Agronomist Notes
So far I’ve scouted 19,000 acres for weeds, insects and diseases. Overall I’m very pleased with crop emergence, maturity and how clean our fields are. A couple of issues I’ve run into are nitrate leaching in winter wheat on sandy soil and wireworm damage in deep seeded barley. I see some leaf blotch diseases popping up in wheat and barley, especially those under excessive water stress. We have big yield potential out there and with that some big expenses to protect it.
In this issue of Beyond Agronomy News, we’ll be looking a lot of things, beginning with estimating yield potential beating the industry yield standard. You’ll find a list of tips to help ensure optimum weed control this season and, due to the constant showers rolling through, I’ve provided a top ten list of herbicides with one hour or less rainfastness. Next, we’ll look at some information on a new incentive program for current and potential winter wheat growers that could add up to $6.00 an acre. ‘Tis the season to spot nutrient deficiencies and with that, I’ve included some handy links to show you what certain nutrient deficiencies look like in wheat, barley and canola. 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 | 5 leaf 2 tiller | 4 leaf 1 tiller | 3 leaf 1 tiller |
| Canola | 4 leaf | 3 leaf | 2 leaf |
| Barley | 5 leaf 3 tiller | 4 leaf 2 tiller | 3 leaf 1 tiller |
| Peas | 9th node | 7th node | 5th node |
Steve’s tips of the week
- Book your fungicide today, especially if this humid, wet weather continues. Supplies may fall short quickly come late-June, early July.
- Continue checking for wireworm damage. Look for fields that don’t seem to be advancing as fast as other fields.
- Stick to herbicides with 1 hour or less rainfastness when possible. See list below.
Estimating yield potential: where do you stack up?
One of the goals I’m trying to achieve through controlled traffic is to increase the number bushels we produce for every inch of rain we receive. The only way to do that is measure yield and moisture received over time and benchmark yourself against the industry standard. I think everyone should do the same at least on a few fields by measuring spring moisture levels and in-season rainfall.
My goal is to increase yield potential by 30% within five years using the CTF system. I predict we will improve our water and nutrient use efficiency through better moisture storage and root uptake by simply reducing the compaction and wheel track damage across our fields.
Industry standard yield potential
Spring wheat: 6 bu/in/ac or 8.8 kg/mm/ha
Canola: 4 bu/in/ac or 14.8 kg/mm/ha
Barley: 7 bu/in/ac or 15.9 kg/mm/ha
Peas: 4 bu/in/ac or 10.6 kg/mm/ha
While at a local watering hole once, I was told that the difference between a good farmer and a bad farmer is an inch of rain. Unfortunately, people believe this! I believe the true difference lies in what each farmer can produce with that inch of rain and at what cost. Really, the only know way to know where you’re going is to know where you’ve been. If we want to advance yields by trying new farm practices like controlled traffic, inter-row seeding, foliar nutrients, row loading, biologicals, exhaust fumes etc., we need to measure our grain production before and after the management change. Only then can you truly grasp what separates the good operators from the poor. Now go set up a rain gauge and start measuring! SL
Watch our controlled traffic set up on Farm.tv
Two weeks ago we had Farm TV [http://farm.tv/ ] from Lethbridge come up and interview us on the changes we’ve made to our equipment for implementing controlled traffic. This experiment is generating a lot of interest! If you would like to see the changes we’ve made first hand, go to this link and watch the video. SL
Interview with Farm.tv: farm.tv/videos/originals/controlled-traffic-farming-1/
Quick tips on maximizing herbicide efficacy
- Only 10 to 15% of Group 1 wild oat herbicides actually translocate within the plant. Most Group 1's rely on spray droplets to gravitate down the leaf to the growing point. That is one of the reasons water volumes are important when dealing with heavy wild oat populations.
Liberty
- The day after an application of Liberty herbicide is just as important as the day you spray. Warm and sunny weather the day following a Liberty application will dramatically improve control.
- Spraying Liberty in the evening is fine so long as the temperature is warm enough during application and the following day is sunny and warm. Cloudy conditions following application reduces efficacy.
- Be sure its 15 to 20 degrees Celsius with moderate sunshine. If the temperatures below 15 degrees and cloudy, do not spray or else Liberty will not work well.
Centurion
- If you have more than 300 ppm of bicarbonates, add ammonium sulphate AMS at 1% v/v (1 litre AMS per 100 litres) to improve grassy weed control.
- Infinity: If you add AMS, you will get improved Canada thistle suppression and kochia control. It’ll take down 6” tall kochia with the AMS added.
- Infinity has three systemic modes of action with the Group 27 pyrasulfotole and one contact mode of action with the Group 6. This herbicide offers very little Group 1 wild oat antagonism.
Achieve Liquid
- If you have bicarbonate levels above 400 ppm, add ammonium sulphate AMS at 0.5% v/v (0.5 litre AMS per 100 litres) to improve grassy wild oat and green foxtail control.
- Non-tillered crops can be injured by Achieve Liquid if an application is followed by or prior to 4 degree Celsius temperatures.
- Tillered cereal crops can be injured if is sprayed within 48 hours of freezing temperatures.
Avenge
- This Group 8 wild oat herbicide has no activity on 1 or 2-leaf wild oats. The wild oats must be in the 3 to 5-leaf before Avenge will work effectively. Go figure!
Tank mixing fungicides:
- Do not tank mix fungicides containing strobilurin (Group 11) with herbicides unless registered. For example, a ½ rate of Stratego which contains trifloxystrobin combined with Infinity herbicide can cause severe leaf burn. Check the label first!
Top ten herbicides with one hour rainfast
With showers rolling through every few days, I’ve decided to switch over to as many herbicides with one hour rainfastness as possible. Here’s a list of my top ten herbicides with one hour rainfast or less:
- Horizon
- Achieve Liquid
- Puma Advance
- Everest
- Axial
- Velocity
- Infinity
- Precision Pack blends 2525, 23235, 8454 and 858 by DuPont
- Attain
- Pulsar
A list of rainfastness on all products, click here. http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/app23/getcataloginfo?subject=product&view=varietal
Tank mixing pesticides can cause crop injury
The adjacent pictures show signs of phytotoxicity or leaf burn from applying a tank mix of Group 1 herbicide with a Strobilurin fungicide. Although the products can be mixed together in the tank without issue, there can be significant harmful effects when applied. This seemingly harmless cocktail caused significant leaf burn to the wild oats and the wheat.
When you apply a systemic herbicide like a Group I with a systemic fungicide like Strobilurin, you have what I call a “traffic jam”, where both products compete for the same entrance into the tunnel and inevitably, something’s got to give. On the other hand, the family of Propiconazole fungicides such as Tilt, Bumper and Pivot are registered for tank mixing with 2,4-D Amine, MCPA Amine, Buctril M, Pardner and Horizon 240EC. The reason Propiconazole products can be tank mixed with a Group 1 herbicide like Horizon is because this class of fungicide is only partially systemic, thus reducing the amount of “traffic” entering the plant at once. SL
Leaf burn from applying a tank mix of Group 1 herbicide with a Strobilurin fungicide on wild oats (top) and wheat (bottom).
Ducks Unlimited winter wheat incentive program
Ducks Unlimited Canada has just released a new winter wheat program for producers who are interested in seeding winter wheat this fall. The incentive given by DU is $4.00 an acre if you’re growing winter wheat in an eligible area and $2.00 acre just for booking before June 30th. The program is available to current growers and potential winter wheat producers in specific areas where duck nesting habitats are needed. The goal is to encourage western Canadian farmers to plant more winter wheat and to achieve the highest yields possible.
For more information go to: http://www.wintercereals.ca/documents/growerincentive_may10.pdf
Do you see signs of nutrient deficiency?
If you are seeing visual signs of crop stress and would like to discover what’s causing it, I’ve included links to common wheat, barley and canola nutrient deficiency symptoms to help you. Remember to follow up your suspicions with a plant tissue sample to confirm what you’re seeing.
To give you an example of the value of plant tissue sampling, I had 900-acres winter wheat showing severe signs of what I thought was nitrogen deficiency. Tell tale signs were green areas in the double fertilized overlaps, lush green growth in the draws. After 6 inches of rain in May, the top and bottom leaves were yellowing on about 2/3rds of the fields. It looked really bad, really fast. After correcting the deficiency with 100 lbs of urea or 46 lbs of N, the winter wheat has rebounded within ten days. The $25.00 acre investment for nitrogen and floating charges has doubled our yield potential on these fields. The additional investment is a hard pill to swallow, but that extra $25 an acre will return a handsome $120 an acre plus in yield. If you suspect a nutrient deficiency, be sure to address the problem quickly with a tissue sample and a second opinion from a respected agronomist. SL
Check out these photo galleries of nutrient deficiency:
Wheat http://www.back-to-basics.net/nds/crops/wheat.htm
Barley http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/min-def/barley.htm
Canola http://www.back-to-basics.net/nds/crops/canola.htm
Market News
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: June futures. The short term trend is up and the long trend is down.
US Dollar Index: June futures. The short term trend is down and the long term trend is up.
