Agronomist Notes

The past week has been busy with fine tunning agronomy programs and seeding rates now that seed is cleaned and rotations are nailed down. We’re creeping closer to April and before you know it seeding time will be upon us. On the other hand, there’s two feet of snow out there and the ditches are full so who knows when we’ll turn a wheel. 

I sat down with a few co-operators last week to design agronomy programs for targeting 180 bu/ac barley. We potentially have funding to help offset the additional costs over and above business as usual. Good thing because we’re up to $260 an acre on variable input costs on some fields. It’s good exercise for the mind none the less and exciting to be a part of. 

This week I’ll be presenting my Nuffield research to Syngenta in Calgary and presenting a webinar on our controlled traffic farming system to the Farm Leadership Council. See details below if you want to join the webinar.   

In this issue of Beyond Agronomy News we’ll look at which crops return the most to your bottom line and it’s not canola! I’ll set the record straight on calculating canola plant populations with seed singulation and wide rows and why you should have more clean barley on hand this spring.

Agronomy

 

Spring wheat and CPS beat out canola in profit ranking

I know there have been a lot of producers tightening canola rotations this year in expectation of higher than average returns over wheat and barley. However, after updating our cost of production for 2011 and expected returns I found some surprising results. Based on 10 inches of moisture which may be more or less this year and current fall prices, hard red spring wheat and CPS wheat lead the pack as No.1 and No.2 in profitability. The third most profitable crop is malt barley followed by canola.

Here’s a short version of our cost of production and revenue projections for 2011:

Ranking: Revenue/$/ac - Cost/$/ac = Net profit/$/ac

1. HRS wheat: $493.14 - $286.10 = $207.04
2. CPS wheat: $468.65 - $282.10 = $186.55
3. Malt Barley: $419.72 - $265.98 = $153.74
4. Canola: $445.45 - $323.11 = $122.34
5. Red lentils: $394.80 - $283.67 = $111.13
6. Feed Barley: $359.76 - $278.35 = $81.41
7. Peas: $304.81 - $241.21 = $63.60

See full details of our cost of production and expected revenues for 2010 at http://beyondagronomy.com/2011_cop_mitch_steve.xls.

Bottom line, run your own numbers and don’t buy into the hype that canola is the only profit maker. SL

Join a webinar on CTF for the Farm Leadership Council

I’m presenting a free webinar on the journey we’ve taken in our controlled traffic farming system on the Farm Leadership Council website. If you haven’t had a chance to see me present on this topic, you’ll be able to do it from the comfort of your home. To join, you’ll have to sign up to become a member but that’s all that is required. For more information go to:
http://www.ourflc.com/events/

Calculating seed singulation in canola

I was approached, er, cornered by a guest at FarmTech who told me I can’t get a high enough canola plant population with a planter using seed singulation on wide rows. Without the metal capacity of Rainman to calculate how many plants per acre I could achieve with a row crop planter in my head on the spot after talking for an hour and answering a hundred questions I folded and said okay, you’re right. 

During my presentation at FarmTech, I explained the 2010 results of canola row spacing trials which showed a higher yield from the 15” and 30” rows compared to the 9” spacing with 3.5” Stealth opener. At the same time it was accomplished with 2.5lbs/ac less seed with the planter. More trials will be done in 2011 to see if we’re on to something. It was some time after my presentation that I came across a handy calculator that lets you tweak row spacing and in-row plant spacing to see how many plants per acre you can achieve. Here are the results comparing the two systems:

Plants per acre

Conventional: 8 plants/ft2 × 43,560 ft2 = 348,480 plants/ac
Seed singulation: 15 inch row with 1 inch in-row plant spacing = 418,176 plants/acre
Seed singulation: 30 inch row with 1 inch in-row plant spacing = 209,088 plants/acre

Pods per plant

9 inch spacing: (40 bu/ac × 50 lbs/bu × 454 grams/lb ÷ 348,480 plants/ac) ÷ 0.003 gm/seed ÷ 20 seeds/pod = 43 pods/plant
15 inch spacing: (40 bu/ac × 50 lbs/bu × 454 grams/lb ÷ 418,176 plants/ac) ÷ 0.003 gm/seed ÷ 20 seeds/pod = 36 pods/plant
30 inch spacing: (40 bu/ac × 50 lbs/bu × 454 grams/lb ÷ 209,088 plants/ac) ÷ 0.003 gm/seed ÷ 20 seeds/pod = 72 pods/plant

I wish I had mathematic super powers because I would have informed that gentleman that he could indeed achieve enough plant population with seed singulation. I would have also noted that he could achieve the population with 2.5 lbs/ac less seed than a conventional paired row opener because of improved emergence rates. I also ran the pods per plant calculation to see if the number of pods per plant was achievable at each width. It turns out that even at the 30 inch row spacing with a third less plant population compared to 9 inch row spacing, we could easily achieve a 40 bu/ac crop with just 72 pods per plant. Double the yield goal to 80 bu/ac and we’re only at 144 pods per plant on 30 inch row spacing. I’ve personally counted 455 pods on one plant so 144 are easily attainable.

In the end, I still think there is merit in a two pass strip till system that includes a separate seed singulation drill for canola. Time will tell what row spacing will give us the best solution. It’s either that or go back to a broadcast and incorporate system, he says with a smirk. SL

Plant population calculator: http://www.hydroponicsearch.com/tools/calculators/plants/
Photo source: Justin Nanninga

Two reasons to clean extra barley

I look out the window to a Siberian landscape, chilling temperatures and the cold 14-day forecast ahead, it makes me unsure about how to guess the type of spring we’ll have. I’m not one for knee jerk reactions on crop plans so my proactive style is to set up what if scenarios now. If the cold and snow does continue for the next month and spring is delayed until late May after the ground dries up, we may be forced out of wheat and canola on some acres. Growing feed wheat again doesn’t seem all that appealing when most producers are still sitting on 90% of their 2010 production.

Reason 1: If we do run out of time, feed barley will be hard to come by so I will recommend we clean up a few more acres worth to get us through in a pinch should we switch to barley the end of May.

Reason 2: The average seed size for my clients on feed and malt barley is 50 grams per 1,000 kernels. With germinations in the 90% range, the lowest seeding rate I’ve calculated for 24 plants/ft2 in feed barley is 134 lbs/ac. The large seed size may catch a few people off-guard so be sure to have enough seed on hand.

Seeding rate calculation (lb/ac) = desired plant population/ft² × 1,000 K wt. (g) ÷ (germination% – mortality%) ÷ 10.4
24/ft2 × 50 grams/tkw ÷ (94% - 15%) ÷ 10.4 = 146 lbs/ac

In this example you can see that with a 50 gram tkw which is quite common this year and a 24 plant/ft2 target, you’re looking at a 146 lb seeding rate to achieve your target. Better clean more barley. SL