The Cropwalker - Volume 4 Issue 26
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Crop Conditions
Weather Rains started last days of June have more than replenished soil water. Crops are looking great, where adequate moisture and terrible where too much. We are set up for diseases in soybeans and corn. Winter wheat - harvest started June 28th in Essex. First harvest has excellent yields, good moisture, and no fusarium. Essex/Kent about 50% off. Some growers ran on Saturday before the rains. Test weights are starting to drop and some fusarium is starting to show up. Some wheat off in the Sarnia area, and further north off highway 21. Growers are generally trying to get wheat harvested as soon as they can. (“nothing good happens to wheat under 30% moisture.” Phil Needham US wheat guru.) Some fields that had a Plant Growth Regulator (PGR) have stood well, other went down even with a PGR. Part of the issue is we didn’t lose nitrogen and have more heads, and rain and wind at the wrong time. Probability of lodging next year is small. It will be interesting to see yields of 150 N and PGR vs. conventional 120 N no PGR. Lots of talk now of using a PGR next year. If you are planning on doing that consider ordering it now. Certainly, variety made a difference. Corn there will be significant number of fields showing tassel by July 15th. The soil moisture is setting us up for diseases. Consider lining up your corn fungicide application now. Applicators will be fully booked. Fusarium in corn is a strong possibility this year on susceptible hybrids. Soybeans look from really great to terrible because of too much rain. (See Cropwalker Volume 24 June 23 for a rundown of various white mould spray strategies.) One good thing is the rain is keeping aphids under check. Some double crop soybeans have been planted after the wheat in Essex/Kent. Consensus is that in areas with 2800 CHU or less these soybeans should be planted by July 15th. In later areas the consensus is plant by July 25th. Moisture is generally the limiting factor with double crop soybeans. (But maybe not this year) Forages now most growers have good supplies. Second cut is finished as is new seedings on may acres. Fields with peas and oats won this year. Lots of feed and good moisture to get the alfalfa growing. Western Canada is trying to get government help because of drought. May be opportunity to send forages west. Check new seedings that are beside established alfalfa for adult weevil feeding. Will be obvious holes in the leaves. If you need feed, consider spraying with Lagon/Cygon (dimethoate) for potato leaf hopper and adult alfalfa weevil.
Articles
Things to do this week
1. Line up corn fungicide applications. Get product and application secured.
2. Consider second application of soybean fungicide application.
3. Prepare to combine lodged wheat. Do you have lifters you can add?
4. Set combine to spread straw if you are not selling it. The three cents a pound for straw is common. If not selling figure out how to work, it in or manage it.
5. Plan fertilizer to apply after wheat is off.
6. Review fall soil sampling list.
7. If not already done put up plot signs and order cover crop seed.
Spraying Lodged Wheat with Glyphosate
General consensus is that spraying lodged wheat with glyphosate will have minimal value. First there is a problem trying to get coverage since the wheat is lodged. Secondly, glyphosate is not a desiccant. There are some who believe it may make harvest earlier by 2 days. One reader has sprayed some areas. The first picture shows wheat sprayed 6 days before the picture was taken. The other picture is wheat 20 feet away not sprayed.
White mould notes
The reason we want to spray at R 1.5 is to cover the first blossoms. These blossoms, and there are a lot of them in the lower canopy, when infected get caught up on the lower branches. This starts mould growing. The second application is to cover the next bunch of petals that fall. The later blossoms further up the plant can be infected but since they are further up and more apt to dry out are not as big a concern as first flowers. Once mould starts you cannot expect spraying for mould to help.
White mould control products
See Cropwalker Volume 4 Issue 24 - June 23 2021 for the various company’s strategies to control white mould.
Also see Cropwalker Volume 4 Issue 25 - June 29 2021 for the various diseases that affect corn and soybeans.
White Mould – 2nd pass?
If you have applied a STRONG white mould suppression product on your first pass, and are in an area that has had pod and stem blight in the past. Consider using a white mould product like Stratego Pro or Priaxor on the 2nd pass.
Soybean Flowers
Soybeans have an almost unlimited potential to produce flowers, however a lot of these flowers abort and never produce pods. Eliminating or mitigating stress ensures a great number of flowers will survive to produce pods. I was taught that for pods to survive and become seed-bearing, they need to reach a length of at least a quarter of an inch. (Agronomist Dr. Daniel Davidson posts blogs on agronomy-related topics.).
Research by Dr Dave Hume when he was at University of Guelph showed that about 64% of soybean flowers abort. So, don’t fret when you see small soybean pods on the ground.
Thoughts on Spraying a Fungicide on Corn
Research shows you have an increase in yield by increasing populations, N rates and using a fungicide. The biggest yield increase comes when you do all 3. The yield of each practice added together is less than the yield you get when you do all three (synergy effect). That suggests that you consider applying a fungicide to your best fields that have a good population and you applied adequate nitrogen. Drought stressed fields, fields where population is low due to poor emergence have less probability of yield increase. If spraying for mycotoxin reduction the products of choice are Caramba (or Caramba plus Headline AMP), Miravis Neo or Proline.
Corn silage fields should be sprayed. The high levels of mycotoxins in corn silage have been well documented the last 3 years. One of our reader’s uses a fungicide on corn silage, to reduce the rapid drop in plant moisture at harvest. He feels that fields sprayed with a fungicide have healthy leaves that stay green longer, and you do not experience that sudden drop in silage moisture content.
If you have silage and are going to spray it. Ensure the product you are using reduces mycotoxins!
Timing Fungicide Applications on Corn
As a rule of thumb, each leaf wrapped around the tassel is about 3 days depending on the amount of heat we have. 3 leaves wrapped around the tassel means approximately 8-10 days until tasseling.
Fungicides on Corn (We asked the four main crop protection companies for their strategies to control diseases in corn.)
Notes from BASF – 3 options
Strobilurin Fungicides - Plant Health & Yield Protection, Stay Green, Late-Season Intactness, and Crop Uniformity at Harvest.
Headline AMP @ 303 mL/ac or Priaxor @ 120 mL/ac
Applied at first tassel to full tassel through pollination.
There is no other whole-field trial data set in the industry that rivals what we have for Priaxor and Headline AMP. In high-yield years, the average return nears 15bu/ac.
Triazole Fungicide – Ear Rot and DON Suppression, Some Supporting Disease Suppression
Caramba @ 405 mL/ac
You gain DON reduction, but not as effective on standability and stay green, for that you will want to tank-mix with Headline AMP.
Plant Health/Standability plus DON Reduction
Headline AMP @ 303 mL/ac plus Caramba @ 202 mL/ac
You gain both DON Reduction and plant health/standability.
Notes from Dave Robertson – Bayer CropScience
So, we will be promoting 2 products in corn. Proline and Delaro Complete. Proline is positioned as a DON suppression, full leaf disease package with residual.
Delaro Complete has just been registered and we do have a decent supply. Delaro Complete is positioned as a full leaf package with residual. 3 modes of action. Delaro Complete is Stratego Pro with the addition of Fluopyram Gr 7.
Notes from Grace Jones - Corteva
Acapela is a great choice for foliar disease in field corn:
Highest rate of strobi, aiding in enhanced plant health, disease control and improved late season intactness.
Timing flexibility – good tool if targeting WBC as has a nearly 21-day window of application
Product choice for WBC: Delegate
If targeting DON suppression, I recommend tank mixing with Caramba
Acapela Rate: 0.24 L/ac
For optimal disease control, apply at full tassel (VT) to milk stage (R3) corn.
Notes from Marijke Vanderlaan Syngenta
Our go to fungicide on corn is Miravis Neo.
Here is a link to our product page: https://www.syngenta.ca/Productsdetail/miravis-neo/corn
Tech Sheet (attached) or https://assets.syngentaebiz.com/pdf/media/Miravis-Neo-East_TechnicalBulletin_EN_2020.pdf
In a nutshell:
Miravis Neo is a combination of 3 active ingredients (a group 3, 11 and 7) including the Adepidyn molecule – Miravis! This is the only Group 7 molecule in the market today that provides suppression of DON through its strong activity on Fusarium and Gibberella ear rot. Miravis Neo offers growers a new mode of action and a great resistance management tool.
Rate:
- The recommended rate on corn is 400 ml per acre. 1 case treats 50 acres at this rate.
- Some growers may wish to apply at the high rate (500 ml/ac) if growing a hybrid more susceptible to fusarium and/or where grain quality is their top priority.
Application timing:
- Pre-tassel through tassel for leaf diseases
- Silking (R1) for Fusarium/Gibberella ear rot timing and leaf disease control
Miravis Neo, can we tank mixed with insecticides where Western Bean Cutworm thresholds have been reached. Tank mix orders are as follows:
Voliam Xpress > Miravis® Neo
Miravis® Neo > Matador
Delegate® > Miravis® Neo
Coragen® > Miravis® Neo
Although Miravis Neo will not have tar spot on the label in Canada for the 2021 season, Miravis Neo has activity on this pathogen and is registered on tar spot in the US.
Forage Cereals after Winter Wheat
Options
1. Oats. Seed at least 65 lbs. but do not need more than 80 lbs./ac. It will tiller. You need at least 40 lbs./ac N from manure or fertilizer. Maximum N rate from manure or fertilizer is 60 lbs./ac. More than that you risk lodging. Peas will add value to the feed. No public research on how much value. You have to spray oats for rust. Any fungicide will control rust. Spray around flag leaf or earlier if you see rust develop.
2. Cereal rye or winter triticale. This is for spring forage. I cannot find any research on seeding rates. Seed companies are recommending up to 145 lbs./ac. To me seeding early is more important than high seeding rates. Ideally you seed two weeks before you plant winter wheat. This gives you time to apply manure. Some growers are trying to seed oats plus cereal rye or triticale and trying to get a forage crop of oats this fall and cereal rye or triticale next spring.
3. Rye grass. One of the common products is Green Spirit. Green Spirit is a mixture of tetraploid rye grasses and diploid ryegrass. Tetraploid ryegrass has four sets of chromosomes per cell. Tetraploids are supposed to be more palatable for livestock. Diploids are lower yielding but over winter better. So, the mix has proved popular in Ontario. You can buy pure tetraploid or diploid ryegrass. DLF Pickseed are introducing their tetraploid/diploid mix this year called ColdSnap.
4. Summer seeded alfalfa. Will cover in more depth next week.
Anaerobic Digestate – What is it and what value does it have?
Because of my involvement in providing agronomy support to a company that designs, builds, and operates anaerobic digesters, I get a lot of questions from other agronomists and farmers looking at working with these products. Here’s a summary of what you need to know;
1) Many of these municipal facilities need a feed stock, there is a currently a push from the Ontario government to reduce the amount of green bin waste material going to landfill. These materials are instead being sent to anaerobic digestors. Typically, these facilities will only take material that is “clean”, i.e., no human waste, and is mainly a combination of green bin waste, curb size material, expired food, and by-products of food manufacturer plus or minus a manure feed stock. These materials are turned into two products: electricity and digestate.
2) On-farm facilities typically use manure as the main feed stock, with additional feed stocks from green bin waste or expired food.
3) To avoid the need for NASM permits, the municipal type facilities acquire a fertilizer license. The material has a guaranteed minimum analysis, and must be pasteurized, along with minimal foreign material contamination (plastics). The foreign material is typically screened out prior to being sent to farm.
4) Fertility wise…
a. Nitrogen
i. Because it is already partially digestated, you essentially have two fractions: ammonia and the organic portion.
ii. The ammonia nitrogen component is a lot like finishing hog manure. It is high ammonia, high pH, so very susceptible to volatilization. To mitigate losses from volatilization, the material should be injected when being applied to the field.
iii. If you do not incorporate the manure, at a minimum you can at least count on the organic faction to be available.
b. Phosphorus
i. Aa a rule of thumb, 40% of total P is available in the year of application. In speaking with manure specialists, they figure digestate is closer to 60-80% of total P is available in the year of application.
c. Potassium
i. 90% of total K is considered available in the year of application, similar to all other organics sources (manure etc.)
d. Sulphur
i. One bonus is the material I work with typically has 2-3 lbs./1000 gallons of Sulphur available for the crop in the year of application.
e. Micronutrients
i. Digestates have small amounts micronutrients available, I usually do not credit them and consider it bonus for the amounts applied.
f. Organic Matter
i. Depending on the processes, and the source material. You will have a portion of organic matter with the material.
5) Application
a. The liquid digestate can be stored and applied with regular manure handling equipment. The use of this material is a natural extension of livestock operations already working with liquid manure but have additional land base not currently receiving material.
6) Analysis
a. Listed below is a typical analysis for the Woolwich Bio-En plant I have been working with. It varies from month to month depending on the feedstock coming in the plant. The test is taken at the time of loading the material, so if you are planning on storing it in a pit, you will lose some nitrogen to volatilization, and the material will get diluted with rainwater/what is already in storage.
7) In the example below, I compare different nitrogen availabilities for a load that had an analysis of 30-10-10-3 S per 1000 US gallons. Application method depending on the time of year makes a big difference if wanting to make use of the nitrogen component. N value scenarios are from OMAFRA’s N-MAN.
Soybean Aphid Insecticides
Seeing aphids ramp up in the northern part of Wellington, southern parts of Grey. Along with pockets in other parts of province. Since it has been a few years, here is a summary of products available to protect your crop.
Soil Test Probes
I had to buy some replacement soil test probes this year, so did a survey of what other people are using prior to making the purchase. Here’s a brief summary.
A few are using “alligator” style probes that essentially have the soil sampling tube cut in half. This allows you to inspect the full core prior to dumping it in the bucket. Also have no need to use a screwdriver or other handheld device to try and get the core out of the probe. AMS or KHS Soil Probe are examples.
One down-fall of the alligator style units is the tip cannot be replaced or changed depending on soil sampling conditions. For those situations, you may want to use a JMC back-saver or an Oakfield Apparatus style probe. For the JMC style units, you can pick different lengths of soil sample tubes, depending on the type of sample you are pulling. For the Oakfield unit, you just replace the tip, and then will have to throw out the whole probe once the tube is worn or bent.
And finally, maybe having a bare-bones probe that’s heavy duty is more what you are looking for. In those situations, it may come with a self-sharping tip. Once it is worn out, you throw out the whole probe.
Picture below.
Oakfield Apparatus at top (old unit being replaced).
JMC 1 piece sampler in middle.
JMC Back saver with replaceable soil tube/tip at the bottom.
A few websites to check out; (please note you are subject to duties/HST if you order from a US website).
“I will never put my name on a product that doesn't have in it the best that is in me.”
— John Deere