Agronomist Notes

Hello Reader

I joined the CTF Alberta group last week for a road trip to see stripper headers, disk drills, CTF set-ups and strip till units. It was a good trip and I gleaned some interesting information that I’ll share over the next few newsletters. It was great to see so many innovative farmers in our own backyard.

I’m still busy visiting clients with our final touches to crop plans have noticed seeding rates are down by about 10% compared to 2012. Seed size is a touch smaller than what we planted last year. Fertilizer prices have remained stable even though rumblings of world prices in urea have dropped. Also, there is word that fungicides and premium brand glyphosates are in short supply so book today.

In this issue we’ll look at a tool to increase metering accuracy on today’s air carts. Next, we’ll look at attacking sclerotinia from a different angle and then talk a little old school on fighting wild oat pressure.

Have a great week.

 

Photo: A 90-foot, 800 gal. NH 'spray-bine' built by Gary MacLagan, Rolling Hills, AB.

Valmar air cart attachment saves big dollars

Improve metering accuracy

Metering small-sized products out of today’s air carts can be a real challenge. When calibrating small seeds like canola or fine products like inoculant, micronutrients, it’s easy to be 15 to 25% off the mark. If you have a John Deere, CNH or Bourgault air tank you likely know what I’m talking about. It’s hard to believe that for a price tag of $90,000 to $150,000, we’re satisfied with 80% accuracy at best. Well, Doug Clemens from Mossleigh, AB wasn’t satisfied and solved his metering problem by mounting a Valmar to his JD 1910 air cart.

Doug made a number of modifications to mount the Valmar to the front of the air cart. Take a look at the photo gallery under the link below called Doug’s modifications. You’ll see in the photo gallery that he built the frame to mount the Valmar, mounted a drive shaft assembly including a revolution counter, and added hydraulics to run the fan. The product delivery lines out of the Valmar tie directly into the base of the seed towers, so they enter into the air stream just before the hit the manifold. 

The cost to mount the Valmar all in for Doug was around $8,500.00 which includes $7,000.00 for the Valmar, $300.00 for shafts, sprockets and bearings, $300.00 for the revolution counter assembly and $500.00 for hydraulic hoses and fittings. The Valmar kit doesn’t come bolt-on ready like it shows on the website so be ready to MacGyver a bit to fit it to your air cart.

There’s nothing worse than calibrating an air drill only to use an arbitrary calibration number or application rate that happens to work out with your acres per fill. With today’s canola seed prices, being 15% high on your seeding rate because of inaccurate metering adds another $8.00 acre to your input costs. At any scale that is a lot of money and the return on your $8,500 investment would be fairly quick. A big thanks to Doug for walking us through this set up. SL

Valmar Air Seeder Mount
Doug’s modifications

Pictured above: Doug Clemens' added a Valmar to a JD 1910 to vastly improve metering.

Attack sclerotinia in 2014 today

Biological sclerotinia control

I’ve been running through some options with clients to address the control of sclerotinia in canola. We typically use foliar fungicides like Astound, Lance or Proline and they all work very well when applied at the correct timing and therein lies the challenge. The trouble for most producers is hitting the right timing when the optimal bloom stage comes and goes so quickly. For example, it is possible to move from 20% bloom to 50% bloom in 6 days with warm temperatures. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to get product applied in timely fashion when you throw in rain or wind. For those relying on aerial applicators, it can be equally as challenging for them to get to your fields on time because of the same issues and taking on too much work.

There is a soil-applied fungicide on the market called Contans WG distributed by UAP but recently purchased by Bayer CropScience. This product has the potential to solve the issue with application timing but it takes planning. Contans is a biological fungicide with the active ingredient Coniothyrium minitans which can be found in trace amounts in the soil. The product attacks sclerotia bodies that infect crops like canola, peas and sunflowers. It is a water-dispersable granular that is applied with the sprayer the year prior to seeding a susceptible crop.

The challenges with this product is knowing your 2014 crop rotation in the spring of 2013. It also must be kept forzen prior to application becuase it is a living organism so applying 1000 acres or more could mean 400 kg of Contans in your freezer. That would not make the cook of the home very happy. 

Here is my proposed strategy for those who are at moderate or high risk of sclerotinia infection:

Apply Contans at 0.4 kg/ac with your pre-seed burn down herbicide (see note below on glyphosates) this spring on fields that are slated for canola in 2014. The action of the air drill along with at least a ¼ inch of rain will move it into the soil where it will begin to feast on sclerotinia spores and allow the fungus population to build high enough to control sclerotinia the following year. The cost would be around $15.00/ac for a 0.4 kg/ac rate.

From preliminary research Contans can be mixed with the glyphosates listed below for short periods of time. The hour noted in brackets is the time you have to spray out the Contans and glyphosate mix before you start injuring the fungus population. Contact the UAP rep nearest you for further information or soon enough your Bayer CropScience rep.
 

1. Touchown Total (4 hours)
2. Vantage Plus Max ll (4 hours)
3. R/T 540 (4 hours)
4. NuGlo (5 hours)
5. Express Pro and Heat were tested and are fine alone but were not tested when glyphosate was added.

I’ve recommended Contans to a couple clients in 2012 and 2013. I like the option because it solves two problems. It eliminates the $9.00 an acre custom application fee, which is the new going rate. Second, it eliminates the challenge of applying fungicide during the optimal timing between 20% and 50% bloom stage. It’s is a great option in canola but the same holds true for those growing sunflowers, peas and other crops affected by sclerotinia. Time will tell how well this product performs. SL

Wild oat pressure getting to you?

Kick it old school with Avadex

If you’re looking for an alternative to help control heavy wild oat pressure, tried and true Liquid Avadex may be the tool you need this spring. Liquid Avadex can be applied as a post-seed burn off with glyphosate to control flushing wild oats for up to six weeks. This option allows you to introduce a Group 8 into the rotation and save a pass with the heavy harrow this spring. It can be applied right after seeding with a follow up Group 1 or 2 graminicide, providing multiple modes of action with soil and foliar systemic activity.

It comes with a few simple rules to make sure it works properly:
 

1. Apply as a post-seed burn down with glyphosate only if the seedbed is left with a great deal of soil exposed. It’s an excellent fit on canola or pea stubble.
2. Liquid Avadex must contact soil in order to activate. Lumps or clods of trash or uneven residue cover can leave strips of uncontrolled wild oats.
3. Increase water volumes to 7.5 gal/ac to ensure better soil coverage.
4. Apply at 1.2 L/ac in soils with over 4% organic matter.
5. Apply at 1.0 L/ac in soils with less than 4% organic matter.

I see this option working well on problem fields that are typically sprayed twice for wild oats. Liquid Avadex is not a silver bullet but used in conjunction with an in-crop wild oat herbicide, it can be very synergistic. The cost of the application at 1.2 L/ac is $15.80 for high OM soils and $13.20 at 1 L/ac for low OM soils. Some producers have gone as low as 0.83 L/ac with positive results. Yes, it may seem expensive but not when considering the reduction in yield if there’s a wild oat runaway. SL

Readers Comment

Pre-Seed herbicide options for 2013

The extended control offered by PrePass is a minimum 21 days, backed by a warranty guarantee. If soil temperature is cool I have seen up to 28 days extended control.  Bottom line is that PrePass offers a minimum 21 days of extended control, back by a guarantee.  If a grower does not get 21 days of extended control, Dow Agro Sciences will pay for the value of the half litre equivalent of straight glyphosate to re-spray.

   Dustin Leskosky, Dow AgroSciences

 
There are two herbicide options from Nufarm not included on your pre-seed herbicide list. Here they are: 

Blackhawk - Carfentrazone and 5oz of 2,4-D Ester  $5.50/acre
Crops: Wheat and barley
Weeds controlled: Gr 2 resistant weeds, kochia (including Gr 9 resistant,) spring dandelions, narrow-leaved hawksbeard, flixweed, Russian thistle, volunteer canola.

KoAct- Tribenuron and 5 oz of 2,4-D Ester  $5.00/acre
Crops: Wheat and barley
Weeds controlled: Dandelions, narrow-leaved hawksbeard, hempnettle, flixweed, Russian thistle, large volunteer canola.

   Lisa Templeton, Nufarm Agriculture Inc.

Market News

Canola Nov 13: The long and short term trends are up.

 

HRS Wheat: Dec 13: The long term trend is down and the short term trend is up.

 

Corn Dec 13: The long term trend is down and the short term trend is up. 

 

Soybeans: Nov 13: The long term trend is down and the short term trend is up.

 

Canadian $: Jun 13: The long and short term trends are down.

 

USD: Jun 13: The long term trend is up and the short term trend is down.