DAMAGE TO WHEAT

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30338, 14 January 1964, Page 15

DAMAGE TO WHEAT

Hail Claims Come In

The vicissitudes of the Canterbury climate this season is resulting in many calls being made on the wheatgrowers’ compensation scheme. The total now stands at about 110, of which about 75 are attributable to frost and about 35 to the latest natural hazard—hail. Most of the claims for hall damage come from the Southbridge area, but there are also claims from the Ashburton and Rakaia areas and as far north as Kaituna. The area involved in the hail claims is about 450 acres. But While hail has severely reduced yields in limited areas, there are many promising crops about and an indication that this may be a good wheat season is seen in the fact that some of the hybrid wheats at the Crop Research Division at Lincoln have six grains across the ear and eight and 10 spikelets and more than 100 grains to the head. While the present unsettled weather may already be giving rise to fears that this may be a season for sprouted wheat, this is premature. The senior cereal breeder at the Crop Research Division, Mr L. G. Copp, remarked last week that many wheat crops now ripening fast were Hilgendorf, which was a red grain wheat and sprout resistant. By the time that Aotea and Arawa come to maturity it is to be hoped that the weather will have taken a turn for the better and that there will be good conditions for taking in the crop. Farmers were reminded last week to guard against premature harvesting of crops. With wheat about the 15 per cent, moisture content there would be no troubles with storage and steps should be taken to have the grain tested if there was any doubt.