Morris Says

Morris Sagriff, Pioneer's agronomy guru par excellence, has been sending us information lately on Pioneer's latest technology offerings that will be field tested this summer.  These new hybrids will be marketed under the Optimum AQUAmax and Optimum ACREmax banners.

Optimum™ AQUAmax™
AQUAmax is not the latest cartoon super hero.  It is corn genetics that have been developed to perform better in the presence of drought stress.  Drought is a relative term.  I have customers that demand drought stress tolerance because they farm land where yields will drop from 175 bu to 140 bu under drought stress.  I sometimes remind them that there are soils in the province that will yield 110 bu under drought stress, so they should feel fortunate.  Regardless, drought is a serious problem which can take 50-60 bu away from a grower.  There is not a worse feeling than watching your crop whither in the summer after you have done your best to give it a good start by planting it right, fertilizing it properly and eliminating weeds. 
Pioneer has reached back in the gene bank, (read my previous post "Echos of Henry Wallace"), selected DNA that is linked to drought tolerance and incorporated this old DNA into newer genetics.  The result is a unique line that delivers superior yield in both water stressed and non water stressed environments.   



There are two hybrids being tested this year in Ontario.  P0210HR is a 3100 heat unit, double stack hybrid and P0791HR is a 3250 heat unit, double stack hybrid.  Very cool and very much worthy of super hero status.

Optimum™ ACREmax™
Pioneer is introducing Optimum™ Intrasect™ insect protection this year which is the basis for Optimum ACREmax.  I admit to being a lousy marketer.  I would fall asleep at the table debating names like Optimum AQUAmax, Optimum ACREmax, Optimus PRIME.  Whatever, as long as it works.
Optimum Intrasect hybrids combine Herculex I Bt technology with YieldGard Bt technology.  These hybrids contain 2 modes of action for European Corn Borer which allow the refuge requirement to drop from 20% to 5%.
The difference with Optimum ACREmax is the 5% refuge is blended with the Intrasect hybrid in the same bag making refuge compliance simple.  This concept is still pending regulatory approval.      
We will be testing two platforms this year, 38N82 (2700 heat unit - 38N85 family) and 35F33 (3100 heat unit - 35F37 family).  These two hybrids will control Western Bean Cutworm as well.

Morris is right.  This is exciting.

A Tip of The Cap

The Ministry of Environment recently released the 2010 results of their on farm audits of livestock operations in Ontario.  These operations are chosen randomly from all farm operations captured under the provincial Nutrient Management Act.  An Ag Enforcement Officer from the MOE visits each farm and scores them based on a risk assessment approach.  The goal of the assessment is to measure each farm's practices that reduce the risk of an adverse effect.  An adverse effect is causing something bad to happen to human health or the environment. 
A passing grade is 70 out of 100.  A 70 indicates the operation generally meets the provincial expectations for environmental performance, but may require some minor improvements.



Out of 172 farms inspected, 87% or 150 farms, met or exceeded provincial expectations.  Over the three years that the MOE have been inspecting livestock operations, scores have steadily improved. 

The two things farms can do to improve would be to make sure to conduct an annual review of their Nutrient Management Strategy or Plan and meet vegetated buffer zone/run-off management requirements.  The bottom line is livestock operations in Ontario are doing a great job protecting the environment.  Well done.

Manure on Frozen Ground?



The low temperatures this past week has motivated manure handlers to get busy and start spreading on frozen ground.  It was an opportunity to get some work done and reduce risk of compaction. 
The Nutrient Management Act in Ontario is very specific with respect to applying liquid manure on frozen ground.  It is NOT ALLOWED.  Does this mean you are automatically in trouble if the neighbour cries foul and calls the MOE?  NO. 
The only thing that gets manure handlers in real trouble in this province is if their practices cause an "adverse effect".  Or in other words "pollute surface water or ground water". 
There is one very good reason for liquid manure to not be spread on frozen soil.  There is no guarantee where that manure will go after it is appllied.  The risk of run-off is too great. 
However, can we apply manure on frozen ground and reduce the run-off risk?  Yes. 
1.Pick alfalfa fields or corn stalks and stay on the level sections with slopes less than 2-3%.  The crop residue will help trap the liquid and keep it in place.  Staying off slopes is obvious.
2.Keep rates below 3500 gal/acre. 
3.Keep well back of catch basins and drop inlets.  Do not apply to a field that borders an open ditch.
4.Keep track of weather/temperature conditions after application. This is important every time we apply manure.
The point I make to all my nutrient managment clients is nobody has the right to pollute.  This applies to everyone, including those livestock operations who are not captured by the Nutrient Management Act.  

Is Peter Right?

I attended a wheat management meeting this morning sponsored by Bayer Cropscience.  Peter Johnson, the godfather of wheat in Ontario, spoke about his SMART wheat trials.  A lot of you have heard Peter speaking on this.  He actually was suffering from laryngitis because he has been doing this talk daily for the last two months.

The amount of data he has accumulated over the last three years is very impressive and is worth repeating.   

To summarize, adding 30 lbs of N (above the check rate of 90 lbs of N) and spraying Prosaro at heading time gave 12 bu per acre yield response for $40 additional inputs. 

Adding 60 lbs of N, spraying Stratego with herbicide and Prosaro at heading time gave 18 bu of yield response for $63 additional inputs.  Very impressive return on investment.  No wonder Peter was suffering from laryngitis. 

Every wheat grower should commit this year to doing at least one or two strips trying out these various recipes.  The data says Peter is right.

This Still Feels Good

What a difference a year makes.  This week a year ago, the golf courses were open, spring grain was planted and a few enterprising souls planted a little bit of corn. 

Today, Brian and I took the took the opportunity to spread some red clover.  There sure won't be any corn planted in March this year, maybe not much in April.  We will see. 

The sunshine feels fantastic. And it is nice to get the 2011 spring planting season started, even if if the snow and cold doesn't quite make it feel like spring. 

 

One positive thing about clover on snow, it is easy to see the spread pattern.



It's going to be a great year.  I promise.





What's In Your Compost?

As part of her municipal duties Cathy serves on the board of the Bluewater Re-Cycling Association.  She came home recently on a new crusade. "You need to write about this!" she declared.  So here goes.

Cathy and our daughters, Terrilyn and Melissa, are "foodies".  At least I think that is the correct term.  Never heard of quinoa?  Come to our house. 
They take great delight in taking recipes from around the world, adding their own special touch and presenting these new dishes at the dinner table.  In our family this is known as experiment night.  Fortunately these dishes are usually quite tasty and very unique, but there have been a couple of disasters that ended up in the compost bin.  Cathy is an avid gardener and composter, so we normally don't feel too bad if tonight's dinner offering ends up as worm feed. 

But, according to a recently published study we maybe should think twice about how smug we feel when we recycle this wasted food.  I have provided the link to the paper.

http://www.vcmtools.ca/pdf/Food%20Waste%20in%20Canada%20120910.pdf

What got my good wife's blood pressure up was the claim that throwing out or recycling unwanted food costs our economy $27 Billion.  Half of this waste can be attributed back to consumers in their own home. 

$27 Billion would buy us all the farm land in Perth, Huron, Oxford and Middlesex counties at current prices.

The next time the family gathers for a big feast think about the mountains of food that are presented in a mis-guided attempt to impress the mother or sister-in-law.  There should be no prizes awarded for the biggest party platter.
Also remember that leftovers, when preserved properly, always taste better the next day.



Now Listen Up - This Is Important

There was a change that occurred about 2 years ago.  There was a little buzz in the press, but it quickly faded.  I want to shed light on it again.

The Ontario crop heat unit map was modified.

I know what you are thinking.  "Who pays attention to the heat unit map when selecting corn hybrids?  I haven't studied it for years."  I agree because the map didn't change for many years, but now it has.  And while growers may not look at the map very often, over the course of my career it has been the basis for a lot of decisions. Depending on your point of view, you have used it to either back up your hybrid choices or to ridicule the neighbour for foolishly growing hybrids too late for your area.

Dr Murray Brown at the University of Guelph was the driver behind the heat unit calculation in Ontario based on max and min temperatures.  It was outstanding research that has benefited corn growers in Ontario and has been widely proven to be the most reliable indicator of heat accumulation with respect to corn growth.

Here is the old chart that was in use up until 2009.  The new one is directly underneath. 



My apology for the quality of the new map, but there is an approximate 200 heat unit difference from old to new.  The 2900 heat unit line in the old map is now shown to be a 3100 heat unit line.  The two maps were produced from the same sets of temperature data.  Why the change?

When the first map was produced the heat unit calculation did not start until there were 3 consecutive days of average temperature greater than 12.8 degrees C.  This produced annual starting dates ranging from early to late May, which in the 70's was an accurate planting date predictor.  When I was a young lad, corn was rarely planted before the Victoria Day weekend in May.

The new map is calculated using May 1 as the starting date.  The old 3 consecutive warm days calculation was discarded because now we are very used to having corn planted by May 1.  A typical May early day can deliver 10-13 heat units, which when multiplied over 15-20 days equals 200 heat units.

May 1 has become a standard planting date not due to global warming, but because of the following factors.
1. Tile drainage - more fields are systematically tiled which means more fields are fit to plant earlier
2. Seed Treatments - seed treatments today keep seed viable for up to a month in cold soil.  15 years ago, 2-3 weeks was the max.
3. Experience with early planting dates - we have learned a lot about tillage and seed placement over the years which helps us get corn out of the ground when it is cool.  We have also learned about frost effects on young seedlings and have lost some of our fear.
4. Speaking of young seedlings, breeders have improved the cold tolerance of hybrids by planting their research plots early and selecting for the strongest survivors. 

What does this mean?  It means we all need to take time to re-evaluate our thinking with respect to maturity.  Experiment.  On those early fields, try a hybrid that you would consider to be too long for the area.  You may find the map to be correct.