Originally, the Christmas holiday season started with Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But in recent years the commercial thrust for getting people to buy presents inches forward on the calendar toward Halloween. For too many shoppers and merchants, the dollar signs are becoming more important than the person for whom the holiday was named.
That development most likely got kicked into overdrive when Clement C. Moore’s poem was published on Dec. 23, 1823 in the Troy (NY) Sentinel Newspaper. Originally called “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” the rhyming epic was soon retitled “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” This column’s title appears in line eight of the poem: “Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.”
The agronomist in me ties that line to winter annual forages and perennials in northern climates, as these plants enter suspended animation for a few months. That period is called dormancy, which comes from the Latin word “dormire” (meaning “to sleep”).
Regarding crops, we shouldn’t forget their nutritional needs, even though they’ve “sacked out.” “Bedtime snacks can be healthy and help you sleep better” is a statement that reflects the practical wisdom of many human dietitians and sleep therapists. It also applies to plant dietitians (which I try to be). They argue that winter forages go to bed for winter, effectively hibernating (dormancy).
One definition explains “for plants, dormancy prepares their soft tissues for freezing temperatures, dry weather or water and nutrient shortage. Instead of exerting energy in an attempt to grow, they ‘know’ to stop growing and conserve energy until mild weather returns.”
Agronomists classify the following small grain species as winter forages: wheat, rye, triticale (a manmade hybrid of wheat, genus Triticum, and rye, genus Secalis), barley and speltz. By now, hopefully anyone wishing to plant winter versions of wheat, triticale or barley has done so, enjoying the act of looking down straight, nicely formed green rows.
Successfully planted rye and speltz benefits from a wider time window. Thus, these two species are a little more tolerant of less-than-ideal planting dates. Rye and speltz planted before Halloween still have a decent chance of storing enough root energy reserves to survive a Northeast winter.
The likelihood of late small grain plantings dodging winter kill is enhanced by the kindness of ongoing La Niña climate patterns. These predict that temperatures in the Northeast will, on average, remain unseasonably mild past Thanksgiving, possibly to year’s end.
Regarding crop feeding management, I hope that small grain growers have current soil test results. Documented phosphorus needs should be met at planting time; this is the primary starter nutrient for almost all crops. Moving further into autumn, with growers now managing an emerged crop, I refer to New York field research, which found that up to 60 lbs. of nitrogen (N)/acre increased spring yields of fall-planted triticale by 43% on fields without prior spring/summer manure applications. Early plantings and autumn N applications significantly increased the number of tillers, in turn setting spring’s yield potential.
Even with autumn N applications, I recommend including sulfur (S), with a 10:1 N:S ratio. I caution that rye plants, due to being taller than the other winter forage species, are more prone to lodging with N rates exceeding 50 lbs./acre in autumn.
As another form of bedtime snack for winter grain forages, folks with sod manure injectors can satisfy spring N needs by applying manure up through November or whatever time ground becomes impenetrable due to freezing. During the mild winter of 2023-24, some New York farmers were able to inject manure during all the “cold” months.
Manure N is in the ammonia (NH3) form, which attaches to soil particles, not leaching or denitrifying. When the ground warms come spring, NH3 converts to nitrate, which is immediately uptaken by winter forages, already green and growing. Depending on the injector type, it may be necessary to roll the field after injection to assure a smooth surface for spring mowing. Fields that are flat or dish-shaped – thus prone to collecting spring runoff – are susceptible to snow mold that can kill the crop in that area. Fertilizing those areas just before snowfall, with two quarts of liquid S fertilizer and a spreader sticker, has effectively countered snow mold.
Snow mold is a fungus-caused turf disease that damages or kills grass after snow melts, typically in late winter. Its damage is usually concentrated in circles three to 12 inches in diameter. When winter forages start perking up (about when crocuses pop out of the ground), they will start to sop up some of surplus moisture that made the mold spores feel welcome in the first place – and it’s still a good idea to use the liquid S fertilizer.
Even commercial N fertilizer costs behaving (compared to a couple years ago), another form of this nutrient is broadcast medium red clover. Apply this when snow is all gone from meadows, except for lingering traces of stubborn snow drifts. Red clover can be an excellent green manure that fixes N, suppresses weeds and increases corn yields. As a slow growing, cool season legume, it lends itself to under-sowing into winter small grains in early spring. It continues growing after small grain harvest, combined or baled, and can be terminated – preferably by disking – in autumn or the following spring before corn planting.
With the practice of frost-seeding, seeds are broadcast onto frozen ground or snow in late winter or early spring, then worked into the ground through the freezing and thawing of soil. The N contributed by healthy red clover sods to the next crop in the rotation – or to the accompanying awakening winter forage – can be as much as 100 lbs./acre. However, it’s important to note that in a slow-warming spring, applying some of the much more reactive commercial N usually proves to be reasonable crop insurance.
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