Agronomist Notes
Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the Nitrous Oxide Emissions Reduction Protocol development workshop. Forty-five scientists and industry professionals from across Canada were on hand to help shape the new protocol. I never thought I would dig policy development but this group had a nice scientific flavor to keep it stimulating. I’ll share what the new emissions protocol means to producers in this week’s newsletter.
On the fertilizer front, I hear a lot of different urea prices quoted, depending on who you talk to and where. I’ve heard anything from $450 a tonne urea brought in from overseas to $825 a tonne from a local retailer. The rumors are endless but I do have news for you that may spur you on to purchase nitrogen sooner than later. Read “Russian export tax” below!
I’ve just started soil sampling and it may not be as dry as I previously thought. Soil moisture is adequate, making conditions mellow for applying nitrogen if weather and economics permit. I’ll keep you updated on soil moisture status once I cover more ground.
Finally, I’ve got a great winter project for you all to help control weeds and swath at the same time. A friend of mine and fellow Nuffield Scholar, Simon Tiller, from South Western Australia has shared one of his management tools to help control resistant annual ryegrass at swath timing. Have a great week. SL
Agronomy
Is fall banding cost effective?
With nitrogen and fuel prices softening momentarily, some producers are looking at fall banding urea or anhydrous ammonia. In some cases, producers can a) capture lower cost nitrogen without having to store it, and b) increase seeding efficiency next spring. I wanted to know the breakeven cost for fuel and labour if we applied N this fall. I also wanted to compare the fall application costs versus the potential savings from purchasing urea today versus the spring.
In this example, we will use a 58 foot air drill with a 435 bushel tank using 2” openers on 10” spacing to band 175 lbs of urea (80 lbs N) per acre at 6 mph.
Labour: $20/hr
Fuel use: $68.70/hr (15 gal/hr at $4.58/Gal or 68 L/hr at $1.01/L)
Acres/hr: 42 acres per hour (6 mph × 5,280 ft/ml × 58 ft ÷ 43,560 ft2/ac)
Acres/fill: 134 acres (435 bu × 60 lb/bu) ÷ 175 lbs × 90%)
The breakeven fuel and labour cost to run this air drill is $88.70 per hour or $2.11 per acre if we can achieve 42 acres per hour. The cost of nitrogen today is roughly $750 to $800 per tonne or $0.76 per pound of nitrogen. Therefore, the cost of urea must increase by $26.70 per tonne or $0.01 per pound of N by next spring to recover the fuel and labour costs. In this example, I think it makes a good case for applying at least some nitrogen this fall if you are looking at speeding up seeding efficiencies next spring.
One caveat would be that you shouldn’t use openers with a lot of ground disturbance like a 5” wide double shoot opener. If possible, use a 1” knife, even if you have 5” packers, as this will leave you a smoother finish and disturb less soil. Anything less than 20% SBU (i.e. 2” opener on 10” spacing) would be ideal. SL
Export tax on Russian urea exports may cause supply shortages in spring
A colleague of mine from Farmer’s Edge was recently in Southern Russia to help consult on a large corporate farm. The individuals from the corporation had mentioned that the Russian government was looking into an export tax on urea in the area of 40% to help keep urea in the country.
Nitrogen prices have softened this fall as producers in North America have taken a back seat to watch where the fertilizer market is headed. Another reason for softening fertilizer prices is the reduced access to credit for many producers in the US who typically buy fertilizer in the fall. That being the case, if a large portion of the demand is pushed into the New Year, I can see fertilizer prices climbing higher and the potential for supply shortages next spring.
The world’s logistical system to date is not equipped to manufacture, ship and store enough fertilizer to meet global demand over such a short time period. This is the type of scenario that is building right now if producers don’t start to purchase fertilizer this fall. I’d be inclined to purchase fertilizer now while no one is buying instead of waiting until everyone starts. SL
Photo source: www.boatnerd.com
Harvest weed control strategy from Down Under
In farming, struggles usually give way to ingenuity, and that’s what we see here at Simon Tiller’s farm near Esperance in Western Australia. Let me ask you this: how would you like to apply pre-harvest glyphosate and swath at the same time? Intrigued? I thought you’d be!
Producers in Australia have struggled with Group 1 and 3 resistant ryegrass for many years due to the weeds ability to produce millions of seeds in a very short time period. With limited number of in-crop herbicide options (Group 1 and 3) to use on the small waxy, upright leaves, annual ryegrass can take over like wild fire. The problem Simon faced was the rapid seed set of the ryegrass when the crop canopy was removed at swathing. Once exposed to sunlight the weed would set seed quickly and fall to the ground before they were able to do a post-harvest glyphosate application.
To combat this problem, Simon and his father Bill fashioned a pull-type boom sprayer that tows behind the swather, allowing them to spray glyphosate and swath at the same time. Glyphosate is one of their last chemical lines of defense against this nasty weed.
The spray boom is 42 feet wide, which is the same width as the header. There are spray nozzles attached below the cutter bar along the mouth of the opening so herbicide can be applied under the swath as well. The wheel base on the sprayer is the same width as the swather. The picture above shows their JD 4895 swather with 42 foot Honey Bee header and tow-behind sprayer, all powered by GPS guided auto-steer.
I’d like to try this idea in our area to see if it would work on perennial weeds like Canada thistle and quack grass. I believe it would do a great job on dandelions and foxtail barley that grow horizontally more than vertically like Canada thistle and quack grass that have half of their foliage cut off at swathing. I do like the idea of killing two birds with one stone and not having to wait until after harvest to spray when dust and residue may hinder control. I also like the idea of saving $7.00 an acre in application costs each year. We could fasten an 800 gallon tank to pull behind the swather and complete 160 acres in one fill. I like it! SL
Nitrous Oxide Emissions Reduction Protocol to come next spring
Last week I had the unique opportunity to help shape the new nitrous oxide (N20) emissions reduction protocol here in Alberta, which is due out next spring.
The protocol will likely have three levels of entry, a basic, intermediate and advanced tiered system where nitrogen management is the key driver. For example, a basic nitrogen management plan would require you to soil test (which only 13% of farmers do), develop a three year crop rotation plan and develop a nitrogen fertilizer budget. For documenting and executing on this plan you would receive some dollar amount per acre. The monetary values increase as you move from basic to the advanced plan, which might ask you to fertilize nitrogen according to topography.
These are just the beginnings of a carbon offset market so jumping in head first is just as foolish as ignoring the revenue generating potential of carbon offset projects. As far as cash cows for farmers go, not one carbon credit or carbon offset project will provide enough revenue to pay for the change required to reduce C02 in the first place. Meaning, more often than not, you will have to spend $10.00 an acre to receive $3.00 back. That being said, many of the carbon offset protocols under development are not much different than the management practices my clients are doing already. SL
Market News
International Crop Weather News
United States: In the West, showery weather continues in northern California and the Pacific Northwest. On the Plains, isolated showers are confined to the northern fringe of the region. Farther south, record setting warmth continues to promote summer crop harvesting and rapid winter wheat development. Once again, today’s high temperatures will exceed 70 degrees F throughout the central and southern Plains. In the Corn Belt, scattered showers and thunderstorms are limited to the lower Great Lakes region. Elsewhere, unusually warm weather favors fieldwork, as activity shifts from soybean to corn harvesting. In the South, rainy, windy conditions are gradually shifting northward through the eastern Carolinas. In contrast, very warm, dry weather west of the Appalachians favors winter wheat planting and harvesting of crops such as cotton and soybeans.
Europe: Showers continue across northern and western Europe, maintaining abundant moisture supplies for winter wheat and rapeseed establishment. A second week of dry weather in the Balkans favors winter wheat planting.
Former Soviet Union: Mostly dry weather in Ukraine and southern Russia helps fieldwork for sugar beet, corn, and sunflower harvesting and late-season winter grain planting. Adequate topsoil moisture favors winter grain establishment in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.
East Asia: Showers slow winter wheat and rapeseed planting, but provide beneficial moisture for emergence.
Southeast Asia: Unseasonably heavy showers resume in Thailand, slowing corn and rice maturation.
South Asia: Tropical Cyclone Rashmi brings heavy rain and gusty winds to Bangladesh and northeastern India, slowing rice maturation and harvesting, while causing local flooding. Heavy rain across southern crop areas maintains abundant topsoil moisture for cotton and rice.
Middle East: Showers in northern Iraq and northwestern Iran provide topsoil moisture for winter wheat.
Northwest Africa: Additional heavy rain maintains favorable moisture for winter grain planting but causes local flooding.
Australia: Showers return to Western Australia, maintaining favorable conditions for filling winter grains. In southeastern Australia, persistent dryness causes winter grain prospects to continue to decline. In eastern Australia, sunny weather aids vegetative summer crops, filling winter wheat, and fieldwork.
South America: Rain improves planting prospects for soybeans and other summer row crops in central Brazil. Excessive wetness persists, however, in southern winter wheat areas. In Argentina, rain benefits immature winter grains and emerging summer crops in Buenos Aires, while recent showers ease unfavorable warmth and dryness in Cordoba.
South Africa: Beneficial rain continues in northern and eastern sections of the Corn Belt.
Mexico: Warm, dry weather promotes the development of filling to maturing summer crops in most major farming areas.
