Agronomy Field Notes Field Notes from Country Pride’s Sales Agronomists
August 27th, 2010 Barry – Freeman Corn is at full dent stage of growth with low areas yellow or drowned out. The wet conditions have led to more weed pressure in low lying areas or along edges late in the season. The corn husks are turning and are starting to open up which should help them to start drying down in a timely matter. Some farmers are going to start cutting silage this week and hopefully the weather stays nice for that. Beans are from R4 to R6 (filling pods) and maturing quickly with the shorter days. The weather has helped push them along and they are still flowering. The insect pressure has decreased, but they're still present in fields that could impact yield if they don't get out of hand. Most farmers have sprayed for bugs and a lot didn't feel it was needed unless it was weedy. Talked to a few guys I scouted for about the CFA loan program. The Answer Plot was very interesting on the different stages, populations, row spaces and fertilizer. It was nice to see increases and decreases of yield of the things they have done. Eric – Chancellor Jerrod – Wagner
Ryan - Freeman Troy – Fairfax This week the corn is all pretty much dented and beans are in the R6 stage. Insects have thinned out considerably. Producers are beginning to talk about planting some wheat and burning down some wheat stubble. Corn and bean yields will be great again this year except for the low areas. Corn fields that were top dressed with nitrogen are holding good color and will have excellent yields. Also, if you plan on seeding wheat, now is a good time to get soil samples taken and think about locking in some starter fertilizer. Crop budget projections are looking favorable for 2011 - if you can lock down some inputs at the current prices. Don’t forget to attend an Answer Plot Tour this year; nowhere else can you obtain this quality of research.
August 20th, 2010 Anthony – Burke Another week of little-to-no rain. We are starting to get a little dry in the area, and a nice inch of rain would help things out a lot. The beans especially could use a drink; if they would get some rain, I would say that we could add an additional 3-5 bu to our yields. Corn in the area is made for the most part, only the late planted fields would benefit from some moisture. Yield checks that I have done in the area are coming out anywhere from 100 bu corn to 150 bu corn. Beans, which are a little harder to estimate, look to me like they will be between 25 and 40 bu depending on where you are located. We are starting to prepare for winter wheat planting. We will have wheat seed available at Burke and Fairfax. We have not gotten a firm price yet, but we will have at least two varieties to choose from. We are also scouting fields for cheat grass and making recommendations as we see fit. We are trying some Valor on wheat acres this fall for cheat grass control - if it works like they say it will we should not have a problem with cheat, or any other winter annuals for that matter. The one key piece of using Valor on wheat is that it needs to be applied to the fields 30 days before we are going to plant them, so applications needs to be made ASAP if we want to try some acres.
Barry – Freeman
We are watching soybeans for aphids and caterpillars and so far we have had very little to spray but the thresholds are still not close yet, so we really don’t anticipate a big push. We continue to get our weekly showers and are still using an airplane to spray glyphosate on trouble spots. Corn and soybeans really look good except for wet holes and our fields that have ESN are really starting to shine now compared to other fields.
Darin – Winner The crops in the Winner trade area still look good for the most part. We are going into another hot stretch and could use a rain to keep everything going well. The word we are hearing is that wheat seed quality is not the best over to the east, so growers should get some new certified seed looked in soon as demand maybe very high. There is a lot of burndown to do yet and the glyphosates seem to be having a lot of trouble with buckwheat this year so be sure to add in a broadleaf product where you can.
Kyle – Winner Crops look great around Winner. We do, however, need some rain across the north area from Wood to Hamill. A timely rain would finish the row crops with a helpful push and really add to the soybeans and blooming sunflowers. Sunflowers are being sprayed for rusty seed weevils and sunflower moth. Wheat stubble (oats) are greening up with weeds. Buckwheat has been especially tough on stubble acres and requires additions to knock it out. We are working on pre-pay fertilizer and burn down programs. I have been talking with customers about wheat planting - wheat seed, seed treatment (incentive /nitro shield) and phosphorous-based starters for wheat planting.
Ryan – Freeman Corn is in full dent and fields are still pretty clean except low areas. There are a few early planted/early variety corn fields that are sitting around half milk line. The way it looks around Freeman is we are a good 3 weeks ahead of last year! With as much rain as we have gotten, we need to keep an eye out for some stalk rotting issues. Bean are filling pods but also still flowering. Most fields have low weed pressure except low areas. We are almost past the point of worrying about insects. There are still a few fields sitting between 50-100 aphids per plant with some feeding on the leaves but nothing major. August 13th, 2010 Barry – Freeman Corn is between R2 to R4 stage with low areas turning yellow or drowned out from the wet weather - leaf rust and gray leaf spot on upper and lower leaves. Other leaf damage occurs from wind, corn and stalk borer. Soybeans are from R2 to R4 stage with low areas turning yellow or drowned out. Insects found are grasshoppers, greenclover worms, BLB, thistle caterpillar, and small amounts of aphids. Hoppers and clover worms have really been chewing up the upper canopy in some fields. Some weed pressure coming along the edges and low lying areas. Hopefully this week we can get out there and start spraying.
Jerrod – Wagner Bean leaf beetles, green clover worms, and wheat stubble are the main topics for this week. The bean leaf beetles are still present in the soybean fields, and they continue to eat on the leaves. We are finding a few fields that have met the 20% defoliation threshold but it is very spotty. For the first time this year, we found some pod feeding and pod clipping. When this starts to happen, it is definitely time to get the sprayer rolling. The green clover worms are still present and are contributing to the defoliation; they will not feed on the pods so that will not be a concern with these insects. The wheat stubbles are really starting to green up with all the rain that we have had and it is important to get the weeds killed before they seed out and cause us more work down the road. We got another rain this week and the crops really look tremendous.
Kyle – Winner Weekly scouting continues - all crops are progressing very nicely. We have received some timely rains. The excellent growing conditions have me excited about the yield potentials. Wheat harvest is wrapping up and the wheat stubble is starting to green up. We are burning down both wheat and oat stubble. Soon we will be back to planting Winter Wheat. Sunflowers are really starting to bloom and will need to be sprayed as rusty seed weevils are at threshold levels. Grasshoppers are a problem in some areas of the county. Lance leaf sage, buckwheat, and Russian thistle pressure seems high in some fields - tank mix additions are a must. Corn silks are mostly brown and cobs are filling. Soybeans are setting pods and most beans are between the R2 - R4 stage. Insect levels in beans are low in our area as of today.
Mike – Menno Corn is looking really well and some of the early planted/maturing varieties are starting to dent. Although they are present in the fields, diseases haven’t been causing a real problem. The fields that were spread with ESN this spring are staying dark green compared to the fields that weren't sprayed with it. The soybeans are setting and filling out pods. Some chewing is still going on from the bean leaf beetle and alfalfa caterpillars but this seems to have slowed down this past week; soybean aphids haven’t been a issue this year. Ryan – Freeman Corn is from R2 to R5 stage of growth with lower areas behind or turning |
