April 2, 2013

Agronomist Notes

Hello Reader

I attended the Alberta Institute of Agrologists conference last week and took home a few interesting facts, such as, the world’s population has quadrupled since 1925 and agriculture has kept up to the demand. I wonder, will the production gains be as significant in the future? I’ll be on a two-day farm tour this week to see a CTF set-up in Southern Alberta and look at some disk drill set-ups inside stripper header stubble. Modifications to our own equipment [should] begin next week. Time to gear up.

In this issue we’ll look at some new and unique land rental agreements. Next, I’ll provide my annual pre-seed herbicide option checklist with cereals and pulses. Last, you’ll find a link to the Nuffield Farming Scholarship application, which has a deadline of April 30, 2013. We’ll finish with technical grain market news.

Have a great week.

Pictured above: A distracting view from the Banff Centre at the AIA meeting last week. S. Larocque

Two new land rental agreements

Being creative earns the bid

The land rental market continues to astonish me with land rents hitting $120 an acre on highly productive land. If I were to estimate an average price across my territory it would be $70 an acre for land that generates between $400 and $500 an acre. Recently, I’ve heard of two new rental agreements; one that provides tax incentives for landowners and one that helps reduce risk for the farmer looking to expand.

Agreement One: Straight cash rent with tax benefits
Offer landowner a straight cash rent deal with a twist that provides a paper trail similar to a crop share agreement. This agreement allows the landowner to claim farm status and receive increased tax benefits compared to straight cash rent.

Tenant pays landlord $100/acre for grain produced on the land
Landlord pays tenant $30/acre for inputs.
Total land rent is $70/acre

The agreement is very simple but it does allow the landowner to claim expenses against the revenue, which they couldn’t in a straight cash rent deal. The bonus to the landowner could be easily be 10% to 30% on top of the $70 rent, depending on how their business is structured

Agreement Two: Unique crop share
In this unique crop share agreement the landowner pays custom farming rates to the tenant and crop inputs in return for high cash rent and a 50/50 share of the profits.

Landlord pays tenant $90/acre to seed, spray and harvest
Landlord takes $90/acre for rent out of gross revenue
Landlord pays all crop input costs
All purchases and sales are made in landlords name
The net profit margin is divided 50/50

The tenant has fixed costs covered by the custom farming rates paid by the landlord and assumes no financial risk on crop inputs. In return he makes half the profit with little to no risk. The upside to the landlord is high cash rent, expenses that are 100% deductible and the potential for higher returns over and above straight cash rent. This would be a great model for retired farmer or investment group looking for higher returns than straight cash rent offers.

If you would like to see a list of the top five land rental agreements we previously published, please reply to this email. SL

Pre-seed herbicide options for 2013

Pre-seed burn down is right around the corner. If you’re looking for options this list is for you! Let's run through our products and tank mix combinations for 2013. I won't highlight all the combinations or all the weeds on the labels, but instead, will focus on the more common resolutions.

Glyphosate 0.5 REL $2.00/ac and 1.0 REL $4.00/ac
Crops: all crops
Timing: pre-seed or post-seed/ prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, non-RR volunteer canola
Improved performance at 1.0 REL: rosettes > 6 inches, shepherds' purse (bolting), larger annual weeds, winter annual or biennials, kochia, quackgrass, dandelion, narrow-leaved hawk's beard, and many others.

Glyphosate 1.0 REL plus 2,4-D Amine or Ester 0.2 l/ac (0.2 to 0.68 l/ac) $5.10/ac
Actives: 2,4-D Ester/Amine + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley, rye
Timing: pre-seed or post-seed/ prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola (up to 4 leaf).

Glyphosate 1.0 REL plus MCPA Amine or Ester 0.2 l/ac (0.2 to 0.5 l/ac) $5.30/ac
Actives: MCPA Ester/Amine + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley, canary seed, corn, flax, forage grasses, oats, rye
Timing: pre-seed or post-seed/ prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola (up to 4 leaf).

Glyphosate 1.0 REL plus Buctril M @ 0.2 l/ac (0.2 to 0.4 l/ac) $6.10/ac
Actives: Bromoxynil + MCPA Ester + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley, canary seed, corn, flax, forage grasses, oats, rye
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola (up to 4 leaf). Improved performance on wild buckwheat and scentless chamomile

Glyphosate 1.0 REL plus Pardner @ 0.2 l/ac (0.2 to 0.5 l/ac) $6.60/ac
Actives: Bromoxynil + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley, canary seed, corn, flax, forage grasses, oats, rye
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/ prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola (up to 4 leaf). Improved performance on wild buckwheat and scentless chamomile.

CleanStart plus Glyphosate 0.5 REL $6.90/ac
Actives: Carfentrazone + glyphosate
Crops: all crops
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/ prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola (up to 2 leaf). Improved performance by increasing water rates up to 10 gal/ac to ensure better coverage.

PrePass $6.25/ac
Actives: flurasulam + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley, oats
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/ prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, LL & RR volunteer canola. Tips: Limited control of Clearfield volunteer canola which has not emerged. Excellent control on cleavers, dandelions <6 inches, narrow-leaved hawk's beard, wild buckwheat and stork's bill. Residual control of 7-14 days.

Express SG plus Glyphosate 0.5 REL $5.25/ac
Actives: Tribenuron-methyl + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley, oats, canary seed, dry beans, peas, forage grasses, legumes
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/ prior to emergence
Target Weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola. Excellent control of dandelions <6 inches, narrow-leaved hawk's beard, wild buckwheat and white cockle suppression.

Express Pro plus Glyphosate 0.5 REL $5.75/ac
Actives: Tribenuron-methyl + methsulfuron-methyl + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola.
Excellent control of dandelions <6 inches, narrow-leaved hawk's beard, wild buckwheat, cleavers, stork's bill, scentless chamomile, night flowering catchfly and suppression of white cockle and toadflax. Residual control of 7-14 days.

Heat (10.5g) plus Merge (200 ml/ac) plus Glyphosate 0.5 REL $7.65/ac
Actives: Saflufenacil + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley, oats, canary seed, peas, corn, lentils, soybeans
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola. Tips: Excellent on managing Group 2 resistant weeds but provides minimal residual control at the 10.5g/ac rate. Must go 28.1 for residual control.

Heat (28.1g) plus Merge (200 ml/ac) plus Glyphosate 0.5 REL $12.85/ac
Actives: Saflufenacil + glyphosate
Crops: wheat, barley, oats, canary seed, peas, corn
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, and all volunteer canola.
Tips: This product works very well on flushing kochia, cleavers, wild buckwheat, redroot pigweed and volunteer canola. At least 14 to 21 days resdiual control in my experience but length of residual depends on moisture and heat after application.

Glyphosate 0.5 REL plus Authority (118 ml/ac) $21.00/ac or,
Glyphosate 0.5 REL plus Authority (95 ml/ac) $17.10/ac
Actives: Sulfentrazone + glyphosate
Crops: chickpeas, peas, flax, summerfallow
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/prior to emergence
Target weeds: Authority controls kochia and Russian thistle at the lowest rate of 88 ml/ac. It controls cleavers (including group 2 resistant) and chickweed at higher rate of 118ml/acre. It also has season long control of lambs quarters, redroot pigweed and wild buckwheat. Unfortunately volunteer canola control is not great. (The rating of control is >85% control)

Tips: Rates vary according to soil texture and organic matter. Requires moisture within 7-10 days for optimum activity. Re-cropping restrictions: 12 months for barley, wheat, corn, and alfalfa, 24 months for canola, 36 for lentils. (NuFarm is trying to reduce recropping restrictions of canola down to 12 months)

Glyphosate 0.5 REL plus Prepare (8.7g) $8.73/ac
Actives: Flucarbazone + glyphosate
Crops: Spring wheat (no durum)
Timing: pre-seed or post seed/ prior to emergence
Target weeds: annual grasses, annual broadleaves, all volunteer canola, wild oats, green foxtail, Japanese brome, downy brome, barnyard grass, foxtail barley.
Tips: A great tool for early control of downy brome and early flushing wild oats. Downside is the potential for injured wild oats that don't take up in-crop herbicide and force you to a two pass system to apply broadleaf then grassy herbicide.

Inferno Duo (12.7g) plus Glyphosate 0.5 REL $8.50/ac
Actives: Flucarbazone + Tribenuron-methyl + glyphosate
Crops: Spring wheat
Timing: 1 week prior to seeding or immediately after seeding
Target weeds: wild oats, green foxtail, Japanese brome, downy brome, foxtail barley, volunteer canola, kochia, dandelion, hempnettle, narrow-leaved hawksbeard, wild buckwheat.
Tips: On top of early flushing wild oats and green foxtail control, it provides better control of dandelion, wild buckwheat and narrow-leaved hawksbeard over PrePare. SL

Pre-seed herbicide options ahead of peas

And the pros and cons of each

Some producers are jumping back into peas this year so I thought I would provide some pre-burn herbicide options for a head start on weed control. Peas are typically seeded early when weed pressure is low and in-crop herbicide options are scarce so you could quickly find yourself in a weedy mess.

This year there are three residual pre-seed herbicide options available in front of peas, Authority by NuFarm, Heat by BASF and Edge by Dow AgroSciences.

Let’s go through the strengths and weaknesses of each one along with the costs per acre.

Authority 480: Sulfentrazone
Rate range: 89 ml/ac to 118 ml/ac
Rates depend on organic matter and pH.
High rate: 118 ml/ac = $21.00/ac
Registered crops: peas, chickpeas, flax, sunflowers
Target weeds: Authority controls kochia and Russian thistle at the lowest rate of 88 ml/ac. It controls cleavers (including group 2 resistant) and chickweed at higher rate of 118ml/acre. It also has season long control of lambs quarters, redroot pigweed and wild buckwheat. Unfortunately volunteer canola control is not great. (The rating of control is >85% control)

Tips: Rates vary according to soil texture and organic matter. Requires moisture within 7-10 days for optimum activity. Re-cropping restrictions: 12 months for barley, wheat, corn, and alfalfa, 24 months for canola, 36 for lentils. (NuFarm is trying to reduce recropping restrictions of canola down to 12 months)

Application: Pre-seed and up to 3 days after seeding.

Heat + Merge + Glyphosate: Saflufenacil
Rate range: 28.4 g/ac
Rates do not depend on pH or organic matter.
High rate: 28.4 g/ac or 30 ac/jug + Merge 200 ml/ac = $12.85/ac
Registered crops: Wheat, barley, oats, peas, chickpeas, corn, canaryseed
Re-cropping: Wheat, barley, canola and flax is safe after 12 months.
Pros and Cons: Excellent on cleavers, kochia, hawksbeard, wild buckwheat and volunteer canola.
Application: Pre-seed and up to 3 days after seeding.

Edge: Ethalfluralin
Rate range: 15 lbs/ac to 20 lbs/ac spring applied
Rates depend on organic matter and pH.
Recommended rate: 15 lb/ac rate= $15.50/ac
Registered crops: canola, peas, fababeans, sunflowers
Re-cropping: Canola, wheat, barley, peas.
Pros and Cons: Good on wild buckwheat, kochia, lambs quarters, green foxtail but weaker on wild oats, volunteer cereals and cleavers.
Application: Pre-seed and up to 3 days after seeding.

IN TRIALS (NOT REGISTERED) Heat + Merge + Authority + Glyphosate
Rates: Heat 14.5 g/ac + Merge 200 ml/ac + Authority 60 ml/ac = $24.00
Trial crops: Peas, chickpeas, lentils
Pros & Cons: Improves wild mustard, kochia, wild buckwheat, redroot pigweed and stinkweed over straight Authority alone but at a significant cost. Still testing for injury levels in front of lentils. [Research]

Now, let me talk this through further. Applying Edge ahead of peas is a decent option as it provides a Group 3 herbicide rotation. However, it will cost you $5.50 an acre to have it custom applied and you still need to apply a pre-seed herbicide, which brings the total to $25.00 acre. Authority has the advantage of being applied through the sprayer and at 118 ml/ac provides residual control of kochia, cleavers and wild buckwheat but is weak on volunteer canola control. In my opinion, a high rate of Heat (28.4 g/ac) offers the best, most economical solution at $12.85 acre as a residual pre-seed herbicide.

There are three benefits of using a high rate of Heat in front of peas. First, it’s a product that offers residual weed control on some of the most common weeds for up to three weeks or longer depending on rainfall. Second, the active ingredient saflufencil is a Group 14 herbicide, which helps combat herbicide Group 2 resistant weeds like cleavers and kochia. Third, flushing weeds can be controlled up front and then an in-crop herbicide like Solo or Viper can be used which allows canola to be planted the following year. SL

Pictured above: Volunteer canola control after 21 and 41 days after a 28.4 g/ac rate of Heat was applied pre-emergence in peas.

Your Nuffield Farming Scholarship could be waiting

Application deadline is April 30, 2013

Nuffield Farming Scholarships are awarded to enthusiastic individuals, with a passion for agriculture and a desire to expand their knowledge, pursue new ideas and to share their findings with others. Applicants should be in mid-career, between the ages of 25 and 45 (although exceptions are made) and must have a minimum of five years agricultural business or farming experience plus the management ability to step away from their current duties. The Scholar must travel for a minimum of ten weeks, with a minimum leg of six consecutive weeks. Three scholarships of $15,000 each are available this year.

To apply visit Nuffield.ca

Here's my response to someone who asked me about Nuffield:
"I've been around the world four times, been connected to and befriended by some of the finest, most passionate and innovative farmers anywhere. As a direct outcome of my studies, I am the first to bring home and implement one of the most revolutionary farming practices since direct seeding. I've become a greater ag advocate, a better businessman, and a better father. I regularly converse with people from around the world, an ag resource base 1,500 people strong and get to live vicariously through fellow Scholars each year when I'm not traveling. When I do travel, I have hundreds of places to stay anywhere in the world that include great conversation and amazing hospitality. Is it worth it to apply? I think yes.”