Agronomist Notes

Hello, Winter! This past week snow covered the Prairies and temperatures plummeted. We’ve almost wrapped up soil sampling and have tweaked crop plans for next year. There’s plenty of talk about producers planting more malt barley, peas and canola with a lot less wheat due to significant uncertainty in Canadian Wheat Board politics.

In this issue of Beyond Agronomy News, we’ll look at intensifying malt barley production and also discuss some interesting results on the effects of growth regulators on yield, test weight and protein from some malt barley trials. To keep on the theme, we’ll look at the use of PGR’s in intensive wheat production. We’ll finish with fundamental and technical grain market news.  

See you folks at the sold out Advanced Agronomy conference in Nisku on Wednesday!

Have a great week.

Agronomy

Intensifying malt barley production 
Can it be done?

Striking a balance between high yield and malt quality barley is a difficult task. We are always hesitant to push nitrogen rates for the simple fear of generating too much protein and losing malt quality. Well, one of my challenges in 2011 was to try and intensify malt barley production through high nitrogen rates, growth regulators and multiple fungicides yet still maintain malt quality. Here are the details in our high yield malt trials at each location and what we learned along the way.

All trials are AC Metcalfe.

Strathmore
Fertilizer: 138N-40P-40K-10S
Seeding rate: 151 lbs/ac
Yield: 124 bu/ac
Plump: 93%
Protein: 12.4%
Rainfall: 10 inches, 2 inches stored soil moisture

Olds
Fertilizer: 85N-52P-56K-10S
Seeding rate: 177 lbs/ac
Yield: 127 bu/ac
Plump: 97%
Protein: 10.1%
Rainfall: 10 inches, 3 inches stored soil moisture

Carbon
Fertilizer: 140N-40P-40K-10S
Seeding rate: 170 lbs/ac
Yield: 110 bu/ac
Plump: 95%
Protein: 12.3%
Rainfall: 10 inches, 2 inches stored soil moisture

As you can see we still managed to achieve greater than 93% plump and below 12.4% protein even with nitrogen rates pushing 140 lbs/ac and seeding rates pushing 180 lbs/ac. All three sites had over three quarters of the in-season rainfall occur in May and June with the remainder in July and August. The Carbon site was on heavy clay and had excessive rains which reduced yield significantly to 110 bu/ac. With 140 lbs of nitrogen on that field you might wonder how we achieved protein under 13%. I suspect the dual fungicide and growth regulator really helped to improve nitrogen use efficiency and build plump kernels. The leaves and stems on this site were green right until the end, so much so that it had to be swathed.

The Strathmore site achieved 93% plumpness and 12.4% protein with 138 lbs of nitrogen but we did run into excessive late tillering which caused 3.5% green kernels, well above allowable limits. This was not the case at the other sites. I suspect tillering was encouraged after stressing it out with the fungicide and growth regulator combination. The label says not to mix Ethrel PGR with fungicides but we decided to do it as a trial and found out the hard way. Granted, 124 bu/ac isn’t anything to whine about.

These are the key findings and observations:

• There are three growth stages to focus on building yield: Phase 1) Germination and emergence to give you the desired number of plants, Phase 2) Tillering to build the desired number of heads, and Phase 3) Grain fill which determines kernel size.
• 30 plants per ft2 is the ideal plant density for malt barley in these areas. It reduces late tillers which are typically less plump. A target of 25 plants per ft2 is fine for barley.
• High nitrogen and phosphorus rates build strong tillers. The trial sites averaged three tillers per plant and generated 60% more heads per ft2 compared to the checks. N and P were the drivers.
• Start with a fungicide like Tilt at herbicide timing to buy you enough disease suppression to delay your second fungicide at head emergence.
• The late application of fungicide provides longer coverage into grain fill and keeps the leaves greener, longer which helps build kernel weights. Applied too soon and disease protection runs out before the plant does.
• The use of plant growth regulators helps reduce lodging but also improves nitrogen use efficiency and lowers protein content in kernels, a great combination.
• Be prepared to swath the crop as the leaves and stems stay green right until maturity with this intensive program.

I sure look forward to fine tuning next year’s trials. SL

Plant growth regulators improve nitrogen efficiency in high yield barley trials

A few weeks ago I updated you on the results of the high yield barley trial that Craig Shand from Farmer’s Edge achieved near Crossfield, AB with his client Grant Budgeon. They ran three trials in a 160 acre field comparing seeding rates, fungicides and growth regulators. The results are shown below. What I find interesting is the test weights and protein levels of each trial. There may be a trend toward higher nitrogen use efficiency with the use of plant growth regulators.

Here is a recap of the treatments with the test weights and protein levels below. NH3 at a 70 lbs/N/ac rate was applied the previous fall.

Treatment 1) Conventional treatment, Xena barley at 25 plants/ft2 = 133 bu/ac
Treatment 2) Variable Rate top dress N (20-45N), Stratego, Foliar Cu, Xena barley at 28 plants/ft2, No PGR = 146 bu/ac
Treatment 3) Variable Rate top dress N (20-45N), Stratego, Foliar Cu, Xena barley at 28 plants/ft2, PGR = 157 bu/ac

Treatment 1) 133 bu/ac, 57.9 lbs, 10.7% protein
Treatment 2) 146 bu/ac, 57.2 lbs, 11.7% protein
Treatment 3) 156 bu/ac, 58.2 lbs, 11.0% protein

Treatment 2 increased yields by 10% over the conventional treatment but also increased protein from 10.7% to 11.7%. Treatment 3 included a plant growth regulator and bumped yields by another 7% but also lowered protein by 0.7% at the same time. This was really encouraging data and indicates that Craig and Grant can push nitrogen rates even higher than 128 lbs/N/ac to exceed 156 bu/ac. The rule of thumb for protein content is that you are losing yield if your protein is less than 12.5%.

The take home message is if you farm in an area that typically produces 90+ bu/ac barley yields, PGR’s could give you the freedom to push fertility harder when used correctly. The cost of Ethrel PGR in our trials at 300 ml was $6.00/ac and provided a 7:1 return on investment. Like many products, there are risks with yield reductions if applied when the crop is under stress. However, if managed correctly, PGR’s can take the 90+ bu/ac barley growers and move them into a higher level of production. SL

Plant growth regulators in wheat offer impressive yields

Sticking to the growth regulator theme, I thought I’d share the 2011 results from Hudye Soil Services growth regulator trials in wheat near Norquay, SK. The trial compared the use of three growth regulators called Cycocel Extra https://agro.basf.ca/West/Products/Product_Labels/CYCOCEL_EXTRA_Label_2011_West.pdf
, Manipulator http://www.taminco.com/content/view/150/157/ and Belcocel http://www.taminco.com/products/products/specialty-plant-growth-regulators.html?product_id=114 on the variety CDC Go. Under a high fertility regime each growth regulator increased yield with a high of 15% over the check.

These are the details from the trial:  

Co-operator: Hudye Farms Inc.	Herbicide date: June 25, 2011
Fertility: 123-41-32-20	Fungicide date: July 11, 2011
Variety: CDC Go	Harvest date: Sept 14, 2011
Seeding date: May 22, 2011	Rainfall: May 1 to Aug 15: 11.5in
Seed spacing: 7.5in with 3in spread	Heat Units: May 1 to Aug 15: 1783

Yields:
Check: 79.18 bu/ac
Belcocel: 87.86 bu/ac
Cycocel Extra: 90.79 bu/ac
Manipulator: 91.54 bu/ac

Growth regulators will be a key component for many looking to push yields higher with intensive management. The results of these trials show just how useful PGR’s can be with yield bumps up to 10 bu/ac. SL

Source: http://www.hudyesoils.com/images/fieldofdreamspdf/2011/2011-Trial_Results_Final.pdf