Agronomist Notes
We’re now up to five light frosts at the farm with cool, wet weather in the forecast. Say goodbye to another potential week of harvest! I know of one barley crop that has been in the ground for 140 days. Where do we live, New Zealand?
This week we’ll discuss pre-harvest glyphosate timing in feed barley with some information from across the pond. Next, I’ll provide you with tips to spraying glyphosate after a frost. I’ve also come across some interesting information on the sometimes damaging effects of clethodim herbicide on canola. Last, I’ve included some calculations you can use to estimate yield prior to harvest. We’ll finish with technical and fundamental grain market news.
Harvest progress
Winter wheat: 20%
Spring wheat: 1%
Canola: 0% swathed
Barley: 2%
Peas: 20%
Agronomy
Pre-harvest dry-down strategies in feed barley
With adequate soil moisture, cool temperatures and rain in the forecast, barley crops are taking their sweet time to mature. It’s September 7th and hardly a barley field has been harvested when we should be upwards of 50% complete at this time of year. The pressure to speed up crop maturity has producers wondering how early they can spray their barley with glyphosate without hurting yield. With no information readily available in Western Canada, I turned to my friend and fellow crop consultant Andrew Newall from Victoria, Australia. Andrew shared some of the glyphosate application timings they use in a strategy called crop topping, a practice used for weed control and crop dry down.
First, crop topping cereals is mainly used to control and reduce a nasty weed called annual ryegrass as well as even out crop maturity. In Australia, only wheat is registered for pre-harvest glyphosate applications and barley will not be accepted for malt if sprayed with glyphosate. The registered application timing for pre-harvest glyphosate is 32% seed moisture content, however Andrew has found they can apply glyphosate much earlier without affecting yield or grain quality, including germination.
The application timing for crop topping barley is around the soft dough, which would be roughly 50% seed moisture content. He also takes into account variety and climactic conditions. For example, short season varieties can be crop topped earlier than long season as they mature quicker. If the season is warming up fast and maturity is happening quickly, then timing can be earlier. In Andrew’s trials, he found that spraying glyphosate around milky dough stage in a dry season decreased germination but had no affect on grain yield or grain quality. That being said, he would never recommend spraying glyphosate at milky dough stage because the risk is too high for potential yield loss.
The accompanying photos courtesy of Andrew show when crop topping occurs. It may be shocking to see how green the barley is, but really, our barley would be the same at the soft dough stage. If we can push pre-harvest timing in feed barley to the soft dough stage, it would really spread out the harvest window or give us another option when maturity is delayed on a year like this. Time will tell and I look forward to experimenting on this side of the pond. SL
I must caution producers that spraying glyphosate anytime before 30% seed moisture content in wheat or barley is completely off label and places the liability in your hands should things not work out as you hoped. SL
Guidelines for spraying pre-harvest glyphosate after a frost
Spraying pre-harvest glyphosate in September always coincides with the risk of frost. With that, I’ve included the rule of thumb when it comes to spraying glyphosate after a fall frost.
Light frost (0 to -4oC): shouldn’t negatively affect perennial or winter annual control. Spray if the daytime forecast is a minimum of 8oC for at least 2 to 4 hours and there’s no risk of upcoming frost.
Heavy frost (-5oC or colder): wait 1 to 2 days to assess injury severity. Treat only if the majority of plants are more than 60% green and show signs of active growth (perky leaves). Spray if the daytime forecast is a minimum of 8oC for at least 2 to 4 hours and there’s no risk of upcoming frost.
Weeds in order of frost tolerance:
- Dandelion
- Winter annuals
- Quackgrass
- Perennial Sow Thistle
- Canada Thistle
- Toadflax
- Annuals
If you’re targeting perennial weeds like Canada thistle, dandelion, quackgrass and foxtail barley, be sure to apply 1L/ac equivalent of glyphosate. When possible, spray late in the morning or early afternoon after temperature warms up.
Source: http://www.monsanto.ca/_pdfs/seeds_traits/fall_spraying_after_frost.pdf
Attention all Liberty Link canola growers
I came across some interesting information on the effects of clethodim herbicide on canola in a recent Aussie newsletter called NewAg, published by crop consultant Andrew Newall. Clethodim is the active ingredient found in Centurion, Select and Arrow 240 and what Andrew pointed out was the damaging effects of high rates, over-application and the use of generic clethodim products. The effects are so significant in some cases that the canola never really recovers from the damage.
In our current system, we tend to use half rates of clethodim (Centurion, Select) tank mixed with Liberty herbicide. The application rates will vary from 30 to 40 ml/ac with a full rate of 76 ml/ac if you’re grassy weeds are large. The rate at which damage has occurred on canola in Australia has been from 100 to 200 ml/ac. I wouldn’t discount that under certain conditions and a stressed crop that the rates of clethodim we use could potentially damage canola. At least it’s something to watch for when increasing rates of clethodim to control big grasses in canola.
The picture you see below from left to right is an 8 leaf canola plant sprayed with a low rate 100 ml/ac) of generic clethodim. Notice the yellowing and burnt tissue on the leaf margins. I’m told this canola field never really recovered after the damage. The middle photo shows wilted and twisted main stems from over-application of clethodim. The photo on the right shows the crop stunted where an over-application occurred and the crop is set back along with yield potential.
Now, typically we don’t apply high rates of clethodim in Liberty Link canola to date. However, as generic products move into the market place, we need to be aware that not all products are the same, even when they contain the same active ingredient. To avoid injury in canola, be sure to avoid overlaps, use a premium brand product and avoid high rates above 100 to 200 ml/ac when possible.
Calculating yield potential
At this time of year many producers have an idea of what they think crops will yield. The number they come up with may vary by 20% which makes calculating grain storage and off combine movement difficult. To assist you this fall I’ve included some quick calculations to help you estimate yield. In my experience, the actual number is somewhere in between your own estimate and the calculated amount. Good luck!
Calculations:
Wheat: Heads/ft/row × #seeds/head ÷ row width (inches) × 0.48 = bu/ac
Ex: 60 heads/ft/row × 26 seeds/head ÷ 12 × 0.48 = 62.4 bu/ac
Barley: Heads/ft/row × #seeds/head ÷ row width (inches) × 0.60 = bu/ac
Ex: 72 heads/ft/row × 22 seeds/head ÷ 12 × 0.60 = 79.2 bu/ac
Canola: plants/ft2 × pods/avg/plant × seeds/avg/pod × 10.7 ÷ 86,000 × 44.1 = bu/ac
Ex: 8 plants ft2 × 60 pods/plant × 20 seeds/pod × 10.7 ÷ 86,000 × 44.1 = 52.6 bu/ac
Peas: Pods/ft2 × peas/pod × 4840 × 9 ÷ 3600 × 0.036744 = bu/ac
Ex: 40 heads/ft2 × 4 peas/pod × 4840 × 9 ÷ 3600 × 0.036744 = 77.1 bu/ac
Oats: heads/ft2 × kernels/head × 10.7 ÷ 129 = bu/ac
Ex: 40 heads/ft2 × 35 seeds/head × 10.7 ÷ 129 = 116 bu/ac
Flax: plants/ft2 × bolls/avg/plant × seeds/boll × 10.7 × 0.000023 × 39.368 = bu/ac
Ex: 35 plants/ft2 × 15 bolls/plant × 8 seeds/boll × 10.7 × 0.000023 × 39.368 = 40.6 bu/ac
Market News
Fundamental News
| Wheat Production in Million Metric Tonnes | Ending Stocks 5-Year Avg | Jun Ending Stocks vs. 5-year Avg | ||||||
| Crop | Production | Ending Stocks | ||||||
| 2008-09 | Aug-10 | Change | 2008-09 | Aug-10 | Change | |||
| Rapeseed | 57.9 | 56.7 | -2% | 6.7 | 4.8 | -29% | 4.6 | 4% |
| Barley | 154.9 | 127.9 | -17% | 30.6 | 21.3 | -30% | 25.7 | -17% |
| Wheat | 683.2 | 645.0 | -6% | 165 | 174.7 | 6% | 138.6 | 26% |
| Corn | 794.7 | 831.5 | 5% | 147 | 139.1 | -5% | 125.9 | 10% |
| Soybeans | 211.7 | 253.6 | 20% | 42.8 | 64.7 | 51% | 54 | 20% |
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.
