September 18, 2012

Agronomists Notes

Hello Reader,

We’re now on the tail end of harvest in our area and it looks like more great weather is ahead for this week. The back to back wind storms took a bite out of canola yields last week but cereals have held strong. Wheat proteins have been medium to high in many areas but with lower bushel weights than last year. The later is also true for the malt barley but quality is good.

Recent fertilizer quotes for urea range from $610 to $640 a tonne. Phosphate MAP is priced at $740 a tonne and potash at $625 and sulphur at $485 a tonne.

This week we’ll look at the economics and reasons for growing multiple wheat classes in your rotation. Next, I’ll share an interesting observation about the effects of wheel traffic and weed growth. I’ll give you some quick tips on how to calculate nitrogen removal rates to help you fine tune fertility programs and pre-buying opportunities. Next, I’ll give you an update on the use of PGR’s in wheat and finish with some comments on the use of Prosaro to control blackleg in canola out of Australia. We’ll finish with technical grain market news.

I’m happy to be back in the writer’s seat with a tonne of harvest trial data to sort through and share in the coming weeks.

Have a great week.

Pictured above: The silhouette of our R7 Gleaner with the custom Binford 5000 hopper topper straight-cutting CPS wheat on a magical September evening, September 16, 2012 near Morrin, AB. Photo source: V. Larocque

Harvest Progress

(Calgary to Drumheller to Three Hills) Yield Avg

Wheat: 90% 50-60 bu/ac
Canola: 50% 30-40 bu/ac
Barley: 95% 80-90 bu/ac
Peas: 100% 40-50 bu/ac

Wheat strategy for 2013

We have long been misguided when it comes to the value and demand of high protein wheat under the Canadian Wheat Board. We have always chased high protein hard red spring wheat’s because of the perceived demand and premiums offered. Under the new grain marketing system, the reality of high protein value and demand seems to be much different. Currently there is very little movement on proteins over 13.5% and little if no premiums on proteins over 13.5%. I don’t believe this is a one off situation. It’s the new reality. So, in response, we should start to grow a mix of medium quality wheat classes like CPS and winter wheat as well as hard red spring wheat. Let’s do a little math to compare price and profit.

Steve’s quick math
Based on today’s CWB PRO, just to add irony to this story
HRWW #2: $332 T or $9.03 bu
CPSR #2: $327 T or $8.89 bu
HRSW #2 13.5%: $361 T or $9.82

Yields: On average, CPS and HRWW will yield approx 15% more than HRSW. I'll use an average of 50 bu/ac for HRSW and add 15% for CPS and HRWW.

HRWW: 50 bu/ac x $9.03 bu = $524.06/ac
CPSR: 58 bu/ac x $8.89 bu = $516.17/ac
HRSW: 58 bu/ac x $9.82 bu = $491.23/ac

You can see in this scenario it pays to grow HRWW and CPS compared to a high protein HRSW. Now, some years the premium for high protein HRSW may increase and some years it may not. It is for this reason under the new wheat marketing regime I suggest growing a combination of the two wheat classes to offset the price risk. The majority of buyers are looking for medium quality wheat. So why don’t we give it to them? Movement, check. Revenue, check. Sounds like a good strategy to me. SL

Photo source: S. Larocque

Controlled traffic farming reduces weed germination and emergence

Each year a new observation pops up in our controlled traffic farming system. This fall I noticed a unique pattern in fall weed germination showing up in our tram lines. The picture you see here shows volunteer peas growing inside every second tram line. Coincidentally, our 60 ft sprayer runs on every second tram line and provided the seed to soil contact necessary to germinate these seeds (the crop suffered hail damage).

If you step back and think about how we plant our seeds, we always aim for good seed to soil contact to help improve germination. There is no difference when it comes to weed seeds, they too prefer good seed to soil contact. In fact, I recall one gentleman in Australia who managed to all but eliminate wild oats after many years of CTF. What happened? He no longer stimulated wild oat germination because he stopped driving randomly across the field. For us, we’ve noticed a marked reduction in spring and winter annual cleaver populations even after just three years of CTF.

It is clear to me that wheel traffic is causing more issues than just compaction, it’s adding to weed pressure as well. In the case of my Aussie mate Robert Ruwoldt, he managed to reduce wild oat populations to nil after several years of CTF. That’s a savings of $13.00 to $18.00 acre each year! I like how CTF offers a chemical-free integrated weed management strategy to help reduce weed populations. SL

Pictured above: Volunteer peas germinated in the tramlines where the sprayer travelled. Photo source: S. Larocque

Fine tune nitrogen requirements for fall pre-buying

We’re just at the tail end of harvest and yields and proteins are starting to come in. The urea market has remained fairly stable with price ranges from $600 to $640 a tonne. It is now time to look at pricing urea if you have not already. If you’re wondering if you should wait to price, just remember that fertilizer prices have dropped only twice from fall until spring in the last 30 years. Pretty small odds when you think about it.

Although nitrogen removal calculations do not replace soil testing, they are a great tool to help fine tune and make sense of your soil test data. For example, you can start to estimate nitrogen release from organic matter more accurately and from your nitrogen fertilizer program. So with that, here are some rough estimates of how to calculate nitrogen removal in wheat, barley and canola to help estimate nitrogen requirements for 2013.

To calculate the nitrogen content removed in the wheat, you must divide the protein content by a factor of 5.7. For example, a 65 bushel wheat crop with 11.5% protein divided by a factor of 5.7 will indicate the nitrogen content of the grain. In barley, the factor is 6.25. Here are some examples to help you:

Wheat: 65 bu/ac × 64 lbs/bu × (12.5% ÷ 5.7 ÷ 100) = 91 lbs/ac.
*The factor of 5.7 is unique to wheat.

Barley: 90 bu/ac × 52 lbs/bu × (12% ÷ 6.25 ÷ 100) = 89 lbs/ac.
*The factor of 6.25 is used for all other cereal grains and nitrogen removal can be determined using the same formula.

Canola: 40 bu/ac × 1.88 lbs/bu = 75 lbs/ac.

I encourage you to look through your yields, proteins and bushel weights in wheat and barley as well as canola. You might be surprised how much nitrogen was produced and removed from the system. These calculations should help get you close to what you need for 2013 and help you fine tune your nitrogen fertility programs this winter. SL

Ethrel PGR in wheat generates significant harvest efficiencies

I had multiple trials and clients using PGR’s this year to help reduce lodging in lodge prone areas. Those with a history of high fertility with hog or dairy manure or high rainfall areas are seeing impressive results. The photo you see here was taken by producer Justin Nanninga from Barrhead. This field had 4,300 gal/ac of liquid hog manure plus 85 lbs N/ac using NH3 for a total of 180 lbs/N/ac. Now that is a recipe for a flat crop but as you can see in the photo, the Ethrel PGR did a fine job of keeping the wheat standing. The right side is the lodged area where no PGR was applied and the left where Ethrel at 250 ml/ac was applied at late flag leaf.

Justin was able to travel 2 mph faster on the standing wheat treated with Ethrel. With a JD 9870 and a 30 ft header, Justin could harvest an additional 7 ac/hr. This particular field was full of rocks and having the crop still standing meant he didn’t have to worry about a $40,000 rock bending his rotor. The $6.00 an acre for a PGR was cheap insurance as far as he was concerned.

Now unfortunately, PGR’s are hard to come by in Western Canada and only a few might make it to registration by 2014. For now, we will bring in trial product to get comfortable with the rates and timings and risks of using PGR’s in our area. As you can see in the photo there are some huge benefits to using PGR’s for some. I’ll say it again- PGR’s will be a game changer in Western Canada. SL

Pictured above: Wheat treated with Ethrel PGR at 250ml/ac at late flag (left side) versus untreated. Photo source: J. Nanninga

Blackleg protection in canola

A reader comments on Prosaro in Australia

I thought I would add the comments below from a Beyond Agronomy News subscriber in Australia who recommends Prosaro to protect canola against blackleg. Although the vast majority of canola varieties in Canada are rated MR to Resistant, I’ve seen an alarming spike in blackleg levels this season. With tight canola rotations, lack of control of volunteer canola and zero tillage systems, we’re creating a perfect environment for blackleg to thrive. I would hope we choose to control blackleg through proper rotations and genetics but feel we may end up looking for alternatives if blackleg levels increase.

“We are using 375ml/ha ($26.25/ha), depending on field size x pack size. Some growers have used the 450ml/ha rate ($31.50/ha). We are applying this to varieties with susceptibility or moderate susceptibility to Blackleg here in Australia. This is being applied at the 4-6 leaf stage.

The recommendation is for another potential application at green bud, however in our environments the early infection is the one that translates into yield loss come harvest. Later infections, whilst losing some green leaf area, tend not to become stem infection and therefore loose yield. Our strategy is to apply a fungicide to the seed to protect the cotyledons and first 2-4 leaves, then use the Prosaro in conjunction. If the variety has solid Blackleg resistance, (Moderately Resistant or better) last year’s trials showed no economical response to spraying with Prosaro.

The photo you see here is from a trial in 2011 from Bayer showing the protection that can be achieved on a susceptible variety. I would expect the leaves seen are 4, 5, and 6 on the main stem." Lachlan Caldwell, Australia

Pictured above: Untreated (left side) versus treated canola susceptible to blackleg using Prosaro. Photo source: L. Caldwell