Agronomy Library > Winter Annuals/Other

Downy Brome Control in Direct Seeding
Author: Bruce Barker, Top Crop Manger
Date Created: January 15, 2006
Last Reviewed: January 15, 2006
Downy brome, a winter annual, can cause severe problems in winter annual crops like winter wheat and fall rye. Research in southern Alberta has found that densities in the range of 50 to 100 plants per square metre (five to 10 plants per square foot) reduced winter wheat yield by up to 30 to 40 percent when emerging within three weeks of the crop in the fall. Downy brome is less competitive in fall rye than winter wheat, but still can reduce yields by 15 to 30 percent. “Downy brome was a real issue about 10 years ago when we saw a lot of continuous cropping of winter wheat, before the acreage dropped off in the 1990s,” says Don Wentz, Alberta Reduced Tillage Linkages agronomist at Lethbridge. “I haven't heard of a lot of problems recently, but now that winter wheat acres are climbing back up, growers need to be vigilant.” click here to read the full article on the Top Crop Manager website