Field Crop News, Vol. 11:28, September 27, 2011

September 27, 2011    Vol. 11:28

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Weather Outlook
• Winter Wheat Planting Underway
• Adhere to Fly-free Dates to Avoid Hessian Fly in Small Grains
• Watch for Aphids in Recently-planted Small Grains
• Estimate Your Cost for Drying Corn
• Forage Sorghum: Worth a Second Look
• Yellow Alfalfa in Low Areas?
• Marketing Decisions
• Upcoming Events

Weather Outlook — Paul Knight, Pennsylvania State Climatologist

The remarkably wet weather during September will not cease! A disturbance that is completely detached from the main flow of the jet stream is being slowly nudged eastward. With each push, there will be rounds of showers and thunderstorms, mainly in narrow (30–70 mile wind bands) north-south oriented clusters that may move repeatedly over the same region/watershed. As a result, the risk of flash flooding will stay elevated through Thursday until the disturbance is finally pushed offshore. The highest risk of flooding is in the central and eastern thirds of the state with afternoon and evening hours posing the most risk of heavy rain. On Friday, a cold front will cross the region which will extend the chance of showers into the early part of the weekend and drop temperatures 10–15 degrees below normal by Saturday. High pressure will begin to build into the area on Sunday and Monday bringing moderating temperatures and an end to the wet weather for the early part of next week. Current computer guidance suggests a notably drier and becoming progressively cooler pattern for the first half of October.

Winter Wheat Planting Underway — Greg Roth, Grain Crop Management

Winter wheat planting is underway in some parts of the state and will likely continue for the next month as soil and weather conditions permit. Since a large part of our wheat yield potential is established in the fall with variety, fertility, and seeding issues, it pays to review a few of these details. We often see a range of 20 bushels/acre or more among commercially available wheat varieties, so striving to have something that is at least in the top half of our performance trials (http://bit.ly/nAipCH) is a good idea. Strive for planting seed 1.0 to 1.25 inches deep. Maintain a uniform seeding depth. The desired plant population for winter wheat is 1.3 to 1.5 million per acre (28 to 34 plants/sq ft). This requires a seeding rate between 1.5 and 1.7 million seeds per acre or 20–23 seeds per foot in a 7–inch row. When seeding more than 2 weeks following the fly-free date, increase the seeding rate by 10 percent for each week delayed past that date. Do not delay seeding winter wheat because of dry soil. Avoid planting no-till in corn stalk residue fields if possible, as these decaying stalks, especially after a year like this, could add to the background inoculum levels for head scab next spring. Fall is a good time to meet P and K needs for wheat and double crop soybeans. A recent University of Maryland study found that yield responses to fall applied N were variable with responses related to the residual nitrate in the soil left from the previous crop. When nitrate levels were less than 15 ppm nitrate N, 30 pounds per acre was optimum and increased yields by 3.5 bu/acre. Following soybeans and corn with high nitrate levels, yield responses were negligible in this study. By paying attention to a few details this fall, a wheat crop with a solid yield potential can be established to manage next spring.

Adhere to Fly-free Dates to Avoid Hessian Fly in Small Grains — John Tooker, PSU Entomology Specialist

Another pest to consider in small grains is Hessian fly. While many Pennsylvania growers have never encountered Hessian flies, the past few years have seen an increasing number of outbreaks in eastern states, including Delaware, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. This pest is most problematic in wheat, but will also attack rye and barley. This species has not been common recently because most farmers plant wheat after “fly-free dates”-- dates after which egg-laying Hessian fly adults are not likely to be active. (For best estimates of fly-free dates in PA, see this Department of Entomology website: http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/hessian-fly-on-wheat) However, some growers have been planting wheat, rye, and barley in late summer or early fall as a cover crop. These early-planted fields are available for egg-laying female flies and then can foster populations of Hessian fly larvae that can then emerge as adults in spring and further infest fields. Insecticides are generally not effective for control of Hessian fly so the best tactics for farmers is to adhere to the fly-free dates and plant Hessian fly-resistant varieties of wheat, rye, or barley.

Watch for Aphids in Recently-planted Small Grains — John Tooker, PSU Entomology Specialist

Following the drought and the flooding of the past few months, it appears as though many growers have planted a fall crop of forage oats to be harvested in the coming months. Because of the importance of these crops, growers will need to keep a close eye on these fields for insect pests. Every autumn we receive reports of insect-infested small grain fields that take growers by surprise because no one has been scouting the fields. Chief among the risks to young, small-grain fields are a suite of “grain” aphids, including greenbug, bird cherry-oat aphid, corn leaf aphid, English grain aphid, and sugarcane aphid among others. Infestations of these aphids are often diagnosed from the cab of truck because some of these species can cause small grains to turn yellow, red, or even purple. Greenbug and sugarcane aphid are well known for their tendency to cause color changes in their host plants. These color changes can be caused by plant stress caused by the aphids, in the case of greenbug toxic saliva injected by the aphids, or in some cases barley yellow dwarf virus, which can be transmitted by many “grain” aphids.

We have heard that some agricultural companies are promoting preventative insecticide applications to avoid aphids and possible virus infestation. We would like to stress, however, that aphid populations are notoriously patchy with adjacent fields often having drastically different populations; therefore, the best strategy for managing aphids is to use an IPM framework and only apply an insecticide when it makes economic sense. That is, when scouting reveals that the aphid population exceeds the economic threshold. The threshold published in the Penn State Agronomy Guide is 100 aphids per foot of row. Happy scouting!

Estimate Your Cost of Drying Corn — Andrew Frankenfield, Montgomery County Extension

I don’t need to tell you that this has been a challenging year to grow a corn crop. This year’s growing season consisted of wet spring, a hot and dry midsummer to a extremely wet late summer. Now we are faced with trying to get high-valued questionable crop off of saturated fields. As weather conditions improve next week (hopefully!) do not delay harvest. Agronomists generally recommend that harvesting corn for dry grain storage should begin at about 23 to 25% grain moisture. Allowing corn to field dry below 20%, risks yield losses from stalk lodging, ear rots, and insect feeding damage.

Growers this year should be prepared for stalk lodging (associated with drought stress and wind damage) that may slow harvest and contribute to yield losses. The loss of one “normal” sized ear per 100 feet of row translates into a loss of more than one bushel/acre. In fact, an average harvest loss of 2 kernels per square foot is about 1 bu/acre! According to an OSU ag engineering study, most harvest losses occur at the gathering unit with 80% of the machine loss caused by corn never getting into the combine.

Producers should have an idea how much drying their corn will cost when they make drying and marketing decisions. Ken Hellevang, North Dakota State University Extension Service agricultural engineer, provides the following drying cost estimates and advice to assist producers in making those decisions:

As a rule of thumb you can estimate high-temperature drying energy costs per bushel per point of moisture removed by multiplying the propane price per gallon by 0.022. For example, the cost of using $1.90–per–gallon propane is 4.2 cents per bushel per point of moisture ($1.90 per gallon x 0.022).

Determine the estimated energy cost to dry corn per bushel by multiplying the cost per point of moisture removed by the points removed. The energy cost per bushel to dry corn from 25 percent to 15 percent (10 points) is 42 cents per bushel (10 points x 4.2 cents per bushel per point of moisture). Total drying costs are higher since they include both energy costs and the fixed or capital costs.

“Drying costs are affected by many variables, so these numbers should be considered as estimates,” Hellevang says. “Accurate records of fuel and other energy costs, as well as the amount of corn dried, including initial and final moisture contents, enable drying management.”

The NDSU Extension Service has more detailed information on corn drying and storage at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/documents/Corn_Drying_and_Storage_Tips_for_2011.pdf

Microsoft Excel spreadsheets on grain storage and drying are available from the University of Arkansas website http://www.aragriculture.org/storage_drying/default.htm. This spreadsheet http://www.aragriculture.org/storage_drying/corn_drying_storage_pass_dryer.xlsx will help you determine your cost of drying and storage by factoring in shrink, propane, electric and fixed costs by allowing you to input the fall harvest price and the projected grain price at a future sale date and give you a value which is your benefit or cost from drying and storing grain.

Forage Sorghum: Worth a Second Look — Greg Roth, Grain Crop Management

Our forage sorghum trials this year are again demonstrating what some farmers have already realized: these crops are worth putting in your toolbox if you are working with less than ideal soils. We planted our trials no-till on June 2 and 3rd and growth in July was delayed due to the drought. But when the drought ended these crops really responded. I anticipate 5–8 tons of dry matter per acre from most of these cut at soft dough in early October. We could have grown a small grain forage crop before planting these and harvested another 3–4 tons of dry matter. Forage sorghum genotypes vary from Brachytic Dwarf BMR lines, to medium height conventional and BMR lines to tall high yielding biomass energy lines. They can also be cut at the boot stage in August if a summer forage seeding is desired. For farms where spreading the workload is an issue, these are planting following the corn planting rush and are harvested at the end of the chopping season, and provide some opportunity for an early summer manure application. The dwarf lines are very lodging resistant and leafy. Sorghums seem to have a good fit as a low cost supplement to a corn silage based ration, and with the BMR trait, the fiber digestibility is improved over conventional sorghums. Despite their potential, they do require some management to optimize yields, with timely planting, weed control and some attention to basic soil fertility. My roadside evaluations, though, indicate that often this crop gets neglected. Once the plots are harvested we'll follow up with some yield and forage quality data.

Yellow Alfalfa in Low Areas? — Marvin Hall, Forage Specialist

This week there have been a couple reports of alfalfa in low areas of fields turning yellow. These reports have been from the eastern half of the State where the rain just doesn’t seem to want to stop. The cause for this yellowing is saturated soils not allowing the alfalfa roots to respire. This is basically drowning the roots. In addition, the wet soils provide ideal conditions for Phytophthora Root Rot to spread and attack the weak alfalfa plants.

There isn’t anything that a producer can do about this situation other than continue to hope for dry weather really soon. These areas should be noted for scouting next spring to see how many of the weak plants survived and accessing if a grass could be planted in the thin areas to boost forage production next year.

Marketing Decisions — John Berry, Regional Ag Marketing, Lehigh County

We are into the 2011 corn and soybean harvest and soon our supply of these essential commodities will be known. Comparing the 2011 crop year to 5yr averages, and to last year, from data provided by USDA’s most recent crops report, we can build on our understanding of what the market might hold for us moving forward. You’ll note PA’s corn crop lags compared to the top–18 states with the parameters listed but the numbers also indicate we’re slightly ahead of our own 5–yr averages.

Winter wheat plantings are at the average of 20% completed (across the major producing states) while pasture conditions are 46% Excellent/Good in Pennsylvania.

It’s not nearly all in the bin, yet. But, the national crop looks to be getting harvested a little ahead of schedule with a somewhat lower grain quality than average.

Focusing on effective harvest management, appropriate dryer and storage methods and most especially safety may be a good use of our talents over the next few weeks.

Remember - the weekly Regional PA Grain Price Report is available at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/ln_gr110.txt

Upcoming Events

Cover Crop Innovations Field Day

October 27, 9:30am to 4:30pm
Penn State Agronomy Research Farm, Pennsylvania Furnace, PA
A full day tour of cover crop innovations at the Penn State Agronomy Research Farm and several collaborating farms in Centre County. Highlights will include the newly developed PSU Cover Crop Interseeder, cover crop cocktails, forage cover crops, and herbicide persistence effects on cover crop establishment. More information is available online at: http://extension.psu.edu/cover-crops/events/oct27-field-day or call Charlie White at 814–863–9922.

Contributors: Extension Educators: Joel Hunter (Crawford), Bill Waltman (Potter), Paul Craig (Dauphin), Mena Hautau (Berks), Andrew Frankefield (Montgomery); Del Voight (Lebanon); Jeff Graybill (Lancaster); Dept. Crop & Soil Sciences: Doug Beegle, Bill Curran, Dwight Lingenfelter, Sjoerd Duiker & Marvin Hall

Editor: Mark Madden, Sullivan County

Real time pest and heat unit activity: http://agsci.psu.edu/news/spotlight/pa-pipe

Calendar of Events: http://extension.psu.edu/cmeg/events

If you have any questions or would like to suggest a topic, please contact your local Extension Educator.

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