Agronomist Notes
Finally, harvest has started to pick up again after several weeks of wet weather and thankfully the forecast looks promising for the next seven days. The first of the spring wheat should come off this week and we’ll get our first idea of the quality we’re facing.
This will be my last newsletter for two weeks as Mitch, Sam and I are geared for harvest. We took a sample of the barley tonight and it’s all systems go! The FMX monitor and RTK guided autosteer is set in the new/old R7 and is keeping that 30-foot header within an inch of where it needs to be. We’re a little excited to say the least, especially after watching the yield monitor. I suspect it will be all guns a blazing for the next few weeks for everyone, so good luck and be safe!
In this week’s newsletter, I’ll remind you of the importance of proper residue management and have outlined the CGC’s tolerance for sprouts, ergot, frost and midge in CWRS. You’ll also read a few tips on pricing off grade canola and an explanation on how chlorophyll is cleared from canola seeds. We’ll finish with fundamental and technical grain market news.
Agronomy
Beware of residue management
One of the biggest threats to yield, quality and maturity is poor residue management. Every spring we deal with the same issues like delayed emergence, early frost damage, uneven seeding depth and plugged shanks all because we didn’t do a good job of managing residue last fall. Well, there is no time like the present to set yourself up for next spring.
To give you a picture of what proper residue management looks like, take a look at the image at the right. The photo on top is what you typically see with just 70% of the residue spread across the width of the cut. The photo below shows what proper residue spreading should look like. Notice how the residue just touches the edge of the residue spread on the last pass.
Steve’s quick math
Money talks so let’s run the numbers.
Let’s use canola for an example because I have a great photo of a crop with a problem. Take a look; there’s a five-foot strip of suppressed crop growth every 30 ft. Let’s estimate that there is a 20% yield loss in the strips. We’ll compare that to the cost of a Reddekopp chopper.
600 acres of canola x 16.6% area affected by residue × 45 bu/ac 20% yield loss × $10 bu/canola = $8,964
Cost of Reddekopp chopper = $5,000
In this situation, you’ll be money ahead by installing the chopper, even considering the added fuel and horsepower requirements straw choppers gobble up. I would argue that producers are losing tens of thousands in yield, quality and maturity each year from poorly managed residue, even after they’ve spent on heavy harrowing. I urge you to pay attention to the way your spreading residue this fall. How many thousands of dollars are you leaving in the field? SL
Photo Source bottom: Robert Ruwoldt, Horsham, Victoria
Photo source top: http://needhamag.com/innovative_product_sales/residue_management_solutions.php
Tolerance for downgraded CWRS
In my recent field tours, I’ve noticed some degree of frost, sprout, wheat midge and ergot damage in most CWRS fields. The biggest challenge out of these four downgrades is measuring frost damage. The CGC standard for measuring frost damage isn’t a number. It is visual and ranges from “reasonably free from damaged kernels” in a No. 1 CWRS to “may be frost damaged” in a No. 3 CWRS. I suspect you may find quite a difference in grade depending on the elevator you take it to this year. With that in mind, here are a few things to remember:
- Which company will provide you with the best grade on your CWRS?
- Which company will provide you with the best trucking incentive?
- Which company will provide you with the best movement of your grain?!!! SL
Summary table of the CGC CWRS Guide:
It pays to do your homework before you sell off grade canola
Many producers will attempt to pick up swathed canola this week and may find the green seed count higher than they’d like. There have been a number of frosts in certain areas which may have killed the enzymes needed to clear the chlorophyll from the seed. Unfortunately, all you can do is wait and hope that isn’t the case in your fields. If you do decide to harvest canola this week with green seed content, I’ve included the grade table and a few comments on selling off grade canola.
Table 1: Relationship between grade and per cent green seed
| CGC Grade | Per Cent Green Seen |
| No. 1 Canada | < 2 |
| No. 2 Canada | 2 to 6 |
| No. 3 Canada | 6 to 20 |
| Sample | > 20 |
With off grade canola, it pays to do your homework on pricing. For example, if your canola drops to a No. 2 or No. 3 grade, be sure to call a number of grain companies like Louis Dreyfus, Viterra, Pioneer or Cargill before you make your decision to sell. Last year, discounts on No. 2 canola ranged from $10.00 a tonne at Viterra to $25.00 a tonne at Cargill. The discount from a No. 1 to a No. 3 at Viterra was $30.00 a tonne where Cargill's discount is $90.00 a tonne! That's a difference of $15.00 to $30.00 a tonne between two companies. If you do find yourself with off grade canola this fall, be sure to shop around and see who offers the lowest discounts. SL
Reference: Alberta Agriculture
The process of clearing chlorophyll out of canola explained
Immature canola seed naturally contains a high level of chlorophyll, the green pigment that allows plants to photosynthesize, or turn the sun's energy into biomass. Fully and properly matured canola will have no chlorophyll, which we typically measure as per cent green seed in Western Canada. In high green seed samples, the chlorophyll that is produced during processing creates a dark colour to the oil which is difficult and expensive to remove.
At some point in seed formation, all canola will contain a high amount of chlorophyll. If maturity progresses normally, the chlorophyll will clear out through natural metabolic activity. Enzymes, proteins that facilitate biological processes, are responsible for the removal of chlorophyll and in canola, they are only active at temperatures above 5ºC and at seed moisture contents above 20 per cent.
Several different environmental factors in combination with agronomic practices can affect the ability of seed to rid itself of chlorophyll. The two most common are frost and extreme hot dry weather at or near swathing. As mentioned previously, enzymes are responsible for clearing of chlorophyll. Frost can denature or destroy these enzymes and render the plant unable to rid itself of chlorophyll regardless of the temperature and moisture conditions following a frost. On the other hand, extreme heat immediately post swathing can dramatically reduce the moisture content of the seed in a very short amount of time, leaving the seed without enough moisture to support enzymatic activity. As well, variety selection, disease and variable plant stand can and will affect green seed count, but are not of concern this late in the growing season.
Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture
Should you be spraying glyphosate as a dry down tool at this time of year?
I’ve heard of a number of producers applying glyphosate lately as a means to dry down the crop. There are a number of things that must be understood in order to set expectations right. I would not recommend glyphosate as a drydown tool at this time of year unless you’re targeting weeds. Here are a few things to remember:
- Daylight hours are less than 12 per day and dropping temperatures slows plant metabolism and reduces the ability to translocate glyphosate.
- You’re looking at roughly 14 days before you see the first signs of crop dry down. Spraying today would mean a harvest date of roughly the 21st of October.
- Spraying glyphosate on wheat with a plane will do little for dandelion, cleavers, flixweed and hawksbeard control due to poor penetration into crop canopy.
- If you’ve had heavy frosts, chances are your plants are dry down naturally and won’t have the ability to take in glyphosate. SL
Grade loss could help in swath or straight cut decision
One of my biggest fears with swathing cereals is sprouting while it lies for weeks in the swath and now that’s has happened with a few producers after 2.5 inches of rain fell in September. Would they have been better off letting it stand, yes, but hindsight is 20/20. If you break it down, the decision to swath or straight cut at this time of year comes down to the economics of grade loss. In my opinion, you stand to lose more money from sprouting than you will from frost damage. The reason is due to the tolerance allowed for sprouting compared to frost damage in wheat. There is a lot more leeway given for frost damage kernels than there is with sprouted kernels. For that reason alone, I choose to let the crop stand for as long as possible and if you must swath, wait as long as you can. The only case where I would recommend swathing versus straight cutting is if you run the risk of snow, where crop lodging and the resulting mess more than offsets the risk of sprouting in the swath.
If you’re still on the fence about whether to swath or straight cut your wheat this year, remembering the tolerance for frost damage is much kinder than the tolerance for sprouts could help your decision, and it can be a tough one. Good luck! SL
Advanced Agronomy Conference – Executive Royal Inn, Nisku, November 24-25th, 2010
As a member of the organizing committee for this amazing conference, I encourage you to register today so you don’t miss out. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but never has there been such an awesome lineup of speakers and topics all at one conference in Western Canada. Here’s what’s in store:
- Producing 220+ bushel wheat yields by special guest and Guinness World Record holder Chris Dennison.
- Steve Larocque provides the hard packed truth on his first year of controlled traffic farming.
- Tom Wolf explains the use of inter-row spraying and its fit in Western Canada. Spraying RoundUp in wheat, are you nuts!
- Ken Coles dives into the results of his inter-row seeding research. Fuel consumption, yield, draft loads. Great technology!
- Michael Eyres from Australia provides insight to a concept called row-loading, a way to use nutrients in the furrow to manage problem soils and maximize profitability.
- Kelly Boles rips deep into compaction with the AgroPlow using yield maps and imagery to tell the story.
- Jay Bruggencate explains the use of field telemetry and the efficiencies gained through wireless technology in the field.
SPACE IS LIMITED SO REGISTER TODAY!
Market News
Fundamental News
| Wheat Production in Million Metric Tonnes | Ending Stocks 5-Year Avg | Sep Ending Stocks vs. 5-year Avg | ||||||
| Crop | Production | Ending Stocks | ||||||
| 2009-10 | Sep-10 | Change | 2009-10 | Sep-10 | Change | |||
| Rapeseed | 59.9 | 57.1 | -5% | 6.6 | 5.2 | -21% | 4.6 | 14% |
| Barley | 149.8 | 125.9 | -16% | 36.6 | 21.0 | -43% | 25.7 | -18% |
| Wheat | 643.0 | 643.0 | 0% | 196 | 177.7 | -9% | 138.6 | 28% |
| Corn | 810.9 | 826.0 | 2% | 139 | 135.5 | -2% | 125.9 | 8% |
| Soybeans | 259.8 | 254.8 | -2% | 62.8 | 63.6 | 1% | 54 | 18% |
Technical Analysis
Canola: November futures. The long and the short term trends are up.
HRS Wheat: December futures. The short and long term trends are up.
Corn: December futures. The short and the long term trends are up.
Soybeans: November futures. The short and the long term trends are up.
Crude Oil: August futures. The short term trend is up and the long term trend is down.
Canadian Dollar: September futures. The short and long term trend is down.
US Dollar: September futures. The short term trend is up and the long term trend is down.
