Agronomist Notes

I’ve just about finished my first round of scouting and half way through my post herbicide checks. Everything is working well aside from a little wash off from rain and I’m really impressed with the timeliness of application in spite of all the rain showers. At the farm, I counted just 5 days in June where we didn’t have rain. We’ve had 7.5 inches in the last 6 weeks and I’ve now called in the plane to finish off spraying and wondering if rice and not barley would have been a better choice this year.

Clients are just wrapping up spraying and about to rest up this weekend before we go full on into fungicide spraying. Disease levels in cereals continue to increase week over week and clients are busy booking fungicides. On the insect front there have been a few canola fields affected by cutworms and we’re now coming into seedpod weevil scouting in canola.

This week we’ll look at the potential to apply boron in canola after heavy rains recently. Next, we’ll look at how to predict flag leaf timing to help with fungicide applications. I’ve included information on leaf diseases, yield losses and fungicides to give you an idea about yield loss and cost of applications. I’ve finished with cutworm and cabbage seedpod weevil insect scouting and control. We’ll finish with fundamental and technical grain market news.  

Photo: Inter-row seeded wheat at Tony Pliva’s, Drumheller

Agronomy

Crop Staging Area (Calgary to Drumheller to Three Hills)

Seeded	May 1-7	May 8-15	May 16-21	May 22-29
Wheat	flag emerging	first node	5 leaf 2 tiller	4 leaf 1 tiller
Canola	Bolting	bud stage	6 leaf	5 leaf
Barley	flag emerging	5 leaf 2 tiller	4 leaf 2 tiller	3 leaf 1 tiller
Peas	16th node	13th node	10th node

Tips of the week

• Expect surfactant burn or leaf bronzing in Liberty Link canola from high humidity levels. You may see the same with contact herbicides like Infinity, Velocity and Benchmark, Buctril M.
• Check sandy or coarse textured soils for sulphate or nitrate leaching, especially in canola.
• Be sure to do your post herbicide spray checks to make sure herbicides worked well. If herbicides didn’t perform, you have time to re-spray and correct the issue before it’s too late.
• Tan spot showing up a great deal in heavy wheat rotations. Plan to apply fungicide at flag through heading.
• Check canola fields for cutworm damage or areas with weak plant stands. 

NEW Date: This Wednesday, June 29

Time: 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Where:  One mile west of Morrin, Alberta on HWY 27 and 1.5 miles north on RR 20-4 (N 51 40.234 and W 112 47.543)  Google map

Join CTF Alberta for a look at the second year of Steve Larocque’s controlled traffic farming near Morrin, Alberta.

• Equipment modifications
• Second year observations
• Crop walk looking at:
  • soil variability,
  • soil quality,
  • nutrient status and
  • inter-row seeding (Xena barley into canola stubble)
• Controlled Traffic Farming Alberta project update.

There is no charge for the event. Refreshments will be provided.

NEW - 3 Soil & Water Management CEU's available for CCA's.

No registration required - contact Peter Gamache at 780-720-4346

Now is the time to start thinking about Boron applications in canola

With canola beginning to bolt and a long stretch of wet weather recently, some coarse textured soils may experience some temporary boron deficiencies popping up. Boron is highly leachable and can move below shallow rooted canola plants like we have this year. A boron deficiency at this time can lead to terminal bud death, poor pollination and failure to produce flower buds. The addition of foliar boron in a responsive situation can lead to a 5-10% yield bump. Boron deficiencies are favoured by pH’s below 5.5 and above 8, excessively wet, dry or hot weather and low organic matter. Also, excessive sulphur fertilization can inhibit uptake of boron.

The tricky part about boron is that it is immobile within the plant so boron needs to be constantly supplied to the new leaves or growing points. When tissue testing, the key is to take canola leaf samples from the youngest leaves. The older leaves can actually accumulate boron in a deficient situation and throw your tissue results out of whack.

Soil test range

Deficient: 0 - 0.5 ppm
Medium: 0.5 - 1 ppm
Adequate: >1.2ppm

Tissue test range
Low: <20 ppm
Marginal: 20-30 ppm
Sufficient: >30 ppm
Thankfully, correcting a boron deficiency can be as simple as applying foliar boron from bolting to flowering. However, if heavy rainfall conditions continue or hot weather above 25C occurs, a second application of boron may be necessary to maintain a constant supply. Here's a list of products to correct a boron deficiency:

1. Stoller MP Boron 9% B, $7.50/L, apply 0.5 to 1L/ac  
2. Omex Potato MB 4% urea 10% boric acid, $6.50/L, apply 0.5 to 1L/ac 
3. NutriAg BoronMax 8.1%, $7.00/L, apply 0.2 to 0.8 L/ac
4. Nexus Liquid Boron 10%, $7.00/L, apply 0.5 to 1 L/ac
5. Agrium UltraYield 10% B 3% S granular, apply 1 lb/ac side banded away from the seed row.
6. UAP Borosol 10%, $6.35/L, apply 0.5-1.5 L/ac

Now to optimize foliar boron response, be sure to apply it during times of high humidity like late in the day or early morning to give the best chance of response. You want that droplet to stay on the leaf for as long as possible to ensure passive transport through the leaf cuticle and stomata. Last, if you choose to use any of the products listed above, be sure to talk to the local product reps and ask for the appropriate application rates given their experience in your area. SL

Predicting flag leaf emergence for fungicide timing

Barley (2-row): When the third node is about half an inch above the ground, the penultimate leaf (one just below the flag) is visible, and the next leaf to appear is the flag. If only one node is visible, then it will be about 10-14 days till flag leaf; if two nodes are visible it will be about 5-7 days until the flag leaf is out.

Barley (6-row) and wheat: When the second node is half an inch above the ground, the penultimate is visible and the next leaf is the flag. If only 1 node is visible, the next leaf will be about 5-7 days. The flag leaf is usually the seventh or eighth leaf in cereals. In wheat, the flag leaf is large and contributes to 45% of the yield. The penultimate leaf contributes another 10%. In a barley crop, the flag leaf is smaller so the penultimate and flag together contribute 65% of the yield.
Source: Syngenta

Yield loss potential from top four common leaf diseases in wheat and barley

To give you an idea of yield loss from common wheat and barley diseases along with approximate costs, I’ve included this short list of disease loss and fungicide options.

Tan spot: 3% to 15%
Septoria: 1% to 25%
Net blotch: 1% to 40%
Scald: 10% to 50%
Registered Fungicides:
Quilt: 405 ml/ac = $11.50 ac
Headline: 120 ml/ac = $11.50 ac
Caramba: 280 ml/ac = ??
Folicur EW: 200 ml/ac = $9.00 ac
Tilt: 202 ml/ac = $6.50 ac
Stratego: 200 ml/ac = $6.25 ac
Bumper: 120 ml/ac = $6.00 ac
Pivot: 120 ml/ac = $6.00 ac
Prosaro: 320 ml/ac = $12.50 ac

Redbacked cutworm damage showing up in canola

Last week I had a call to look at a weak stand of canola. Turns out the majority of the field was destroyed by cutworms. I haven’t seen much for cutworms this year but the redbacked cutworm species is what I;ve found this year. I recommend you take a look at your canola to be sure you're cutworm free. I've found the Redbacked species around the Carbon area.

There are three key species - Redbacked, Pale Western and Dingy.

Feeding cycle: All three species feed until they're an inch to inch-and-a-half long, the molting stage. However, Redbacked cutworms tend to feed longer in the season than the other two. The majority of the ones I found were 1 to 1.25 inches long.

Assessing the risk: Cutworm pressure tends to increase on fields that had high levels of vegetation the previous fall or on pulse stubble or silage stubble. Cutworms can reach economic levels regardless of the previous crop type so scout all your canola fields.

Crop damage: Look for cut, wilted or missing canola plants. Cutworms are often in patches, so spot spraying affected acres may be enough. Evening spraying is optimal as cutworms come closer to the surface at night. Morning sprays are less effective since cutworms move deeper at first light of day.

Control options:
You must spray in the evening during their most active eating time period. Cutworms bury themselves up to two inches deep during the day. Spraying during the day is ineffective on cutworms. 

Insecticides:
Decis: 80 ml/ac @ 10 gal/ac. $5.40 ac. Do not spray if above 25oC
Matador: 34 ml/ac @ 10 gal/ac. $5.40 ac. Do not spray if above 25oC
Lorsban: 485 ml/ac @ 10 gal. $8.25 ac. Spraying allowed past 25oC

For more scouting and spraying tips, click here:
Cutworm facts MB AG
Cutworm facts AB AG 

Source: Alberta Agriculture

Cabbage Seedpod Weevil

The majority of canola is now bolting, with the early seeded crops in early bloom. This is the time to begin scouting for cabbage seedpod weevils. The adult weevils are an ashy, charcoal gray colour approximately 3 mm long with a pronounced snout. The adults feed on buds, flowers, stems and pods. The adult weevils lay their eggs inside developing pods where the eggs hatch and larvae begin to feed on the seeds. Each larva can consume up to 5 seeds during its development, which can equate to a 15-20 % yield loss. The tiny exit holes left in the pods after the weevils emerge cause early shattering, and provide an entry point for disease.

The threshold for cabbage seedpod weevil is 3 to 4 weevils per sweep. The proper technique to sweep for weevils is to do ten 180-degree sweeps in ten locations. Be sure to move away from the headlands and pick areas that are representative of the field. Weevils are typically higher in number along field edges. Sweeping should take place from bud stage through flowering. The best time to apply an insecticide is the 10-20 % bloom stage if possible to avoid harming the beneficial insects in canola.
Link: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex2538
Photo: Canola Council