions in pregnant cows if they've had enough and the acidosis is severe enough. The other thing I'll mention about grazing wheat now this is not just finding piles of wheat this is actually grazing wheat. The cattle are going to consume the plant the stock and everything that's there and remember the only thing that's really valuable in essence is the grain itself. They might try and consume a number of heads and there's beards in those heads. And it makes that mouth that soft tissue in the mouth susceptible to penetration by those birds and you can end up with mouth abscesses and even perhaps even a condition that we call them Joe. This is a little bit related to what Janet was talking about this is a one of our NDSU publications where they talked about supplemental uses of wheat for beef cows that should be kept under five to six pounds. And my question is this, and I think I've, it'll be my opinion can a cow harvest 10 to 15 pounds of grain from our unharvested wheat. She's actually going to have a difficult time to do this, but I'm not saying it can happen so they're the risk there's a risk there. It'd be different if there was piles of wheat in the field that's high risk. The fact that she's got to eat the head, the holes, the beards and everything to get this week makes it a little bit less quite a bit less likely that this is actually going to happen. But nevertheless, there's some risk there. So just a couple other tips and this is exactly what Jan was talking about never turn out cattle that are hungry into something that they haven't consumed before. So that's just a rule of thumb that applies and also provide other feed available to these cows when they're out on on harvested wheat. I would suggest, at least on wheat, maybe better to separate calves, wean those calves before you put them out there. They may actually be more susceptible to those bearded weeds and the possibilities of developing abscess. And finally, just examine wheat for the evidence of the ergot bodies and Joel mentioned, you know, vomit toxin, you know cows don't really care about vomit toxin they have a pretty high tolerance for humans don't monogastric stone. They don't care if it's crowded they don't care about falling numbers they'll eat it. But the one that we want to be concerned with is these ergot bodies. And they're those black little bodies and they don't have to eat very much it's been estimated maybe one in a thousand. Yeah, if there's more than one in a thousand along with the kernels and you might have a problem though. So this is an image of ergot bodies on a stock of wheat. Anyway, thanks for letting us share the information my contact information is here as well and so thank you very much and we can take questions I guess at the end. So I'm here next speaker, I'm Miranda me hand I'm the livestock environmental stewardship specialist here at NDSU embargo, and I'm going to be talking about grazing management within standing wheat. Which both, both Jana and Jerry did touch on those. So Jana said strip grazing is probably your best option. When you're grazing standing wheat, the reason for this is that this is going to limit your grain intake and reduce the risk of health issues. I recommend that that is limited to no more than three days ideally one to two, especially when you're starting out you want to start slow and let those cows get adjusted to grazing, grazing that standing wheat. So those are you that aren't familiar with strip grazing. And we do get some complaints when we we propose this as it's some work. But in this situation it's pretty important so we don't run into those health issues. So strip grazing is you're going to section off the field and allow them to only have so many days worth of being or forge to graze. And what you'll do is you'll start at one end or the easiest way to do it. You can section off ahead of time and just let them through. One of the simplest ways is just to move the fence as they as they complete an area to them and allow them access to another area of the same size. One of the limitations we have when using the system is water availability water access. So starting at the end closest to where you can access water whether that's letting them through pastures to an existing water source, or if you're hauling water and just have one designated location that you're hauling to. And then they can walk across that cross the areas that they've already grazed to access that water. So that'll make it a little less work on your end. So as a grazing management special or specialist or expert we we get stuck with the fun part all the math. So if you have questions about this contact your extension agent contact myself or Kevin said of it, and we can help stuff you through this. To estimate the acres per day that you should be grazing for your herd. The first step we're going to estimate the wheat yield. So to first we'll calculate this in bushels per acre. To do this you're going to count the number of spikes in an area or three foot rolling. And so if you see the image over here the spike is the seed head. And you want to you don't you don't want to count ones that aren't you want to do the average ones you don't want to don't count the ones that are really small and not producing much of anything. The next you're going to take six fight blitz that are representative of that of that row and count the number of spikes on that. Or count the number of spikelets on that spike. And so spikelet is you see that the little little or image to the right of the seed head shows you what a spikelet is. And then you're going to count or estimate the number of kernels per spikelet. You can do this by thrashing our a good estimate is if you have a normal yield it's 2.3 kernels and in a stress scenario, which many of you may be in is 2.1 kernels per spikelet. And then you're going to take this times 0.142, which is that average weight per kernel. The divide this all by your row spacing and inches, and this will give you bushels per acre. Once you've completed that calculation, you're going to take this time 60, which is the average pounds in bushel a week. Then we're going to compare that are are yield to our recommended intake. And both Jan and Jerry talked about these numbers for hard weeks, it's five to six pounds per head per day. And for Durham is 3.5 to 4.5 pounds per head per day. So you're going to take for your rep to calculate the intake for your cows, you're going to take the number of cows you're grazing times the desired intake. And that'll give you the recommended and then you're going to compare that to your estimate week. So the next step then to figure out how many acres they should be accessing per day for your herd. You're going to take that recommended intake number that we just calculated and divided by the wheat yield in pounds per acre. And that'll give you the number of acres that your herd needs to graze per day. And if you're allocating them more than one day at a time, you'll just multiply by the two or three to get the area needed to support your cows or your herd for that period of time. And some considerations when we are grazing Stanley, as both Jan and Jerry said, do not let turn out hungry cows make sure that they have some type of roughage in them so that they're not gorging themselves on a feed that they're not adjusted to and give them some time to adjust. Also, we want to look at the condition of that wheat. Is there sprout damage? How much available grain is there? Is that's going to impact our health risks? Another thing that we need to consider is when and if and when if what herbicides were applied to this wheat. And what are the label restrictions for grazing? Because that can really impact come back to impact you when you go to sell those cattle. With grazing, this is a constant concern when we're grazing cropland for producers. And it's going to be a big issue in our saturated soils. So the potential for compaction. If we are grazing, if we're going to be grazing this, we need to wait until the grounds frozen or dried out. So for most of you, we're going to be waiting until the grounds frozen to reduce that hoof impact and reduce the potential for compaction on that on that acreage. Just a reminder, as Jana said, this isn't something that we normally do. So these are just what we're making our recommendations based on the best available science, but there isn't any science specifically looking at grazing standing wheat. So this is our best, our best judgment call and recommendations based on available science. So that's what I have for grazing. Unfortunately, Brian Parman, who was going to be talking about the economics insurance considerations is traveling the state, speaking at our aglenders conference that our ag economists put on every year. And so he's unable to join us today. I spoke with him this morning and these are the main things that he wants you to be thinking about and considering. And if you have any other questions, just feel free to reach out and contact him or are your local county agent. So number one is contact your insurance agent discuss your scenario, discuss the options available to you before you make any decisions. Also contact your local local FSA office to get a better understanding of what programs you're eligible for in your county and what restrictions there are on those programs. Most of these programs are going to require appraisal to calculate payments. So make sure that's done before you make any decisions to harvest or graze. So insurance period for small grains, wheat and barley is this week and October 31. If you are going to use these crops for something other than their intended use, you need to wait until after the state or you might not be eligible to receive your full insurance payment. So with that, I am going to wrap things up here and we'll open up for questions. There is one in the chat pod. So there is a question for Joel is I got a call from a farmer Montana this morning about we he was wondering he was wondering if he could use for seed in 2020. The two lab germ test was 96% private lab tested sample for sprouting and falling numbers came in at 12% sprout and low 103 FN green is in a bin with air and he's confident it is dry and he can keep it stored well over winter. So I think how sprout doesn't automatically mean low germ and I recommended he send a sample for germ tests in late February, early March and see, and if it is still good then go ahead and use a seed and just rate up a few percentage if needed to compensate for germ any additional thoughts. Joel. So I responded to her that I totally agreed with a recommendation so there's a pretty good set of data out there to suggest that, you know, seed lots with low falling numbers or even some level of term of germ damage will serve as good seed lots in the next season. But it would really depend on the germination so in this case where germination is coming in at 96 you can have pretty good confidence that it's going to be a good seed lot and then as she recommended that the real key would be to make sure you do another germ test in spring because these seed lots are likely to lose condition much faster than others. Now, we have pretty cold winter so maybe things will be held pretty nicely over the winter, but I would certainly recommend another germ test in the spring and if it's not an organic situation I think you probably would benefit from having some seed treatment too just as another insurance so to speak that seed lot will do well. Thank you, Joel. This is Claire. I was just wondering any thoughts on that sprout percentage I mean understanding that high sprout doesn't necessarily mean an unviable seed. I was it just got me thinking about you know is 30% sprout when you'd start getting nervous or just ignore that and go on a germ test, you know shortly before planting. My recommendation would be to probably ignore it unless that there are visible seedling parts extruded from the seed already because they'll often as you go through the seeding process get knocked and broken and will result in a non-viable seedling. So that would be the other part you know so if you had 11% germ and they're you know the way they grade it is is you can just barely see a sprout coming out. I wouldn't be overly concerned with that but if you actually have. You know sprout parts that are likely to be damaged in the seeding process then I'd be more concerned and you know you'd adjust accordingly if if you still decide to use it. Okay, thank you. Do we have any other questions. While you're, I'll give you some time to think about questions. Oh questions for me. Did you record these presentations. Yes, we're recording these presentations that's actually just what I was going to share with you guys. So, all of our webinars are going to be recorded so if you're wanting to make another one and aren't able to join us. We're recording them and we will be posting them on the NDSU extension livestock management page on this. It's this page here. And so you will be able to access all of them there. Another thing if you have a question for one of us that you don't want to answer at this time. If you go to this page and you go to the connect, you'll find contact information for all of our livestock specialists that are going to be speaking as part of our webinar series. Michael is not on here. He is over in crops our crops team. And so you could find his a contact information there are just get a hold of me and are one of us and we can get that to you also.