March 28, 2012

Agronomist notes

Hello Reader,

Another busy week has passed! I reviewed VR recommendations, presented to Olds College staff and students, attended a BASF product meeting and squeezed in some client visits too. Spring is quickly approaching and I’m sure we’ll see drills pulled out in the next couple of weeks to fine tune things before spring. The fourteen day forecast calls for temps between 5C and 10C and sunny so that should get a few people antsy. Have you received your crop insurance packages in the mail yet? It looks like my coverage is about $30.00 an acre short of my breakeven on most crops due to the risk of being a new farmer and relying on area averages.

This week’s newsletter begins with my hot-off-the-press Nuffield final report on controlled traffic farming. Next, we’ll discuss pre-seed residual herbicide options in front of peas. We’ll look through the production practices of Chris Dennison from New Zealand who just broke the 100 bu/ac canola barrier! As always, technical grain market news will finish the issue.

Have a great week.

Controlled Traffic Farming

Nuffield Final Report

I've completed my Nuffield final report on controlled traffic farming. Drum roll! My wife and mother of my three field scouts likened the three-year writing process to labor-- painful and time consuming. I could attribute the tardiness to her for putting off the final edits on the report until now but she is my wife and mother of my three field scouts.

While it may have been long-time coming, the report material still excites me. The report outlines a host of information on CTF from equipment set ups, to economic losses from soil compaction, benefits of CTF, frequently asked questions and numerous links to CTF research and websites.

I travelled to Australia, New Zealand and the UK to see how CTF systems performed in wet and dry climates. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well CTF performed in both climates but especially in dry areas. We will be going into our third year of CTF and there is no doubt in my mind that this system will outperform conventional direct seeding systems in Western Canada.

I hope you enjoy reading the report as much as I did researching it.

Controlled Traffic Farming Report

Pictured above: Harvest 2011 in our second year of CTF.

Pre-seed herbicide options ahead of peas

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 with a weedy mess on your hands if you’re not careful.

In 2012 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: Carfentrazone
Rate range: 89 ml/ac to 118 ml/ac
Rates depend on organic matter and pH.
High rate: 118 ml/ac or 32 ac per jug = $15.50/ac
Registered crops: peas, chickpeas, flax, sunflowers
Re-cropping: beans, wheat and barley. I’m told canola is safe after 12 months but need confirmation from NuFarm rep.
Pros and Cons: Excellent on kochia but weaker on buckwheat, lambs quarters, volunteer canola and cleavers.
Application: Pre-seed and up to 3 days after seeding.

Heat + Merge: Saflufenacil
Rate range: 10.4 g/ac to 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 = $10.70/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.

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. Authority has the advantage of being applied through the sprayer but it’s only really effective on kochia, so the weed control spectrum is small for $15.50 an acre. In my opinion, a high rate of Heat offers the best, most economical solution at $10.70 an ac 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 30 days depending on rainfall. Second, the active ingredient in Heat is a Group 14 herbicide, which helps combat herbicide 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.

New Zealander breaks the 100 bu/ac canola barrier

Game on, Kiwis.

My good friend Chris Dennison, former Guinness World Record holder for wheat yield just informed me he broke through the 100 bu/ac mark in canola on two different fields. Chris farms on the east central side of the South Island in New Zealand and is nearly finished one of the wettest harvests on record. He took the time to give me his production notes that led to the bin busting canola yields. The two winter canola fields ran 103 bu/ac and 108 bu/ac. Chris also mentioned that a producer on the lower North Island had canola run 119 bu/ac according to the weigh scale. WOW!

Here are Chris’s production notes on the two crops:

Field 1: 108 bu/ac or 6.1 T/ha
Field Prep: Cultivated, disked then sub-soiled down to 20 inches
Previous crop: Two-row feed barley
Fertilizer pre-plant: 310 lbs/ac of superphosphate (0-9-0-11+ 20Ca)
March 9/11: Planted canola with a press drill at 2.7 lbs/ac
Aug 26/11(bolting): Broadcast 160 lbs of ammonium sulphate (55 lbs/N and 50 lbs/S)
Sept 8/11 (green bud): Sprayed 140 ml/ac Folicur (tebuconazole) + 607 ml/ac Cycocel + molybdenum + boron
Sept 12/11 (green bud): Broadcast 267 lbs/ac of urea (123 lbs/N/ac)
Oct 17/11 (50% bloom): 160 ml/ac Proline (prothioconazole) + insecticide

Notes: This field had a good background fertility background and was planted after a barley crop that suffered from takeall which left quite a bit of nitrogen behind. The crop grew 7 feet tall and lodged badly. We had to swath and harvest it in one direction.

Field 2: 103 bu/ac or 5.8 T/ha
Field Prep: Two cultivations with no sub-soiling
Previous crop: Winter wheat
Fertilizer pre-plant: 356 lbs/ac of superphosphate (0-9-0-11+ 20Ca)
Apr 2/11: Planted canola with a press drill at 2.7 lbs/ac
Aug 6/11 (pre bolting): Broadcast 45 lbs/ac of urea (20 lbs/N)
Aug 23/11 (pre bolting): Sprayed 120 ml/ac Proline (prothioconazole)
Aug 26/11 (bolting): Broadcast 160 lbs/ac of ammonium sulphate (50 lbs/N and 50 lbs/S)
Sept 9/11 (green bud): Sprayed 140 ml/ac Folicur (tebuconazole) + molybdenum + boron
Sept 12/11 (green bud): Broadcast 230 lbs/ac of urea (106 lbs/N/ac)
Oct 27/11 (50% bloom): Sprayed 160 ml/ac Proline (prothioconazole) + insecticide

Notes: This crop also lodged badly due to a spring rainstorm with gale force winds.

Once again, I find it very interesting to see some familiar products like Folicur and Proline used on canola. In Chris’s situation (and with Nick in the UK as reported in last week’s issue), Folicur is used as a plant growth regulator to shorten the stem length along with molybdenum and boron applied just prior to flowering. I like the way the bulk of the nitrogen is applied just prior to flowering which is the stage prior to rapid nitrogen uptake. This helps avoid much of the tie-up or loss that occurs with nitrogen when applied too early. The elephant in the room is the total fertilizer package at 170N-32P-0K-70S+71Ca + B and Mo. This is a healthy dose of nutrients but staged nicely to load critical nutrients in the plant prior to peak uptake.

To date there isn’t a Guinness World Record set for canola yield. Perhaps someone from Canada should apply before our Kiwi friends do. Hint, hint. I believe with good rainfall or irrigation we could achieve yields greater than 100 bu/ac with our current canola hybrids. We’ve hit 80 bu/ac and more with standard agronomy practices in the past so why not give our Kiwi friends a run for their money? I say bring it on Kiwis! SL