The Cropwalker - Volume 4 Issue 38
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Crop Conditions
Weather - well we did get more rain. Hopefully weather will dry some to allow harvest to continue. This time last year we were still assessing the damage from the early frost and cold weather in mid-late September. A lot of anguish then but we had great crops in 2020. Wet weather is posing some issues for growers trying to harvest edible beans. So far yields of that crop have been great. Soybean’s harvest continues to roll on. Some growers are done. Some growers are experiencing pretty good yields. Some are getting 5-10 bu/ac over 5-year average. The exceptional yields were unanticipated by everyone. We had significantly less sun shine during August so we thought yields would be average. No one accounted for the affect soil moisture and rain had on yields. That plus relatively little mould gave good yields. One grower commented “The top yields seem to be consistently traited varieties, but I will still take my 60 bu IP with a $4 premium over 70 bu crush beans.” Corn Continues to stand well. One grain merchant noted that DON levels are still under 1.0 ppm. There is a lot of concern about the crop in the field. The general death of the crop means stalk integrity will not be good. Consider doing stalk push tests. Not sure how relevant they are though unless you go through the whole field. I am concerned about the diseases and how they can lower yield and increase DON levels. The weather the past month suggest that ear drop could be an issue. These diseases like wet weather. The best you can do is start at corn ASAP and pay extra drying costs. Better to pay drying costs and get the crop off as opposed to mudding it off later and risk losing yield.
Articles
Things to do this week
1. Check that all drivers (including your dad) have an up-to-date driver’s license and Health card. (I was embarrassed when I found out my health card had expired)
2. Check that all vehicles that will be on the road have proper paperwork on board, license, insurance, safety.
3. Create lists of the 911 addresses for each of your field locations prior to harvest and have them easily accessible to family and farm employees. Most emergency vehicles have GPS equipment onboard their apparatus to assist directing them to incidents. When an incident is called in with a 911 address, dispatch can more readily identify the incident location and relay this information to apparatus drivers. Precious time can be saved when apparatus is able to dispatch immediately with GPS guidance rather than having to doublecheck maps and directions.
4. Decide which corn companies you want to buy seed from and what traits/characteristics you want in your hybrid.
5. Develop a system that you can record weed escapes as you combine. That little patch of a new weed will become a problem in the future.
6. Sample those areas that showed poor soybean yields for SCN.
Things to do this week
1. Check that all drivers (including your dad) have an up-to-date driver’s license and Health card. (I was embarrassed when I found out my health card had expired)
2. Check that all vehicles that will be on the road have proper paperwork on board, license, insurance, safety.
3. Create lists of the 911 addresses for each of your field locations prior to harvest and have them easily accessible to family and farm employees. Most emergency vehicles have GPS equipment onboard their apparatus to assist directing them to incidents. When an incident is called in with a 911 address, dispatch can more readily identify the incident location and relay this information to apparatus drivers. Precious time can be saved when apparatus is able to dispatch immediately with GPS guidance rather than having to doublecheck maps and directions.
4. Decide which corn companies you want to buy seed from and what traits/characteristics you want in your hybrid.
5. Develop a system that you can record weed escapes as you combine. That little patch of a new weed will become a problem in the future.
6. Sample those areas that showed poor soybean yields for SCN.
Seed Wheat or Spray First
Once the soybeans are off seed wheat ASAP. If you did not use a preharvest, try and get Roundup on before wheat emerges. You should have 3-4 days between seeding and wheat emergence (provided the seed trench is closed).
Wheat Planting Depth
Deep enough to cut the trash, and, close the seed trench, but not less than 1-1.25”. I have seen too many wheat fields get ripped up in the spring because of either shallow seeding, and/or open trenches. Majority of wheat should emerge within in a 1-3-day window for maximum yields (similar to corn).
Winter Wheat Seeding Rate
If you are planting winter wheat this week, bump up the seeding rate by 200,000 seeds/acre over the “optimal” seeding rate. Phosphorus availability is much lower in cool soil temperatures, seed placed phosphorus is more critical for October seeded wheat than September seeded. This means targeting 1.8 to 2.0 million seeds/acre.
Should I replant my wheat?
If you have wheat that doesn’t meet grade after the last few rain events and want to top up the population. A week or so planting in the fall (especially when it’s cooler), is only about a 1 day different in the spring when it comes to heading. Make it happen if you need to do it.
Green stems in soybeans We have this every year. This year we have pockets again. It is related to weather. At some point soybeans shut down. They had nutrients in the stems and leaves that are normally translocated to the pods. In these “green stem” fields or pockets of some fields the nutrients were not translocated so the stems remain green. Some varieties tend to show it more than others.
Question How much manure can I apply and when to alfalfa?
Answer You do not want to burn alfalfa by applying too much manure. Now that we are into October we do not have to worry about regrowth. You can safely apply manure now as long as you do not make ruts or cause compaction or damage crowns by driving on them. This means ground has to be really dry. (If the ground is dry, then applying 5,000 gallons per acre of liquid dairy is a common practice on established stands. I do not like to apply liquid manure to new seedings.) Probably not going to be dry enough in alfalfa fields to apply manure without damaging plants. That means you will have to apply to other fields, preferably fields that will be seeded to corn or forages next spring. You can apply to ground going into soybeans but this is a waste of the nitrogen portion. To limit off field movement, all manure should be incorporated if not applied to a living crop.
Question I am buying cover crop oats from a neighbour. How do we establish a fair price?
Oatlage makes a very good heifer feed. Lower in energy than corn silage and lower in protein than good haylage. To convert wet oatlage to dry feed.
To make a deal you need to establish
- Weight per acre of forage
- Price per pound of dry hay
If you get 5 bales to the acre each weighing 600 lbs., you get 3000 lbs. of wet feed (65% moisture) per acre
This equates to 3000 X .35 = 1050 lbs. /ac dry matter per acre
If you take it to “dry hay “moisture of 14% this is 1050/0.86= 1220 lbs. per acre of dry hay.
Suppose hay is selling for $0.05-0.06 per pound this oatlage is worth $60-73 per acre in the field if it was quality hay standing in the field. If the feed value is lower it will be worth less.
Corn rootworm 2022 For growers who will have corn on corn in the rootworm area of Perth Huron and surrounding livestock areas your best option is insecticide boxes on the planter. Some are figuring they can control rootworm with a seed dressing. From my experience they will be disappointed. The seed insecticide will protect the seed. Rootworm won’t attack until mid-June. By then the insecticide is pretty well broken down. And the roots that rootworm feed on are well outside the zone of the seed and seed applied insecticide. If you can’t rotate and you are in that area, get the insecticide boxes now. I know no one wants to put them back on the planter, but you have no choice for corn on corn.
Corn Ear Diseases and Stalk Rots
The general recommendation is to just GET IT OFF! But if you are evaluating next year’s hybrid decisions, the Crop Protection Network has posted a related article to help with disease ID. Some ear moulds also affect stalk quality. Make note of those fields with ear moulds (Diplodia, Fusarium, Gibberella) that also affect stalk quality.
Crop Protection Network
Crop Protection Network
Q. When should I terminate my cover crop?
Ans Really the question is when to terminate the weeds and volunteers and the cover crop.
No volunteer winter wheat and no weeds, no need to terminate an annual cover crop like oats, peas, sunflowers.
Volunteer winter wheat? Terminate in late fall or spring. Prior to tillage.
Lots of Cold tolerant perennials, terminate with enough growing degree days following application for herbicide translocation to the root system.
Red clover should be terminated now. There will be more growth with red clover but weather is better to get control now and if you are using tillage better to do that when ground is drier.
Weed Seeds in Manure
Some of the “new weeds” are being introduced in livestock feed. This begs the question, does ingestion, ensiling, or composting get rid of the weed seeds? A lot of researchers have looked into this. The short answer is no. Feeding weeds seeds reduces the viability. Viability of weed seeds is reduced more in poultry, than in cattle or pigs. Ensiling also reduces viability. Composting manure can reduce viability if the temperature is hot enough, for a long enough time. You need temperatures between 140-170 o F for a number of hours. The % viability varies with temperature, length of heat, and weed species, but all of these systems still can leave 2-10% of weeds seeds being viable. A survey of fresh dairy manure in New York found an average of 75,000 viable seeds per ton, and a range of 0 to 400,000 seeds. A 2% survival of 75,000 would leave 1,500 viable seeds remaining per ton. Applied at 8 tons per acre, that would increase the weed seedbank by 12,000 seeds per acre. Solution? Constantly watch fields for new weeds. They may come in feed/bedding or from your neighbour, or blow in on the wind.
Rules of Thumb for Spraying after a Frost
It depends on a few factors; weeds species, weed size, herbicide used and how cold/length of the frost event. If you have a hard frost, in most situations you would not have to worry about trying to control annual grass and annual broadleaves, mother nature has done this for you. In this situation, we will focus on biennial, perennial, and winter annual weeds.
Glyphosate is most effective when applied at air temperatures at 16-24’C for a few hours following application. Glyphosate can still be effective at temperatures of 8-10’C; but will have slower herbicide uptake and translocation. This increases the rain fast period and slows down the onset of symptomology. Growth hormones such as 2,4-D ester or dicamba are less impacted by lower temperatures.
For best control, avoid a frost following application for; 24 hours on annuals, and 72 hours on perennials, and spray during bright sunshine.
(Notes from Clark Brenzil, PAg, Saskatchewan Provincial Specialist Weed Control; Roundup Technical Bulletin)
Do You Have A Significant Increase in Soil Test Values?
I have a soil test back where the phosphorous levels changed from 20 to 30 on the sodium bicarbonate (Olsen) test. This change suggests that 350 pounds of phosphorous was applied above crop removal and did not get used. Of course, over the 3 years between the test we didn’t apply that much. And there would be no accounting for removal. So, what’s going on. Number of things. Soil analysis is not as accurate as say your thermometer. Soil tests are one indicator of what is going on. You need to use soil test levels along with application history and removal rates (yields) There is a 25% variation in soil analysis. So, if the first test was low by 25% and the second test high by 25% this explains a lot. Other reasons for variation are soil sampling depth. If soil was drier this year and sample was shallower than last time the results will vary. And the person taking the sample makes a difference. I like to have the soil sampler take a lot of samples. And send the samples to the same lab. There is a difference between labs, even when using the same extractant. Another factor is if the soil cores are pulled from the same areas every time, if more cores are pulled from an eroded knoll one time, and more cores are pulled from an area that has a depression the next time, you will get different results. Soil sampling is just one tool to use, it is more like a yard stick, than a caliper.
Soil Testing and Nutrient Removal Trends
This was a webinar sponsored by American Society of Agronomy (ASA) Lots of numbers and charts showing data from 1975 to 2016.
1. Yields have increased dramatically across the US from 96% corn increase in Iowa to 300% increase in corn Mississippi. Soybean yields have also increased but not by as big a percentage
2. Soil test levels for P and K have dropped.
3. The most amazing thing is that average application amounts of P and K per acre have remained the same from 1975 to 2016. This includes nutrients from manure.
From my notes 10 years ago (October 3 2011)
Crops Across Ontario – Soybean – Harvest has started with good yields. About 1-2% off. I am concerned about continued wet weather. Consider harvesting as quickly as possible. If you have air on farm, harvest and air dry. If you can get them off and pay drying charges, do it. See if you can rent, beg or borrow more combines. There will be issues with wet ground. Make sure combine knives are sharp and you have extras. Combining in less-than-ideal conditions dulls knives quickly. Get the soys off and wheat in. Corn – A few acres came off around 35% moisture to fill October 1 contracts. Yields have been good. Again, I am concerned about plant health. There is too much disease in both ear and stalks to let this corn dry a lot in the field. Check which fields are most vulnerable and consider harvesting above 30%. Too many years we see corn go down when “the winds of November come early.” We have a great crop but I think we will leave corn in the field because of diseases.
Precision Ag Thoughts…
Where “precision ag” has grossly failed is making it so complicated that only the smartest or most tech savvy can make it happen. If a child can't understand the explanation of what you are trying to accomplish, it might be the case that you don't fully understand either.
Struggling with the monitor in the cab?
Iowa State University has a very simple step by step guide for commonly used monitors and how to properly set them up with step-by-step instructions. See below. Bookmark or save the link to this website. It covers yield monitoring, planting, nitrogen application and more…
Monitor Support Website
A step by step website on Combine/Tractor/Sprayer Monitors
What is your target soybean yield?
Initial reports from customers and my pre-harvest inspections suggest soybean yields this year will be above average to well above average for my local client base. If your expectations on soybean yields have increased over the last 5 or 10 years, likely your management has as well. But it won’t be the same management practices that take you to your next yield expectations. If your yields haven’t changed but you are planting new genetics, then there is likely something in your management other than the seed holding back any yield gains.
Comment from a reader - Jonathan, good chart on soybean yield by moisture, but it doesn't take into account dockage when trying to harvest green podded soybeans.
Answer - That's a good point it doesn't. And it also doesn't take into account knife shatter when harvesting soybeans that are too try.
OSU – Minimizing Corn Harvest Losses at the Combine
A quick read/refreshing on what to do before you hit the corn fields with the combine.
Minimizing Corn Harvest Losses At The Combine | Agronomic Crops Network
The information presented here, along with any trade names used, is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is made by Ohio State University Extension is implied. Although every attempt is made to produce information that is complete, timely, and accurate, the pesticide user bears responsibility of consulting the pesticide label and adhering to those directions.
Variable Rate Nitrogen in Corn
Ben Rosser, OMAFRA Corn Specialist has an excellent article on variable rating nitrogen in corn. You can read on the article on field crop news.com at this link. Ben doesn’t explicitly state what you should be using for creating a variable prescription, but he does point out that using yield as the layer isn’t the answer, as it does not consider variability in soil N supplies across the landscape. What you are attempting to do with variable rate nitrogen is optimize for delta yield (yield response to applied nitrogen) not final yield.
Should You Variable Rate Nitrogen Spatially by Yield in Corn? | Field Crop News
I spoke with an agronomist about a grower who started variable rating nitrogen (N) in corn. Logically, given that high yielding corn takes up more N than low yielding corn, the grower was going to variable rate N by yield across the field – more in high yielding areas, less in low yielding areas. The agronomist was cautious on this...
“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
– Marilyn Strathern