Tune in for today’s #AskTheAgronomist as we discuss Fall fertilizer application.
Is 40,000 plants per acre the answer every time? Tune in for a deeper dive into our LH 5245 VT2 PRO RIB hybrid and the results from our population test. #AskTheAgronomist
0:25 Crop Report Update
1:28 Population test introduction
2:30 LH 5245 VT2 PRO RIB hybrid introduction
4:15 Low population to high population and flex
5:20 Yield Estimates
7:00 How does LH 5245 VT2 PRO RIB flex?
8:13 Stalk quality
10:43 Final thoughts
What is Tar Spot?
Tar Spot is a corn fungal disease that has been infiltrating the Midwest within the last few years. Tar spot has the capability to severely impact yields up to 30%. Concern about the intensity of this fungus grows as researchers learn more about it. We urge farmers to scout their fields through harvest for tar spot since this fungus can survive over winter year to year.
Tar Spot Identification
Tar spot will show up as small, raised blacks spots, on the upper and lower corn leaves. The raised black spots are also known as stromata. If severe enough, it can spread to leaf sheaths and husks. Typically, it will start lower in the canopy and move upward. Tar spots are usually accompanied with a yellow halo or fish-eye effect around the black spots. Note the stromata, cannot be rubbed off unlike a common or southern rust pustule.
The Importance of Scouting
This corn fungus has nearly made it across Iowa and is continuing to spread in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. Tar Spot likes cool temperatures and humid conditions, with prolonged leaf wetness or heavy dew and will concentrate towards the middle of the field. It can cause lodging and hasten maturity.
Final Thoughts
This is one of the variables in farming we continue to learn about. Scout now and start planning for next season. Product selection is key when fighting these variables year to year and important to integrate into your plan for the next growing season.
How many points per day does corn dry down in October? Tune in to find out!
:25 — Topic introduction
:50 — Crop report update
1:50 — High moisture corn in October – how long should you wait?
4:30 — Example 1: LH 5965 VT2 PRO planted May 15
6:25 — Example 2: LH 5245 VT2 PRO planted June 4
7:33 — What happens if frost hits before black layer?
10:08 — Final thoughts
Use on-farm research to plan for the 2020 planting season. Tune in the hear tidbits from Phil Long!
0:10 – Crop update
1:40 – Assess plant population and ear size
3:45 – Plant population example (15,000 plants per acres – 55,000 plants per acre)
5:00 – When flex ears determine girth, length and depth
6:25 – Tipback, aborted kernels and zippered ears
8:00 – Stalk strength vs population
11:15 – Take notes this harvest season
Many Latham sales managers, dealers and customers have shared their concerns about the excessive rainfall received. Most of Latham Country in the last few weeks have been wetter than normal.
Wet weather brings to mind diseases, and too often we see corn fields with some leaf and stalk quality issues late in the season. I’ve personally seen a lot of Common Rust, Northern Corn Leaf Blight, Gray Leaf Spot and Eyespot this year.
Even with harvest underway, it’s important to continue checking fields and assessing stalk integrity as weather conditions can cause crop conditions to change. Ideally, farmers harvest the driest fields first so crops can dry naturally. This obviously saves time and money, but those plans must be revised if stalk rot shows up.
There are two primary ways to check corn plants for stalk rot: (1) Pinch the stalk at the base of the plant, usually below the first and second nodes. If the stalk pinches easily between your fingers, stalk rot is likely. (2) Take the entire stalk and bend it to a 45-degree angle. If stalk rot is present, the plant usually breaks at the lower part. Do this with at least 10 plants from different areas of your field to provide a good sampling. If stalk rot is present, harvest that field as quickly as possible regardless of the moisture content. The yield that could potentially be lost during high winds or complete rot will far outweigh the extra cost of drying grain.
Weather will, of course, dictate how corn stalks hold up to disease and normal decay. Adjust your harvest plan if needed to harvest the worst first.
by Bob Foley of RFS Global
This fall will go down in history as one of the most anticipated harvest seasons ever. Never have we experienced such widely varied circumstances. It doesn’t seem to matter if we are discussing conditions regionally, state to state, farm to farm, or as we have seen way too much of this year, plant to plant.
Walk into almost any field in Latham Country and you’ll notice the variability in studying just one row. The huge difference in ear sizes, plant maturity, and ear-to-ear kernel maturity with a 50-foot circle of plants seems to be widening. Overall, it is apparent that the extremes of the 2019 planting season seem to be widening. There are yellowing patches that we didn’t notice in July or random bunches of plants simply folding up but surrounded by much better plants. While driving down the road and looking in through the lower canopy, suddenly we can see six rows in because the bottom canopy is disintegrating in a matter of a few days.
We might say these things goes back to the spring weather, and for the most part, we would be correct – partially. Depending on where you farm, the conditions we’re seeing now probably stretch back to last fall before most of the harvest took place. Remember when that beautiful crop was 26 to 28% and many of us held off for drier corn before harvesting? Remember the 3+ weeks of rainfall across most of Latham Country?
Much of what we faced this spring, as well as what is occurring in our fields now, started last fall during field activities. Compaction resulted when combines, carts, trucks, spreaders and tractors rolled across wet fields. This spring just added to it. We were beyond wet, so we invented ways to cut corners to plant when the window opened. How many of us know of a field where the headlands pollinated 3 weeks before most of the field?
In 2019, 51% of the U.S. corn crop was planted after May 25. Much of this acreage was planted because time was simply running out. For the most part, we experienced a gentle July and August, which probably has given many of us alarm as we see parts of this crop folding up.
By and large, most of this variability and early death is coming from the culmination of factors that we’ve discussed at Latham field days, meetings, and in this article. Contrary to the coffee shop discussion,roots don’t stay shallow because there is water available. Roots stay shallow because they’re blocked from growing deeper. Roots don’t grow deep in some “hunt and search” mission. They grow down because of gravity. Furthermore, when plants pollinate well but have sub-par roots, the plant withers early, ears hang, field get spotty, and we notice the crop maturating in spots.
The short answer to this “my field has more weak spots than I thought” boils down to a two basics: roots and compaction. For the most part, compaction could not be avoided. Last fall and this spring simply didn’t allow for the best stewardship practices.
However, I would like to consider what we might have done or what we may be thinking of doing next year in the way of roots (besides a good field ripping). I have spoken often on the strength of later hybrids (relative maturity or RM) versus earlier hybrids. Without question, later is better in most agronomic factors. In general, later RM hybrids genetically have higher yield capabilities, are better in heat, are better in stress, provide more leaf area for sugar production, are typically healthier, have better standing in the fall, are easier to harvest, have higher test weights, etc.
And this year, I would support the idea that later hybrids generally handled some of the compaction issues better. They might have improved root growth/penetration, but I think it is more practical to assume that they just start out with a better toolbox to take the pressures of a season vs the early RM hybrid. I hear the discussion about “wetter corn” and “drying cost” and I won’t argue with each man’s economies. However…
Let’s consider the huge data set against switching to earlier hybrids in late-planting situations (later wins). The cheapest water to remove from a kernel is the 30% to 20% moisture. Here are a few things to consider:
Latham product team members have been busy traveling to our SuperStrip™ and other research plot locations across the Upper Midwest.
It’s our job to take notes to help our company offer the best possible product lineup, as well as to assist our customers in choosing the best products for their given situations.
We also encourage you to take notes on your own fields to help identify your seed needs for next year. We recommend keeping an eye out for the following:
Physoderma in corn: While this isn’t a new disease, it’s been getting more publicity recently because some fields have suffered economic damage. Physoderma is a soil-borne fungus that seems to surface when there are warm early season temperatures followed by rainy periods, causing water to sit in the whorls during the v5 to v9 stage. Sporangia release huge amounts of zoospores that can literally swim their way to attack plant cells. Leaf symptoms include yellow-to-brown spots on the leaves and dark purple oval spots along the midrib. The real damage happens on the lower nodes of the plant that become weak and thus susceptible to breakage. Look for a brown to black ring of decay around the node. I’ve heard reports of fields in Illinois where 75% of the plants have broken. While physoderma seems to be more of a problem on the eastern side of our area, it has been identified in Nebraska.
Soybean Gall Midge: This insect pest is so new that entomologists aren’t entirely certain what species it is. It was reported in Nebraska in 2011 and South Dakota in 2015. Just last fall SGM was recorded in 69 counties of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.
Sudden Death Syndrome and White Mold: Scout your fields all the way to maturity, So you don’t have any big surprises come harvest. Also remember to plant Latham® IRONCLAD™ products in these affected areas in the future. I’ve heard of some areas In southern Iowa and northern Illinois that are showing signs of Frogeye Leaf Spot, but I haven’t seen any of those myself – yet!
Weed resistance continues to be a growing issue. Last year I noticed serious problem fields in Wisconsin. Previously, Wisconsin farmers controlled weeds with glyphosate and some tank mix combinations. It’s becoming very obvious that weed resistance in Wisconsin is catching up quickly with the rest of the Upper Midwest. Exercise your weed control options in 2019 with Independent Latham Hi-tech Seeds.
Half of corn harvest loss and a whopping 80% of soybean harvest loss can occur at the header. It’s easy to overlook adjustments to the header because there aren’t any sensors to tell us what’s wrong. That’s why a relatively quick inspection is well worth your time.
A combine performs five key operations during harvest: cuts the crop; threshes the crop (first part of the rotor); separates the grain from the chaff (back part of the rotor); cleans the grain with fans and the cleaning shoe; and handles the crop to move it through the combine and into the grain cart or wagon. We all do our best to adjust our combines for each of these five areas.
Harvest loss can add up in a hurry as 1 bushel/acre of harvest loss is only 2 kernels of corn or just 4 soybeans per square foot.
Be sure to check the following two areas, which are often overlooked when making adjustments at harvest time:
Adjusting monitors in your combine cab is another area that can have a significant impact on your data collection. Following are a few noteworthy areas for your consideration:
Focus on making the adjustments that can have a significant impact on the quality of your data, but don’t sweat the small stuff. For example, if you must stop on a dime for a tile blowout that would swallow your combine or if you skirt around a waterway, that data can be cleaned up later. Feel free to call me if you have any questions or need assistance.