May 8, 2012

Agronomists Notes

Hello Reader,

Early seeded wheat and barley is peaking out of the ground and peas will be emerging this week. We had another 6/10ths to 1 inch of rain last week across my territory which brought seeding to a halt once again. We’re up to 2.3 inches of rain at the farm for the last ten days and the soil profile is full of moisture. At this time last year, many were just starting to seed so I don’t feel too far behind just yet while we complete the modifications and additions to our seeding system. I would estimate seeding progress at 5% overall.

Weed growth has really come on with a new flush of cleavers, volunteer canola, wheat, barley and wild buckwheat. I’ve seen no signs of wireworms or cutworms during my drill chasing but I suspect wireworms may show up on cool, wet fields. It’s possible that cutworms may be found on knolls and south facing slopes but for now the cooler temperatures will keep them quiet.

In this week’s newsletter, we’ll look at a new strategy to help control sclerotinia in 2013. Yes, 2013. You’ll find a handy spreadsheet to help you quickly calculate fertilizer rates in your air tank to maximize acres per fill. Next, we’ll briefly discuss the use of Liquid Avadex as an herbicide resistance tool on fields with heavy wild oat pressure. We’ll also look at herbicide options for when your crop is just beginning to emerge. Last, in hopes of inspiring you to do your own yield trial, I’ll pass along my agronomy details for this year’s high yield wheat trials. We’ll finish with technical grain market news.

Have a great week.

Picture: JD 9530T pulling a JD 1830 drill near Drumheller.

Attack sclerotinia in 2013 today

Get biological agents working ahead of time.

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 correct 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 events. 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 new soil applied fungicide on the market called Contans WG by UAP which offers a uniquie solution to help 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. Contans acts as a parasite on sclerotinia spores 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 only minor challenge with this product is knowing the 2013 crop rotation during the spring of 2012. 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 2013. 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 $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.

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 with glyphosate was added.

I’ve recommended this product to a couple clients and I like the option because it solves two problems. It eliminates the $8.00 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. SL

Maximizing acres per fill

Customizable spreadsheet

I’ve had a few questions on how to calculate the amount of fertilizer needed to maximize the acres per fill out of each tank so they run out at the same time. With larger tank sizes and multiple compartments in new air drills, you really want to get the most out of each tank to reduce filling. I’ve put together a spreadsheet that lets you enter tank sizes, fertilizer and seeding rates to find the magical amounts of fertilizer to apply in each tank and also the number of acres per fill.

For the spreadsheet click here. SL

Liquid Avadex an alternative for controlling heavy wild oat pressure

If you’re looking for an alternative to help control heavy wild oat pressure, 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 giving you multiple modes of action with soil and foliar systemic activity.

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

Apply as a post-seed burn down with glyphosate only if the seedbed is left with a great deal of soil exposed. Excellent on canola or pea stubble.
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.
Increase water volumes to 7.5 gal/ac to ensure better soil coverage.
Apply at 1.2 L/ac in soils with over 4% organic matter.
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 $15.84 for high OM soils and $13.20 at 1 L/ac for low OM soils. Yes, it may seem expensive but not when considering the reduction in yield if there’s a wild oat runaway. SL

Options for spraying after seeding

Many producers who've decided to seed first and spray later will face a few weed control challenges before or after the crop emerges. The rains have held back some post-seed herbicide applications which has resulted in crops emerging before the post-seed herbicide was applied. Unfortunately, there are only a few options for controlling weeds like volunteer canola, flixweed and spring annuals in wheat or barley at the one-leaf stage. For those of you who've missed the boat and have crops emerging, here are your options:

Although not registered, applying Express SG at 6 grams/ac with a non-ionic surfactant like AgSurf or Agral 90 at 3.5L/1000L shows excellent crop safety at the one-leaf stage of wheat or barley. This is an effective strategy to control volunteer canola, small flixweed, two-leaf wild buckwheat, seedling dandelion and small Loonie-sized narrow-leaved hawk's beard. Note) Unregistered use of any product places liability in the applicators hands and not the herbicide company.
Wait until the second-leaf stage of wheat and barley to apply a number of registered products like Benchmark, Infinity, Triton C, Buctril M, Everest, Simplicity or Refine SG.
Avoid herbicides with MCPA and 2,4-D before the three-leaf stage. See details below.
The only broadleaf herbicide registered for wheat and barley at the one-leaf stage is Infinity by Bayer CropScience.
Some producers have tried Buctril M at the 200 ml/ac rate to control volunteer canola with success. I personally haven't seen the results or effects from this.

The risk of using phenoxy's like 2,4-D or MCPA before the three-leaf stage is that they may cause kinked heads, which restricts water and nutrient supply, and/or may get stuck in the boot and emerge malformed. The picture shown here is spring wheat with kinked heads due to 2,4-D application before the third leaf stage. SL

Photo source: S. Larocque

Planning high yield wheat trials

The details

The first of the high yield spring wheat trials is in the ground and by high yield I mean we’re targeting 130 bu/ac. In conjunction with ACIDF, participating producers have funding up to $110.00 per acre to spend on inputs over and above business as usual treatments. This is year-one of a three-year project. It’s a great opportunity to apply intensive crop management to see how well our cropping systems respond over the course of three years. One could say the limiting factor is precipitation, which is true, but our focus is how much grain we can produce with the rain we get. We plan on yield mapping the side by side treatments which are 80 acre plots inside of 160 or 320 acre fields. I have grid sampled each field so we can overlay yield maps on top of the soil sample analysis to find out which nutrients asnd oil quality factors are driving or dragging yields.

We have set aside a few alternative treatments inside of our high yield trials to see which inputs are giving us the greatest bang for our buck. We have alternative plant densities ranging from 30 to 40 plants/ ft2, fungicide treatments, plant growth regulators, micronutrients, nitrogen rates and P+K rates. We hope to find some valuable tools to help us understand where we should focus our attention when trying to achieve maximum yields. Once we drill down the balance of inputs that give us the most response we’ll tailor it to match the most economic response.

Here is a list of the inputs going on one 80 acre field trial:

Target plant density: 35 plants ft2 @ 168 lbs/ac
Alternative target plant density: 40 plants ft2 @ 198 lbs/ac
Variety: Stettler HRS
Seed treatment: Raxil MD
Fertility: 175 N – 30 P – 20 K – 0 S
120 lbs N as NH3, 55 lbs N as ESN
Alternative N rate: 135 lbs N, 80 lbs N as NH3 and 55 lbs N as ESN
Micronutrients: MP Copper MP 1/3 L/ac Manganese 1/3 L/ac MP Zinc 1/3 L/ac with herbicide
Plant Growth Regulator: Cycocel Extra 0.9 L/ac at GS 30 just prior to stem elongation
Fungicide + Micros: MP Copper ½ L/ac at early flag leaf with Twinline
Fungicide + Micros: Epsotop Magnesium 2 lbs/ac with Prosaro at heading

The field has a history of high sulphur application and high soil sulphur levels which is why I decided not to apply sulphur. I backed off the P and K to more of a response rate rather than a removal rate. We can bump this up in the future if we feel necessary. The copper, manganese and zinc levels are marginal to low which is why I’m adding these at tillering and again with copper at flag leaf stage. I may or may not apply magnesium at heading with the Prosaro and I’ll decide at a later date. I’m adding the Twinline as a one-two punch with the combo of strobi and triazole at flag leaf followed up by a strong triazole fungicide like Prosaro at heading.

Pushing the envelope on crop inputs is an awesome way to learn how intensive agronomy can increase yields. I believe we’ve hit a wall with wheat and need to step up and find out how we move forward. We need to find the new balance between maximum economic yield and maximum yield. I’m hoping over the next three years we’ll discover that answer. SL