Agronomist Notes
We’re approaching the end of the growing season with the start of winter wheat and barley harvest about two weeks away. That’s the good news. The other news is that canola is still blooming and roughly two weeks behind last year and the wheat is roughly one week behind. Prepare the swathers and sprayers because this year’s crop is going to need a hand dying.
With the recent run up in commodity prices, it has some producers thinking about locking in fertilizer prices. If prices continue to rise, it is unlikely that fertilizer will stay flat or drop. To date I’ve heard urea prices around $380/T, phosphate at $540/T, potash $530/T and sulphur at $340/T. Might not be a bad idea to lock some in now if you have the space, which may be at a premium with the yields we’re facing.
This week we’ll look at the economics of anti-shattering agents like pod seal and look at rates and timing. Next, we’ll look at a unique weed control solution from down under now that you’ve got the swather out for servicing. We’ll also discuss wheel track issues and the use of tram line kits to boost maturity, yield and quality in our current systems. Last, we’ll look at some observations I’ve made while inspecting our controlled traffic fields. We’ll finish with fundamental and technical grain market news.
Crop Staging (Calgary to Drumheller to Three Hills)
| Seeded | April 23-31 | May 1-7 | May 8-15 |
| Wheat | medium dough | soft dough | soft dough |
| Canola | mid pod | mid pod | early pod |
| Barley | hard dough | medium dough | soft dough |
| Peas | pod fill | pod fill | pod fill |
Steve’s tips for the week
- Continue monitoring for diamondback moth in canola.
- Continue sweeping for lygus bugs in canola. Threshold is 3 lygus per sweep.
- If you plan to straight cut canola, watch fields as they come out of bloom to give you an idea of which fields are the most even and best candidates for straight cutting.
- Monitor leaf senescence in wheat and barley to watch for disease and pre-mature ripening.
Agronomy
Do anti-shattering agents pencil out for canola this year?
With the variability in maturity on many canola fields this year, producers have been asking whether they should use an anti-shattering agent to buy some time at swathing and allow the crop to mature. There are several products on the market such as Pod Ceal, Pod Stick and Spodnam that help reduce shattering in canola and also peas, lupins and beans. The products contain either a latex coating (Pod Stick) or a polymer coating (Pod Ceal or Spodnam). I've had the opportunity to work with Pod Seal and found a reduction in volunteer canola the following year when used under irrigation with very large canola crops (70 bu +) and a limited capacity to swath it properly.
Anticipated benefits of using an anti-shattering agent:
- Minimizes shatter and cutter bar losses.
- Minimizes seed quality loss.
- Allows crop to reach its full yield potential.
- Allows full oil development.
- Achieves greater flexibility in harvesting.
- Minimizes green seed.
- Allows for straight cutting.
- Standing canola allows you to get back to a field quicker to harvest in moist conditions.
With that, does it make sense to apply an anti-shattering agent to extend the swathing window on dryland canola with 40 to 50 bushel yield potential? First, we'll run through application timing and rates and then look at the numbers to see if it makes sense economically.
Timing
The best time to apply an anti shattering product in canola would be when 30-60% of the seed has changed colour in the middle of the main stem. This is approximately 3 weeks before harvest.
Mixing
Some products like Pod Stick can be applied with glyphosate or Reglone.
Application Rates
Pod Ceal: $10.25 ac. Rate: 500 ml/ac @ 5 gal/ac by air or 20 gal/ac by ground. Effective for 40 days after application. Made by Brett Young. Pod Stick: $9.76 ac. 400 ml/ac @ 5 gal/ac by air or 20 gal/ac by ground. Effective for 56 days after application. Made by UAP.
The problem we face this year is uneven maturity with canola blooming for five or six weeks. We'll have to sacrifice yield in some areas by swathing too early in order to swath the majority of the field on time. So what will that cost us in yield and does it make sense to apply an anti-shattering agent to extend our swathing window? Let's run the numbers.
Steve's quick math
In this scenario I’ll use a 160 acre field of canola with a 50 bushel yield potential that has 25% of the crop roughly 10 days behind in maturity. Canola price is $10.00 a bushel.
Cost of application: $9.76 ac (Pod Stick) + $10.00/ac by air at 5 gal/ac = $19.76/ac
2:1 return on investment = $19.76 × 2 = $39.52/ac
Yield loss required: $39.52/ac ÷ $10.00/bu = 3.95 bu/ac
Yield loss in 25% of field: (3.95 bu/ac × 160 ac) ÷ (160 ac × 25%) = 15.8 bu/ac
Therefore, in this example, you would have to lose 15.8 bushels an acre (45%) in 25% of the field you're trying to protect by extending the swathing window. Given the circumstances, this is not a profitable strategy in my opinion. Plan to swath according to the majority of the crop and take your losses before shelling out for a pod sealant. SL
Reference: brettyoung.ca
Harvest weed control strategy from Down Under
In farming, struggles usually give way to ingenuity, and that’s what we see here at Simon Tiller’s farm near Esperance in Western Australia. Let me ask you this: how would you like to apply pre-harvest glyphosate and swath at the same time? Intrigued? I thought you’d be!
Producers in Australia have struggled with Group 1 and 3 resistant ryegrass for many years due to the weeds ability to produce millions of seeds in a very short time period. With limited number of in-crop herbicide options (Group 1 and 3) to use on the small waxy, upright leaves, annual ryegrass can take over like wild fire. The problem Simon faced was the rapid seed set of the ryegrass when the crop canopy was removed at swathing. Once exposed to sunlight the weed would set seed quickly and fall to the ground before they were able to do a post-harvest glyphosate application.
To combat this problem, Simon and his father Bill fashioned a pull-type boom sprayer that tows behind the swather, allowing them to spray glyphosate and swath at the same time. Glyphosate is one of their last chemical lines of defense against this nasty weed.
The spray boom is 42 feet wide, which is the same width as the header. There are spray nozzles attached below the cutter bar along the mouth of the opening so herbicide can be applied under the swath as well. The wheel base on the sprayer is the same width as the swather. The picture above shows their JD 4895 swather with 42 foot Honey Bee header and tow-behind sprayer, all powered by GPS guided auto-steer.
I’d like to try this idea in our area to see if it would work on perennial weeds like Canada thistle and quack grass. I believe it would do a great job on dandelions and foxtail barley that grow horizontally more than vertically like Canada thistle and quack grass that have half of their foliage cut off at swathing. I do like the idea of killing two birds with one stone and not having to wait until after harvest to spray when dust and residue may hinder control. I also like the idea of saving $7.00 an acre in application costs each year. We could fasten an 800 gallon tank to pull behind the swather and complete 160 acres in one fill. I like it! SL
Tramline kits may give back
Everywhere I look these days I see green wheel tracks where maturity has been delayed from high clearance sprayers during fungicide applications. With an already late season, the wheel tracks in most fields are another week to ten days behind. This could force some producers to desiccate or swath and will definitely reduce yield. First let’s run some numbers on what those wheel tracks will cost us this year.
Steve’s quick math
50% yield reduction in 3% of field from wheel tracks in 60 bu/ac wheat on a 160 acre field.
(160 ac × 3% × 50%) × 60 bu/ac × $5.00 bu = $720 or $4.50/ ac
In this scenario we’ve lost just $4.50 acre, which works out to over $5,000 each year on most farms for wheat. Run the numbers across a 3,000 to 7,000 acre farm and the losses could be tens of thousands. The reality in some years may be the difference between a No.1 grade and feed because you lost ten days waiting for crops to mature and the weather turned bad. That scenario would cost a producer over $100 an acre!
I think there are three solutions to this wheel track problem: tramline kits, controlled traffic farming or aerial applications. Of the three options, I really think producers should take a hard look at tramline kits. The cost of a kit is roughly $2,500 plus installation. Once set up, the kit diverts seed into the next row leaving tram lines on the widths you’ve specified. All you need to know is the wheel width, tire spacing and boom length of your sprayer, and the width and row spacing of your seeder. From there it’s a switch on and off from the cab.
I truly believe we are losing a great deal of maturity, yield and quality in our current direct seeding systems. Not everyone is ready to jump into controlled traffic farming and rightfully so. I think everyone can agree that wheel tracks can be an issue and if we could avoid driving on the crop we would. Tramline kits are a simple cost effective solution that may be the next step towards achieving higher yields, quality and maturity. I’ve attached a link to the Amity website where you can find more information on tramline kits. SL
http://www.amitytech.com/tramlines/faq
Observations from our ctf system
During a recent field check in our wheat I noticed an interesting phenomenon going on in the wheel tracks. We’ve had eleven inches of rain this year with nine inches falling before the beginning of July and two inches since then. The ground was quite wet when we sprayed on June 28th. Cracks are starting to appear in the soil, which is common in heavy clay. The most significant cracks are in the tramlines and are over five to ten inches deep. The row outside the tramline had no cracking at all. Very interesting!
Veteran controlled traffic farmer Robert Ruwoldt from Australia will tell you that cracks in the soil are akin to the canary in the coal mine. Obvious surface cracks get your attention but there are millions of sub-surface cracks you don’t see that are tearing apart root systems at the most critical time, grain filling. This cracking and tearing causes premature dry down and a reduction in grain fill potential as root systems are destroyed.
Another thing I’ve noticed is a small amount of weed growth in the tram lines, including volunteer canola, wild buckwheat and green foxtail. The weeds are short, stunted and don’t look healthy from growing in compacted soil.
I’m very impressed with the double seeded rows beside the tramlines in our cereals. The increase in plant density has helped shade the weeds in the tram lines. The double seeded rows on either side of the tram line appear to be five to seven days ahead of the rest of the crop so the heavy seeding rate is pushing maturity like we wanted. The double seeded rows in the canola really weren’t necessary because the crop canopied so well. The double seeded rows have increased maturity in the canola but now the crop is somewhat uneven because the it’s finished blooming beside the tramlines and still blooming in the eight rows that fall between the tram lines.
At this time in the growing season I’m very pleased with the results. I really believe the biggest benefit has yet to come. This harvest will be challenging with a full moisture profile. Soils will be soft, wheel tracks will be many and horsepower requirements to drive across that moist clay will be high. With inter-row seeding and ctf, our fuel use should be lower with less material to thrash by keeping taller stubble and a lot less rolling resistance from driving the combine down packed tramlines. I look forward to sharing harvest results with you next time! SL
Market News
Commodity Fundamentals
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| World Production in Million Metric Tonnes | Ending Stocks 5-year Avg | Jun Ending Stocks vs. 5-year Avg | ||||||
| Crop | Production | Ending Stocks | ||||||
| 2008-09 | Jul-10 | Change | 2008-09 | Jul-10 | Change | |||
| Rapeseed | 57.9 | 57.8 | 0% | 6.7 | 4.8 | -29% | 4.6 | 4% |
| Barley | 154.9 | 135.5 | -13% | 30.6 | 26.9 | -12% | 25.7 | 5% |
| Wheat | 683.2 | 661.0 | -3% | 165 | 187.0 | 13% | 138.6 | 35% |
| Corn | 794.7 | 832.4 | 5% | 147 | 141.0 | -4% | 125.9 | 12% |
| Soybeans | 211.7 | 251.3 | 19% | 42.8 | 67.8 | 58% | 54 | 25% |
Technical Analysis
Canola: November futures. The short and long term trend is up.
HRS Wheat: December futures. The short and the long term trend is down.
Corn: December futures. The short and long term trends are down.
Soybeans: November futures. The short term trend is down and long term trend is up.
Canadian Dollar: August futures. The short term trend is up and the long trend is down.
US Dollar Index: August futures. The short term trend is down and the long term trend is up.
