Mother's Day Style

Snow on Mother's Day isn't so bad.  It gives everyone a chance to spend quality time with their mothers. Cathy believes it was 1985 when we had 6 inches of snow on Mother's Day.  She was expecting Brian at the time.
Melissa presented a unique gift to her mother yesterday.  I suppose one could call it a fruit cake.  Except it is not the kind of fruit cake that my grandma would make.  This healthy eating thing has gone a little too far for me.

The moisture over the weekend has been a blessing for both mothers and farmers. Especially those farmers that were commenting about dry seedbeds in their corn fields. Dry seed beds last week were the result of working ground too deep and too early.  The too deep is easy to correct if your leave your field level coming out of the fall and run the cultivator just deep enough to crumble the top 2 inches.  The too early is a different matter.  I understand the peer pressure associated with growing crops and it is practically impossible to stay out of the field when everyone else is going.
Meanwhile, our attention is turning to planting soybeans and spraying wheat.  Both jobs need to wait until the freezing night temperatures pass.  We are in the prime planting window for high soybean yields and the forecast looks favourable for later in the week. Waiting a few days now for soil temperatures to rebound is a smart play in my opinion.
In the wheat crop weeds have emerged and both septoria leaf blotch and powdery mildew are present in the canopy.  But, there is too much risk of crop injury when it is this cold. Monday night's forecast is a frosty one so waiting until Wednesday to start spraying would be another smart play.
And speaking of smart plays I plan to watch a hockey game tonight.  "Go Leafs Go".

One Job We Can Forget About

Not much happened this past week.  Brian did get some 28% on wheat fields from Saturday afternoon to Sunday.  Well drained fields quickly came into shape on Saturday.
Other than that little bit of progress field work has been a no go, but that will change soon.

 

I was asked on the weekend if I had taken any soil temperatures.  I said no because when the ground is wet, it doesn't matter what the temperature is.  Agronomists often write about and fuss over soil temperatures.  It sometimes is a factor affecting the outcome of early planting corn and soybeans.  

Once the calendar switches to May I don't care about soil temperatures any more.  If the ground is fit, plant.  Simple.  Put the temperature probe away, hopefully in a place that you can remember where it is come next April.  

The big money men are jittery about planting progress in the US.  The chart below has them spooked.  

The prime planting window is here and very few acres are in the ground.  We know how quickly that can change.  

A blog post by Darrel Good at www.farms.com/ puts a statistical twist to the number of days suitable for field work and planting progress on a typical day in Illinois.  The basic premise is that while farmers can plant many more acres in a day thanks to machinery technology than they could in the 70's, the number of total acres per day planted has not increased very much.  Sure farmers can plant more but there are fewer farmers.  The net result is less acres per day than what you might think.  You can read the mind numbing numbers at the link below

http://www.farms.com/ExpertsCommentary/darrel-good-how-much-of-the-2013-corn-crop-will-be-planted-late-61957.aspx

Hopefully next week we will be too busy to blog.

It Could Be Worse

I know it has been snowing again, but hey it could be worse.  On the bright side there is no excuse for not having your corn planter ready to go.  Here is a link for some last minute tips.

phbn.ws/6019XpTH

Seeding depth is a favourite agronomy topic because it is so important.  Corn needs to be planted 2" deep.

Secondary roots will not develop properly if corn is planted too shallow.  The temptation with cool, wet soils is always there to shallow up a little.  This is a mistake.

Meanwhile planting progress south of the border is lagging behind normal pace.

I remain very optimistic this spring will turn around.  Corn planted by mid-May still has outstanding yield potential.


 

Fish Creek

 

In the local tributary known as Fish Creek the water stopped flowing last summer.  That proved to be a shock to the fish population.  The water always flows in Fish Creek.  This past week the water and other things were flowing down in large quantities.  

 

I know you really don't care about Fish Creek.  What about the flooded wheat fields?

 

 

The recent heavy rain is why we discourage early nitrogen application on wheat.  The wheat does not need nitrogen yet and the risk of losing the N is high.  Run-off is the obvious risk with high water. Leaching is an additional risk in sandy soils but in our clay loam soils denitrification is the problem.  Denitrification is the process where the nitrate form of N is converted to N2 gas by bacteria that survive in water logged soils.  N2 gas is lost directly to the atmosphere.  Temperature plays a big role in how fast the process happens.  When it is cold denitrification losses are low.  As soils warm the process speeds up.  Regardless, there is too much time lag between late March and 1st week in April applications of nitrogen and the needs of the wheat crop.   

 

The flooded wheat still has a fighting chance.  The plants have just started to break dormancy.  Their requirement for oxygen is extremely low which means established wheat plant can stand being submerged for over 48 hours.  The water is cold which helps extend this further because cold temperatures slow down respiration in the plant which reduces its oxygen needs and cold water contains more dissolved oxygen.  The wheat plant doesn't have gills, but every little advantage helps in these conditions.

 

Spring will happen in 2013.  It always has and always will.

 

Hayden Takes A Break

Recently Liam was seen hard at work in Grandpa's headquarters.

Hayden who has been overwhelmed of late, informed his little brother that it was Liam's turn to answer the agronomy question for the week. 

Liam did not want the responsibility.  He called in his father to help.  Hayden realized this was a mistake, but there was nothing he could do to stop it.
What was the question that demanded attention?  
Old man winter is overstaying his welcome and getting on people's nerves.  Wheat and forage producers have been asking about the state of their wheat and alfalfa crops. Some investigating was required.
On Wednesday morning Brian put on his insulated coveralls and headed out to a local wheat field.  This field was planted in late October and does not have a lot of top on it.

He dug some plants and brought them inside.  48 hours of 20 degree warmth brought them to life as seen below.

Lots of new vigorous growth.  A warm rain would bring this field to life.  That would be the time to apply some nitrogen.  Until then keep the applicators parked. 

He also went to a alfalfa field planted in 2012 that was harvested late in the fall and never had the chance to re-grow.

 These same plants 48 hours later looked like this.

A different alfalfa field that is entering its third year of production was also investigated.

Similar results were observed in this case as well.  Lots of new bud growth.

Based on the three fields surveyed, it appears the winter was easier on the plants than it was on the growers' nerves.  This makes sense because in the St Marys area we have been snow covered until just recently.  This usually gives our overwintering crops a comfortable environment to spend the winter in.

Hayden, you can now relax because your dad did a pretty good job.

Heads Up For An Early April Fools

Peter Johnson, the slightly opinionated OMAFRA cereal specialist was telling me yesterday about a change in CFIA regulations that go into effect on April 1.  These changes affect the class of products that we know as "amendment" products.  An example of an amendment product is Awaken ST.  Awaken ST which is marketed in Ontario by UAP, has gone through the current registration process.  They make that statement clearly in the promotion from their website.  UAP had to prove to CFIA that Awaken ST has the potential to have a positive effect on yield.  I am not promoting nor condemning Awaken ST.  I only use it as an example.

http://www.uap.ca/products/documents/AwakenST_Product_v2.pdf

Amendment products contain trace amounts of nutrients.  Anyone with a slight understanding of chemistry can mix up trace elements and bottle them.  There are literally millions of these products.  As of April 1, the only requirement for registration in Canada will be to prove that they contain the nutrients on the label.  They no longer have to prove to CFIA that the stuff actually might work.  So get ready for lots of salesmen claiming that product XYZ will perform miracles on your farm. 
My advice is to let your neighbour be the April fool and the first to try XYZ.

On a different note, many ask for my opinion on where corn acres are going.  Here is as good an explanation as any.  Enjoy.

http://www.agprofessional.com/newsletters/dealer-update/articles/How-many-corn-acres-will-be-planted-in-2013-200028441.html?page=2

Happy Easter to everyone.  With the cold weather there is no excuse for not spending time with your family.  God Bless.

This Is How We Do It

US President Teddy Roosevelt is credited with coining the phrase "speak softly while carrying a big stick".  I have always liked this phrase because I believe it is important to stay quiet and humble, but be ready to use the appropriate "stick" if required.  Once in a while I get the urge to brag about something and my family quickly tells me to shut up.  They are usually right.
I do believe, however, that Pioneer deserves a huge thumbs up for its commitment to the livestock industry.  The company is unique in the seed business.
Pioneer is the only seed company that sells a complete lineup of seed products including silage corn, grain corn, alfalfa, wheat, soybeans and canola.  There are three alfalfa breeding programs in North America.  Pioneer's breeding program is one of those three.  Pioneer brand alfalfa varieties are unique to Pioneer.  Other seed companies buy alfalfa genetics from the other two breeding organizations.    
Pioneer is also the only seed company that supports the development of unique strains of bacteria that make better silage.  Everyone is familiar with the use of stacking genes in corn hybrids.  We have witnessed corn breeders develop "single stack" hybrids, which led to "double stack" hybrids and more recently to "triple and multi stack" hybrids.  Each stack adds features which bring a level of value that can be different to individual farming operations.  A Pioneer sales rep's responsibility is helping customers sort out which features bring the greatest value.

This chart shows the timeline of development, or breeding if we use the seed corn analogy, in Pioneer's innoculant products.  Like corn hybrids, inoculants have been designed to bring different features to the silage producer.  Some silage producers need the basic technology package in 1174, others need the full technology package in 11CFT.  These products have all been tested in live animals at Pioneer's Livestock Nutrition Centre.  Making sure products work in the real world of the animal's gut is another part of Pioneer's commitment to the livestock industry.
Finally, Pioneer backs up these products with service support that is unique in the seed industry.  A Canadian team of livestock specialists, led by Robert Larmer, maximize the value of Pioneer's forage package at the farm gate.  They are backed up by a dedicated team of dairy, beef and swine nutrionists.
I am extremely proud to be associated with this group.  I will now go back to walking softly.