The Cropwalker - Volume 2 Issue 10
Always read and follow label directions.
Articles
Crop Conditions
Winter wheat is showing signs of life. The picture was taken on March 12 by Ryan Benjamins, CCA ON, and a Sarnia area independent agronomist. The field looked brown from the road. In most cases you have to get down to ground level to see any green on the wheat. On March 18 through Essex and Kent, the wheat is still brown. There is concern, since the wheat still has water laying on it in areas. Ryan Benjamins says that in Lambton area on March 18, the water is getting away okay. Consider applying 30 lbs actual N now on frozen ground. You could apply S with nitrogen now.
U.S. Winter Wheat
The US has about 31.9 M acres of winter wheat. This is the lowest number of acres since 1909. Kansas has the largest planted acres by state. Kansas, as of March 11, 50% was good to excellent while 50% fair to poor. These numbers were similar in Ohio. Texas is the number 2 state by planted area. Their crop is 28% good to excellent. (as of March 11, Texas, has 11% of their corn planted)
Interseeding Spring Wheat into Winter Wheat
It is possible that you will have some killed out areas in your winter wheat fields. In order to keep wheat in your rotation, consider filling in some areas with spring wheat. This would mean you would have to spray those areas separately for fusarium head blight. You would have to drive around those areas when you combine the rest of the field, and then harvest them separately as feed wheat. It is more work, but worth it to keep wheat in the rotation.
What Corn Population
The Ontario Corn Performance Trials have a final population of 34,000 plants per acre. This suggests that for the best areas of your field you should drop 35,000 + seeds per acre. For poorer areas less. For most hybrids your seed dealer will tell you what population is best for a specific hybrid. I generally recommend the lower population when there is a specific hybrid range. There are some undocumented suggestions that a higher seed drop can lead to smaller cobs in poor areas, which, could lead to higher DON levels.
Price of Nitrogen Affects Corn N Rate
The price of 28% UAN can vary depending on when you buy it. Using the Ontario N calculator this changes the recommended N rate slightly. For 28% at $280/tonne ($0.45 /lb.) the rate is 180 lbs N per acre for corn in 2900 CHU area yielding 200 bu/ac. If the price of 28% is $400/tonne ($0.65/ lb. N) the recommendation is 168 lbs/ac. (about 12% less)
Tavium - New Soybean Herbicide from Syngenta
Tavium™ Plus VaporGrip® Technology herbicide is a new Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybean herbicide from Syngenta. Tavium is a pre-mix formulation of s-metolachlor (Group 15), the active ingredient in Dual II Magnum®, and dicamba (Group 4), the active ingredient in Xtendimax® with VaporGrip® Technology herbicide. This product is only registered on soybeans, as the safener for corn in Dual II Magnum has not been added to this product.
What is Fortenza?
Fortenza is a new non‑neonicotinoid soybean insecticide seed treatment. It is applied as a commercial seed treatment. It contains cyantraniliprole (Group 28 insecticide) for control of seed corn maggot, European chafer, June beetle, bean leaf beetle, cutworm and wireworm. Fortenza is compatible with most rhizobium‑based inoculants.
Math of 1 ac / hr. / row
Four mph is 4 X 5280, X 2.5 (30” rows are 2.5 ft). This is the area planted per hour per row. There are 43,560 sq. ft/ac. These numbers equate to planting 1.21 ac / hr. / row. I estimate you lose 20% of your time travelling and setting up (filling etc).
Zinc Placement with MESZ vs. MAP + Zinc
Dr. Sam Stacey from University of Adelaide, Australia, compared MESZ against blended MAP and zinc to determine the difference in distribution of zinc per plant in the corn starter row. Equivalent nutrient rates of P, S, and Zn were compared. Using a population of 28,000/ac and a rate of 0.8 lb/ac of actual zinc, MAP and zinc provides 1.6 granules of zinc per plant, while MESZ provides 40 granules per plant. This is significant, because zinc moves by diffusion, so the mobility within the soil is very low. Having 25x the granules with each plant provides much more efficient zinc uptake by the roots.
Dicamba Rates – Dicamba Tolerant Soybeans
There are three dicamba-only products on the market that can be used on Dicamba tolerant soybeans. Here is a summary of the rates by supplier. Many of the suppliers are suggesting that the dicamba application be made pre-plant, with an in-crop application made very early post, if required. It is imperative that you read the label prior to applying dicamba on soybeans.
Navigating the soybean burndown market
The number of solutions for soybean burndowns continues to increase. This space can be difficult to navigate, as some products (everything but dicamba) can be used on all soybean traits, others (dicamba) are specific to a particular trait, and some products (Eragon) can be used at a high rate for pre-harvest, but can only be applied at a low rate pre-plant.
“The iron rule of nature is: You get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor.” - Charlie Munger