Agronomist Notes

About 90% of the canola acres are now swathed and many producers are contemplating swathing or desiccating their cereals due to immature plants in the wheel tracks. Most winter wheat and pea fields have been harvested with yields in the 80’s for winter wheat and 50’s for peas. The start of spring wheat harvest has just begun around Drumheller with some 60 and over 70 bushel yields popping up. The barley harvest should begin to pick up speed this week if it dries up and the canola harvest should see more action as the early May seeded fields are ready for combining.

Now is the time to start thinking about harvest inefficiencies. Where are the weak links in your harvest chain? Do you have combines constantly waiting for trucks? Are your combines harvesting less than 10 acres per hour? Are you putting too many hours on the combine relative to the acres you harvest? Does it make sense to purchase a grain cart or a larger auger, another tandem perhaps? I encourage you to keep track of all harvest costs so we can compare the results in future issues.

This week’s newsletter will cover straight combining canola with tips to help you fine-tune your combine and decide when to begin harvesting. Also, I see a few lodged crops this year so I will cover a few tips on straight combining lodged cereal crops. The recent wet weather has me wondering if we should combine our 25% spring wheat call a little tough and haul it straight to the elevator instead of waiting for it to dry. I will go through the math to see if it makes sense. Finally, I have an excellent online calculating tool to help you choose what elevator delivery points net you the greatest return including freight, elevation and trucking premiums.

Agronomy

Tips for Straight Cutting Canola

1. Straight cut at night. Higher humidity levels allow the plant to be more pliable and cause less pods to burst open and lose seed.
2. Adjust reel speed to coincide with the travel speed of the combine. This allows less bunching of plant material to accumulate on the dividers of the straight cut header and allows for even flow toward the feeder housing.
3. Keep the reel as high and as far back as possible to reduce the chances of shattering seed.
4. Cut higher than when you swath. This practice will depend on the overall height of the crop canopy. Less material reduces overloading the sieves and allows better separation of seed and plant residue.
5. Use crop lifters in lodged crops. Lifters assist in an even flow into the throat of the header and help to maintain travel speed.
6. Watch moisture content of seed. Depending on daylight temperatures, canola seed will stay dry long after the plant material has become tough.
7. Most consistent success has come from the use of flex headers or rigid headers with extensions such as the Biso header attachment. Draper headers can also work well, but take care with the transition areas from the drapers to the feeder house, as gaps in these areas can allow for seed loss to occur.
8. Ensure that adequate aeration or drying facilities are available to condition the crop properly for storage.

Source: http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2006/07/13/96105/Popularity+grows+for+direct+cutting.html
Source: http://www.stackyard.com/news/2006/07/arable/05_oilseed_rape_masstock.html
Source: Canola Council of Canada

Harvest Options for Lodged Cereal Crops

Knife Adjustment - On floating cutter bars, leave the knife tilted down and run the header in the float position. Take care not to feed rocks into the combine if choosing this option.

Grain Lifters - Setting up a combine for lodged wheat takes extra time and care while in the field. Consider using grain lifters, which lift the crop above the cutter bar. This is an inexpensive way to maximize yields.

Reel Adjustment - Adjust the reel on the combine. Set the reel forward and adjust the tine angle to be more aggressive, allowing the reel to physically lift the crop up off the ground and above the knife. Check the operator's manual for suggested settings and fine tune from there.

Harvesting Direction - The last option, an unfortunate reality in some years, is to harvest the grain in one direction.

Source: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/pub811/6harstor.htm

Delivering Tough Grain- Is it worth taking the discount at the elevator?

If we fall into a wetter than normal harvest or want to start harvest early, at what point does it make sense to take the grain off a little tough and suffer the discount at the elevator? Let’s work through the numbers to find out what we gain or lose by delivering tough grain. We will assume no increased storage risks because in these examples we intend to deliver off-combine.

Example 1:  We deliver canola at 10% moisture. CGC standard for dry canola is 10% moisture.

• A 1% moisture gain in one tonne of grain (wheat, barley, canola, peas) is equal to 24.25 lbs of grain per tonne.
• Moving from 6% moisture to 10% moisture in canola is equal to a 4 point gain X 24.25 lbs/tonne = 97 lbs per tonne
• 97 lbs per tonne ÷ 50lbs/bu = 1.94 bushels per tonne.
• 1.94 bu/tonne x $9.00 bu = $17.46 per tonne

So on one truckload of canola at 44 tonnes you have gained $17.46 per tonne x 44 tonnes = $768.24. That more than pays the trucking bill!

Example 2: We deliver wheat at 17% moisture. CGC standard for dry wheat is 14.5% moisture.

• 17% - 14.5% = 3.5 point gain
• 3.5 x 24.25 = 84.87 lbs/tonne
• 84.87 lbs/tonne ÷60lbs/bu = 1.41 bu/tonne gained
• 1.41 bu/tonne x $5.76/bu = $8.12/tonne

We’ve gained $8.12 per tonne by delivering tough grain. The discount for delivering tough grain today is approximately $8.00/tonne. Therefore we net $0.12/tonne by delivering tough grain. The net monetary gain is insignificant in this example but the net benefit of an earlier harvest can be huge if you can increase quality and get an earlier start to harvest.

For the calculating tool click on: http://www.hgca.com/tools.output/114/114/Tools/Agronomy%20Calculators/Grain%20Moisture.mspx?fn=grainMoisture

Western Canada Producer Netback Calculator

The Producer Netback Calculator has been designed to assist farmers in determining the delivery options that may provide the best returns for their spring wheat and durum. You can look at the cost of different delivery points including trucking premiums.

For example, does it make sense to deliver to Agricore United at Carseland or AgPro at Trochu from Morrin, AB assuming a $7 dollar trucking premium? I discovered my net price to deliver 84 miles away to Carseland was $209.95 a tonne after freight, elevation and trucking compared to Trochu at $206.65 a tonne. So, I’m actually ahead by $3.30 a tonne by delivering 84 miles away! Who would have known?

The costs are reflected as deductions on your cash tickets. When subtracted from the most recent CWB Pool Return Outlook, the resulting Producer Netback is the best estimate of the real returns for your grain.

To get started on your delivery options click on: https://www.netback.ca/HomePage.aspx

Pre-harvest Glyphosate Use

Canadian research showed that glyphosate applied to wheat with seed moisture content above 25% slightly improved the dry -down of both the seed and foliage when compared to a standing crop. The authors found that the small differences in the dry-down required 10 to 15 days to become expressed, and warmer or drier conditions tended to make the differences in dry-down between treated and untreated disappear.

The maximum benefit of glyphosate as a desiccant was observed when seed moisture content was above 40%. This was well before the wheat crop reached physiological maturity and consequently the authors reported yield losses and high residue levels of glyphosate in the harvested seed.  When seed moisture content dropped below 40%, the glyphosate applications caused little or no yield losses and little to no differences in kernel weight, test weight, grain protein, or germination.

Source: http://www.smallgrains.org/springwh/Apr05/classroom/classroom.htm

Market News

Fertilizer & Glyphosate Prices Climb

I’ve heard urea prices at $455/tonne for September purchase and delivery, also $480/tonne for pickup in December, but paid in September. The word on the street is that urea prices will jump $20 to $30/tonne very soon if not this week. The glyphosate shortage is real and becoming hard to get with most of the generic products sold out. It’s not a bad idea to secure some product if you plan to do any post-harvest spraying this fall.

Southern Hemisphere to Decide Wheat Price Path

Demand and production potential in the Southern Hemisphere will determine whether wheat can extend its rally after the market sailed to a new all-time high last Thursday on the CBOT. There is no relief in sight for the drought in Argentina, Cropcast Agricultural Weather said in a forecast. A lack of rainfall in recent weeks will allow moisture deficits to remain significant across most of the country’s wheat belt, which will continue to threaten yield losses.

Source: CBOT News

Dryness to Persist in Argentina & Brazil

Latest sea surface temperature (SST) data from the Southern Pacific indicated a further cooling of SST’s to -.6 degrees Celsius below normal, which indicates a weak La Nina. This is expected to persist for several months through the southern Hemisphere growing season. This typically results in below normal precipitation over most of Argentina and South western Brazil. The dry pattern over Argentina is already in place.

Source: FIMAT

World Urea Prices on the Rise

The urea market continues to strengthen worldwide and is gaining momentum as more buyers enter the market. The US market has now risen $20 a tonne in two weeks and is still firming, usually a good indicator of what direction the forward market will take.

Source: http://www.gleadell.co.uk/MarketReport.htm

Aussie Grain Prices, Interesting Comparison with CWB

The Australian Wheat Board (AWB) raised its estimated pool return outlook for wheat last week by $30 a tonne, taking spring wheat to $300 a tonne for the first time. Last week’s forward cash prices for the coming barley harvest had swept to $325 a tonne for feed barley and $336 for malt barley this week. Perhaps the CWB should make a phone call to the AWB for grain marketing advice.

Source: http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=146&ContentID=38415

Spring Wheat Outlook

Over the past month, world wheat supplies have further tightened. Heat and dryness in Western Canada during July have reduced wheat production estimates. In Europe, rains have continued which has further delayed harvest, reduced production levels and hurt quality. At this time Australia and Argentina are in need of rain. Hard Red Winter wheat production in the US also declined because of heavy rains during harvesting. The US has had strong export sales over the past month, which continues to push futures prices higher. The world is now focusing on wheat production in the southern hemisphere where the crop is expected to come to market in late November and December.

Source: CWB

Feed & Malt Barley Outlook

Expectations for Australian barley production are starting to decline due to recent dry conditions and the need for significant rain over the next few weeks. A sizable Australian crop is needed to prevent global barley supplies from further tightening. Rains in Europe have negatively affected malting barley quality, and a dry, hot finish to the growing season in the US has caused the US two-row malting barley market to strengthen. The western Canadian and Australian harvests remain the two key factors that will influence malting barley values going forward.

Source: CWB

Weather Outlook

My weather source claims that we have a 50-80% probability of receiving above median rainfall during August to October.

India’s Edible Oil Imports May Jump by up to 11% Next Year

India’s population growth and thirst for oilseeds is good news for canola growers. Edible oil imports by India, one of the world's biggest buyers of the commodity, is likely to go up by 8-11% to 5.2 million tons in 2007-08 season despite an expected increase in domestic oilseeds output. I believe we’ll continue to see strong demand for oilseeds in the next few years with bio-diesel policies in North America and EU as well as increased consumption from China and India’s growing population.

See the full story: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/015200708261657.htm