Recently in Agronomy Category

It's mid summer, and that means I spend many of my days out at various field days. Just yesterday I toured a field near Elfros, Sask., that was growing a gorgeous stand of yellow peas. Sure, there were ugly spots where ponding had knocked back the crop in the early season, but overall it was a very good stand. Then, we went to see one of the nicest flax fields I've ever had to wade through. Both of these fields started in less than ideal conditions, and both share some interesting management challenges.

At this particular field day, we discussed how important it is to be planning ahead when it comes to fertility management. Peas, of course, fix their own nitrogen and leave a good deal behind to be released over the coming year or two. If conditions stay wet (this crop still had ample moisture but was no longer considered wet), there's not much you can do to protect the residual N from losses due to leaching or denitrification, however you could use a product such as ESN to protect a portion or all of the N you put down in the spring or fall, if you were seeding winter wheat. Depending too heavily on residual N could prove a poor choice if the wet cycle continues in this area.

In the flax field we discussed how flax needs phosphorus, as does any crop, however this crop's roots dive straight down and don't branch. Really, you need phosphorus directly below the seed but how are you going to get it there? The suggested solution was, yes, to put a safe level of seed placed P, but also to plant flax on fields with ample background P already in the soil and ready to be released and used. It could mean bumping P rates the year before flax, knowing that you won't lose it in the current year and it'll be available to the crop next year.

These are simply two examples of all that was discussed on this day. Do you think about fertility for next year's crop while this year's is still growing? Do the yields you achieve this year change your planned fertility levels for next? Look for more on this topic in the September issue of Grainews!

I took over as editor of Grainews nearly a year ago. Just as I was getting into the swing of things, the endless seeding season of 2010 reared its ugly head and I could focus on little else. Of course, I live near Regina — not everyone faced such a dire growing season, but many did. Now, we've passed the half way point of winter (according to me) and the snow outside my door looks more like winter in the Red River Valley than "bone-dry Saskatchewan." (I was told last summer not to complain about the rain or it would stop for three years. Should I still be so careful? Maybe.) I'm hoping that my second year at the helm of this pub isn't nearly as exciting as the first. Really.

Difficult growing conditions here and abroad have done what they should for crop prices. Many farmers who missed out on production are taking some solace in price run ups of nearly every commodity (thank goodness). But wet weather leads to heavy disease pressure and low levels of quality seed stock. The farmer who fails to plan their crop selection early may find themselves short on their first choice or highest quality of seed.

While booking canola seed largely wrapped up in the late fall, many of you are still hammering out crop rotations or, to put it bluntly, returning to them.(I've said it before and I'll say it again, one in two is not a rotation.) The good news is many of the tried and true staples of western Canadian farming should be profitable this year at current pricing levels, the bad news is much of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are going to need perfect spring drying weather to get crops in on time.

Even timely seeding can't entirely make up for the dangers of seeding into wet conditions with (potentially) high levels of disease inoculum in the soil. It'd be prudent to pencil in a seed treatment, if you don't already, to this year's budget, I'd say.

Then there are those of you anticipating really wet conditions. In upcoming issues of Grainews, we'll be tackling the success rate of scratching in canola as well as highlighting cropping options that either don't mind wet feet, use a lot of water or will at least offer some ground cover and water use for 2011. For many, this cycle of wet weather is set to continue for a bit yet. Longer-term planning outside of your comfort zone, such as with winter wheat, forage and cover crops or big water users, may prove a wise move. 

Of course, I say all of this and plan all these articles in the hopes that most of you don't need to employ these tactics. But the reality is, you may.

Happy planning!

It's nearly a new year, meaning that right now several people are swearing off cigarettes and fast food and promising themselves to finally lose weight and get active. I'm all for personal goal setting (no matter how fleeting the commitment may be), but I also believe that our professional life could benefit from some New Year's resolutions, too.

And so, I give you, in true Grainews fashion — The Top Five Things You Should Do On
Your Farm This Year (the title could use a little work, I admit).
1. Re-evaluate your seeding rate on all crops. Canola seed differs greatly in size from variety to variety. A poor growing year for cereals can mean smaller, lighter seeds. If you're still seeding by a set bushels or pounds per acre, you could be hamstringing your crop. Instead, use thousand kernel weight for each seed lot, factor in germ and vigour and target a plant stand density. For more on this, watch upcoming issues of Grainews. We'll be talking a lot about this.
2. Change one practice on your farm. Try a new variety, research and implement a new row spacing, fertilizer blend or opener. Soil test, treat seed or use a fungicide. But don't forget to...
3. Leave a test strip. How do you really know if something makes or saves you money or improves grade or yield if you leave no comparison? Try a 20 or 40 acre piece when evaluating a new variety, leave at least one strip at the lower fertilizer rate or leave one pass fungicide-free and evaluate the difference. One pass that suffers yield is not going to break the bank, but it may prove that your money was well spent, and vice versa.
4. Learn a new marketing skill. No one says you need to become a stock broker, but if you don't use production contracts, buy futures or watch the basis, you may be leaving money on the table. Choose one thing — identity-preserved production, for example — and do some homework. You may still decide it's not for your farm, but at least give it some thought.
5. Practice farm safety. It only takes a second to don protective eye wear, turn off equipment or mark stairways and exits in a shop. A 20 minute cat nap can mean the difference between a safe ride home or a car wreck. Take five minutes and learn CPR. All of these things could save your eyesight, your arm or even your life.

Happy New Year, everyone!  

It's an unfortunate fact that diseases can mutate and evolve to overcome genetic resistance. What's more unfortunate is that tightening up canola rotations can speed that evolution. Recently, new strains of blackleg have been showing up in canola — strains that are unaffected by current genetic resistance. While plant breeders are hard at work developing new resistant varieties, the Canola Council of Canada is reminding farmers about several things they can do to combat the disease and preserve what genetic resistance we do have now.

Agronomists, plant pathologists and this editor will tell you that the first step in controlling blackleg is keeping canola to a one-in-four year rotation. But if everyone did that, we likely wouldn't be having this discussion, so let's move on to other steps you can take to manage blackleg, according to the Council's latest release on the topic.

1. Choose a variety with an MR or R rating for the disease. The tighter the rotation, the more important the R rating.
2. Rotate varieties. This works because different lines carry different sources of resistance, according to the Council's release.
3. Scout early for signs of the disease and again just prior to maturity. Cankers or lesions that form at the base of the plant are responsible for significant yield loss.
4. Control volunteers in the years in between canola crops. This includes any host crop, such as wild mustard. Volunteers act as host to the disease, setting back any advantage to rotating away from canola.
5. Use certified seed to ensure genetic uniformity
6. Fungicide acts as protectant only, and must be sprayed in anticipation of the disease, not after infection is wide-spread. According to the Canola Council, research at AAFC Melfort found fungicide use made the most difference on those varieties with a less than R rating.

In addition to all this, remember to keep growing conditions in mind. Warm and wet weather can speed along development of the disease. And because blackleg spreads by wind, it's important to scout the field margins between last year's and this year's canola field (if growing side by side). The Canola Council also says that burning stubble is not effective control — the thick base of stalks which carries so much inoculum rarely burn completely. 
 

It might seem a bit strange to be talking disease control in late September, however, now is the perfect time to enlist the help of a very different kind of fungicide in the fight against sclerotinia.

Contans, a soil-applied wettable powder distributed through UAP, goes to work before the crop is in the ground, either in the fall or the spring. For those considering planting canola in 2011, now is the time to spray Contans.

"The product needs 90 days at soil temps above 5 degrees C to be effective," says Garth Render, product manager with UAP. Contans is unique in that it actually kills sclerotia bodies on the soil surface. Sclerotia are the overwintering form of sclerotinia. The product doesn't just stop the disease from spreading, it actually kills the source of the disease. It's possible to drastically reduce populations a field, Render says, with a long-term plan that includes crop rotation and Contans.

2010 was the first year UAP had wide-spread experience with Contans and the results are promising. Approved for use on dry beans, sunflowers and canola, as well as other susceptible crops, the use of Contans in the fall or year previous to planting has significantly reduced pathogen loads in fields, Render says.

Where farmers could trip themselves up is on timing. For those planning to seed canola in 2011, application of Contans should be happening now. "Even if you only get 20 days of the product working (this fall) it will got to work again in the spring as soon as the soil warms," Render says. "By the time canola is susceptible to infection, enough time should have passed to make it effective." If farmers miss this fall window, Render cautions against spring application of the product in canola. "Instead, I'd recommend putting it on your cereal fields in anticipation of canola on those acres in 2012." Contans will be killing sclerotia all year and next fall if you take this route.

For those planning beans or sunnies, fall application or a heavy rate in the spring can work simply because of the longer season nature of these crops.

For more information, contact Garth Render at 204-981-3337 

'Tis the season for field days, and while I haven't managed to visit as many as I had hoped this summer, you can bet the rest of the Grainews bunch has been out and about. Maybe you've seen them — they're the ones scribbling down all sorts of notes and taking pictures of everything and anything. We also tend to drink a lot of coffee and won't say no to a free lunch.

I did manage to get out to a fantastic field day near Langenburg, Sask., this past Tuesday and, as always, I learned a few new things and met some great farmers.

Which got me thinking — what else is everyone seeing out there? Is there a particular field day or research/demo plot that caught your attention this year? Do you have questions that are going unanswered? What was the neatest thing you saw? What technology or field practice did you see that you'll try on your farm?

I'd love to hear from you. Email me at lyndsey@fbcpublishing.com and let me know!

There's a part of me that is hesitating to even blog about such basic things as plant counts. Why? Because the fields around here and much of the Prairies are struggling, just getting seeded or are unseeded. It's late in the spring seeding season and I don't want to be pouring salt into anyone's wounds.

That said, there certainly are parts of the west that are growing and so this is for them. My apologies if you're not one of them (but please don't shoot the messenger).

My former colleague and past editor of Grainews, Jay Whetter, is hard at work at the Canola Council rolling out agronomy tips. The latest release on estimating plant populations as a means of gauging seeding success caught my eye and I thought I'd share it. Knowing plant counts may also play a role in management decisions in the coming weeks regarding spraying or, ouch, reseeding. What follows is a summary of what Jay sent me.

Target 10 canola plants per square foot

According to Derwyn Hammond, senior agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, canola stands of 10 plants per square foot (100 per square metre) are ideal as they provide a cushion for loss due to frost, diseases or insects. Stands of less than four or five plants per square foot (roughly 40 to 50 per square metre) generally cannot reach their full yield potential. If a plant stand ends up at less than 10 plants per square foot, Hammond advises checking equipment settings, the seed lot and field conditions to identify why they did not achieve the ideal plant population.
 

Recording the average number of plants per square foot can help farmers improve their seeding methods for 2011. "You can keep records of thousand seed weight, seeding rate and seeding date, plus seeding depth and soil temperature, but what’s the point if you don’t also do plant stand counts?" says Hammond.

Plant stand assessment is also essential information for setting seeding rates in the future. Farmers who usually achieves above 10 plants per square foot under average conditions may have been able to trim costs with a lower seeding rate. But if plant populations are routinely at seven plants per square foot or less, reducing rates could spell trouble.

How to estimate plant populations

The Canola Council suggests using hoops equivalent to one-quarter of a square metre to estimate plant populations. Simply place the one-quarter metre hoop into the crop, count the number of plants inside and multiplying by four to get plants per square metre. Several counts per field are required to get a good average. Farmers considering reseeding should take 50 to 100 samples to be sure the plant count is accurate enough before making such an important (and costly) decision.

Farmers can make their own 50 cm by 50 cm (quarter-metre) square or make a hoop with an inside diameter of 56 cm, which is the equivalent of a quarter metre square, according to the Council's release. 

(Click on image for larger version) This hoop is equivalent to one quarter of a square metre. Inside this hoop are 23 plants, which works out to 92 plants per square metre — or roughly nine plants per square foot. That’s a good target. Photo courtesy the Canola Council of Canada

Are Roundup (glyphosate) resistant weeds on your radar? They should be and not because they are in Western Canada but because they aren't ... yet. Ontario has confirmed glyphosate resistant giant ragweed exists in the province. The U.S. has nearly 10 million acres infested with some species of glyphosate resistant weed.

The New York Times carried this story today regarding glyphosate resistant weeds and how agriculture practices are going to have to adapt to handle this new biotype. The game plan is not pretty — a combination of other herbicides (and thus, more money) and a return to tillage.

Neither option is welcome, however the situation is not horribly dire; there are ways and means to deal with glyphosate resistant weeds. The rub, of course, is that both add cost without any real return and in some cases, adding tillage back into the management tool box may not be just costly, but it could also have environmental fall out.

What should we do then? An ounce of prevention is worth of a pound of cure. As discussed in the April 5, 2010 issue of Grainews (available online for subscribers), an integrated approach to weed management is key. Rotating herbicide groups, using tank mixes and scouting — then dealing with — herbicide escapes is paramount.

You can't afford not to.