Recovering from Hail

Non-Peer ReviewedHailstorms can be responsible for significant economic loss to the agricultural sector in Alberta. Foliar applications of certain fungicides and nutrient blends have been advocated to promote recovery and yield of hail-damaged crops. Proper understanding of different crop- and hail-related factors is required for an accurate assessment of hail damage to crops, and for evaluations of hail-recovery product claims. This study was undertaken at three locations in Alberta during three growing seasons (2016-18) to determine the effect(s) of two levels of simulated hail severity at three different crop developmental stages including early vegetative, middle vegetative and reproductive stages. Plant growth, yield and grain quality parameters of wheat, field pea and dry bean crops were measured. Simulated hail damage led to reductions in crop height, biomass, canopy cover, grain yield and kernel weight of all three crops. Timing of simulated hail was a critical factor influencing the extent of crop damage with early damage to vegetative stages having less effect on yield compared to damage at later reproductive stages. This trend was especially evident in wheat which did not show significant reduction in yield from the damage at early tillering stages but had significant yield loss with damage at flowering. Foliar applications of fungicides and nutrient blends did not significantly improve crop recovery, grain yield or kernel weight for any of the crops in this study, and thus, their use for the recovery of hail-affected wheat, field pea and dry bean was not supported by the results of this study. Link to Video Presentation: https://youtu.be/vgUDIufNwP

Effects of simulated hail damage, and foliar-applied recovery treatments, on growth and grain yield of wheat, field pea and dry bean crops

Hailstorms can be responsible for significant economic loss to the agricultural sector in Alberta, Canada. Foliar applications of certain fungicides and nutrient blends have been advocated to promote recovery and yield of hail-damaged crops. Proper understanding of different crop and hail-related factors is required for an accurate assessment of hail damage to crops, and for evaluations of hail-recovery product claims. This study was undertaken at three locations in Alberta during three growing seasons (2016-18) to determine the effects of two levels of simulated hail severity at three different crop developmental stages including early growth (BBCH 30 for wheat; BBCH 14-16 for pulses), mid-growth (BBCH 39 for wheat; BBCH 60 for pulses) and late growth (BBCH 60 for wheat; BBCH 71 for pulses) stages. Plant growth, and yield parameters of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), field pea (Pisum sativum L.) and dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) crops were measured. Simulated hail damage led to reductions in height, biomass, NDVI, grain yield and kernel weight of all three crops. Average yield decreased by 24 and 35% for wheat, 17 and 35% for dry beans, and 37 and 45% for field peas for light and heavy hail severity, respectively. Hail timing was a critical factor influencing the extent of crop damage, with hail damage during early growth stage leading to lesser yield reduction compared to hail damage at mid-growth and late growth stages. Fungicides and nutrient blends applications did not significantly improve crop recovery, grain yield or kernel weight for any of the crops in this study.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author