Field Crop News, Vol. 12:02, February 7, 2012

February 7, 2012    Vol. 12:02

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Weather Outlook
• Forage Planting in February?
• GPS Coordinates Still Required for RR Alfalfa Seedings
• Soil Compaction Management
• Grain Market Outlook
• Spring Soil Sampling
• Herbicides for Spring Weed Control in Alfalfa
• FSA Farm Programs Deadlines
• Upcoming Events

Weather Outlook — Paul Knight, Pennsylvania State Climatologist

After an extended period of well above normal temperatures for the state of Pennsylvania, the next seven days will bring a couple shots of more seasonable weather to the Commonwealth. A small disturbance approaching from the southwest will bring a 4–9 hour period of light snow to much of the region (with the exception of counties close to the New York border) from around mid-day Wednesday through late Wednesday evening. Light accumulations of between a coating and 2” will fall during this time, with some higher elevations in the southwest seeing amounts of 3–4” possible. Behind this system, high pressure will build in on Thursday with temperatures near seasonal levels. On Friday, a strong cold front will approach the region from the northwest, bringing a chance of some snow showers later Friday (far northwest) to Friday night/early Saturday morning (central/east). It will become quite windy at night and during Saturday. Temperatures will drop to well below normal levels behind this front for the remainder of the weekend as high pressure again builds into the region for the beginning of next week. As milder, moist air attempts to return during the middle of next week, cloudy skies and periods of wintry precipitation along with some rain are expected (Wednesday or Thursday).

The last 10 days of February are likely to bring wide swings in temperature as a surge of very warm air is replaced by another burst of frigid air. However, precipitation is expected to be near or below average. There are increasing indications that the spring will be cooler than average with above to much above precipitation (perhaps some late snows).

Forage Planting in February? — Marvin Hall, PSU Forage Specialist

The relatively warm and dry weather this winter has producers asking if they can plant forages now and expect them to be successful. I did a literature search and there really isn't much out there to help answer this question for Pennsylvania conditions. There is information for some southern States where February is a normal time for forage planting, but nothing for us.

I have seeded alfalfa in central Pennsylvania a couple times during the first week of March. Each time it was successful but it seemed to take forever for the seeds to germinate. In addition, the early March seedings didn't yield any more than alfalfa seeded in early to mid April.

So, can producers seed forages now and have any hope of it being successful? “Yes, if: ……….”!

The soil is dry enough that the disc openers don’t create side-wall compaction and the slit closes.
The seeds can make good contact with the soil when spinning them onto the field.
Mice and insects don’t eat the seeds before they germinate.
The seeds don’t germinate immediately and then the weather becomes very cold.
The spring weather isn’t as cool and wet for as long as last year.

If the producer elects to seed now, then a fungicide seed treatment may help ward off spring diseases associated with cool wet soils.

GPS Coordinates Still Required for RR Alfalfa Seedings in 2012 — Marvin Hall, PSU Forage Specialist

For producers planning on seeding Round Ready alfalfa this spring, keep in mind that the GPS coordinates of the planted area are still required. GPS coordinates are a U.S. requirement that Monsanto felt was necessary to ensure product safety. After the seed has been planted, producers are to provide the GPS coordinates of the field to the company that sold them the seed. That information is then given to the supplier of the alfalfa brand who then forwards it to Monsanto.

Soil Compaction Management — Sjoerd Duiker, Soil Management

As is common in Pennsylvania, again we were faced with a challenging proposition to harvest corn and soybeans without rutting up the fields. Now that the winter temperatures are warm it has also been hard to get into the field to spread manure without causing soil compaction. The basics of soil compaction management are in order of importance: (1) help your soil resist and bounce back from compaction; (2) avoid causing compaction; (3) remediate compaction only if needed.

You can make soil resist compaction by practicing no-tillage for the long haul. No-till soil has a unique architecture with firm aggregates interspersed with macropores. The firm aggregates help support weight from agricultural machinery or animal hoofs, resulting in significant reduction in likelihood to create ruts in the field. No-tillage also stimulates organic matter accumulation at the soil surface which helps reduce the effects of surface compaction because soil with high organic matter content is ‘spongy’ and less compactable. The permanent burrows of old root channels and prolific activity of earthworms and fungi in permanent no-till soil also helps make the soil resist compaction, while the biological organisms also help alleviate compaction after it has been caused. Living root systems are probably the best protection against compaction. Just choose where you'd like to walk on a soggy day; on grass sod or bare soil? Therefore, it is recommended to plant cover crops right after harvest of annual crops to keep living roots in the soil year-round. The living roots also help soil bounce back from compaction. The living roots produce exudates and are often ‘infected’ by mycorrhizae that have fine fungal hairs and produce their own exudates that stimulate aggregation in the soil. To avoid compaction is a lot more cost-effective than causing it and then having to repair it. Therefore farmers should do whatever they can to avoid causing compaction. Avoid driving on wet soil is number one. Keep the cattle out of the field when the soil is wet. If the topsoil is frozen or if the soil is very dry little compaction is caused. But in farming we often have to get into the field when conditions are sub-optimal. Some other things that can help are to use flotation tires or tracks that enable you to ‘float’ over the soil. It is important to use the minimum allowable tire pressure in your flotation tires or you won’t have the large footprint that helps reduce the sinkage and high contact pressure that cause surface compaction. Using low-inflation tires on tractors also helps to reduce slippage and increases horse-power output of your tractor. Further, the axle load is important, too. It is recommended to keep axle load below 10 tons - to help avoid causing subsoil compaction.

Finally, what if, despite all your best efforts, you still have ruts in the field? Before doing any tillage you have to remember its negative effects. Therefore it makes sense to limit tillage as much as possible and only use it sparingly. If ruts are limited to depressions in the field, it may be possible to use a backhoe, or chisel plow or disk mounted on the three-point hitch to smoothen the ruts. On the other hand, if ruts are distributed across the field, it is probably necessary to smooth out the whole field. If the soil in the bottom of the ruts is severely compacted it may be necessary to do deep tillage to remediate that. New subsoilers don’t do a lot of surface disturbance which keeps residue cover in place. This is important because the mulch helps reduce drought stress in the summer. The best time to do subsoiling is when the soil is dry to cause maximum shattering. Unfortunately it may be difficult to find this condition before corn planting time. Using a field cultivator to smoothen the ruts is recommended above a disk to keep more residue at the soil surface. The tillage destroys soil structure. So now it is important to help nature to build soil structure back up; primarily by planting your crop or cover crop soon after the tillage is done. Building organic matter content with manure or compost applications is also helpful to restore your soils to productivity.

Grain Market Outlook — John Berry, Lehigh County

At this time, it looks like a big corn crop for 2012/2013. Projected acres are over 94 million. Furthermore, it looks like the weather will be favorable for early planting in the Corn Belt. Time will tell.

Old crop corn is in demand. It appears that the demand for old crop corn is holding up the price for new crop corn and for wheat. Fundamentally, wheat should not be going up in price with the current supply.

It may be time to place price floors on wheat and new crop corn. You can do that in three ways:

1. Crop insurance - Revenue Protection will serve as a floor
2. Forward contract
3. Put option

You need to chart out your potential crop. You do not need to place a double floor. If you have RP crop insurance at the 70% level, you may only need to consider a floor on the remaining 30% of your production.

If you forward, contract for 2012, consider how big a percentage of your expected production you will cover at this time. Your personal ability to tolerate risk impacts this decision heavily. For me - I feel better if a profit can be achieved early. Others prefer to wait a little longer and see if a price spike occurs. At this time - we have 30% of our expected 2012 corn crop priced. If something unexpected happens and we expect upside potential, using a CALL option to capture some upside is always available for purchase. The USDA planting intentions will be published March 31. A lot can happen in 2 months as we all know.

For those unfamiliar with marketing jargon and using price protection tools - perhaps joining our twice-monthly grain marketing webinar series would be beneficial. Check for additional details on this excellent educational opportunity at http://goo.gl/QzMCC

Spring Soil Sampling — Doug Beegle, Extension Soil Fertility Specialist

If you hadn’t collected your soil samples last fall, which is the best time to do this, it is time to start thinking about soil sampling. First, resist the urge to put off soil testing this year because of the difficult economic times we are experiencing. Soil testing is always important but even more so under current conditions. You cannot afford to have your crop come up short because of lack of nutrients after you have made a significant investment in the many inputs required to put out the crop. At the same time you cannot afford to apply extra nutrients that will not give you an economic return. The economics of soil testing are pretty simple. If you sample a 10A field every 3 years as recommended, the cost per acre is around $0.30/A/year. This very small investment in soil testing which results in recommendations that are used to manage typically $100–200 worth of nutrients on a crop that is probably worth $600–800/A. You can't risk this magnitude of input costs and potential returns on a guess. So when times get tight we should do more soil testing, not less.

Good soil test begin with good soil samples. Here are some guidelines for getting good soil samples.

Sample Uniform Areas
Usually we sample each field individually. However, there may be times when we need to subdivide fields if there is the potential for significant differences across the field. Examples include: significant soil differences, part of the field receives manure but not the whole field, topographic differences such as low areas versus sidehills, etc. Also, there are situations when we can combine fields. For example when we have small strips that are all managed the same we can lump these together into one sample.

Take lots of cores
At least 15 to 20 cores should be collected to make up a composite sample to send to the lab. More is better.

Sample to uniform depth
For most routine soil testing samples should be collect to plow depth, even in no-till or permanent sods. Inconsistent sampling depth is one of the biggest sources of errors in soil sampling. This is especially true in no-till and reduced tillage systems where there is often significant stratification of nutrients in the soil.

Special note in no-till: In no-till fields an acid layer, called an acid roof, can develop right at the surface of the soil. This thin acid layer can have a significant impact on the crop but it can be missed in a normal plow depth sample. If the normal plow depth soil sample in no-till recommends liming, apply the lime as recommended and no further testing is needed. If the normal sample does not recommend lime and the field has been in long-term no-till and has not been limed recently, take a 2 in deep sample and test it for pH. This sample can be submitted to a soil testing lab or you can use a field pH test kit for this purpose. If this sample has a pH less than 6.2, then apply 1 ton of limestone even if the regular sample did not call for any limestone.

Avoid atypical areas or sample them separately
Sample between the rows and avoid any fertilizer bands as much as possible. Also, many fields have known atypical areas such as dead furrows, old fence rows, lime or manure stacking areas, wet spots, etc. If the areas are too small to manage separately, do not sample them. Taking one or two cores from these odd areas just contaminates the sample for the rest of the field. If the areas are large enough that you are able and willing to manage them separately, then take a separate sample from these areas.

Handle the sample carefully
Collect the soil cores in a clean bucket so as not to contaminate it, crumble the sample cores and air dry the sample. Mix the cores thoroughly and take a subsample to fill the mailer to send to the lab.

Fill out the soil test information sheet
Additional information such as the crop, the expected yield, the crop rotation, tillage depth, etc. are used along with the soil test results to make the recommendation. Thus, it is critical that the soil test information sheet be filled out completely and accurately.

Herbicides for Spring Weed Control in Alfalfa — Dwight Lingenfelter and Bill Curran, Penn State Weed Science

As warmer weather approaches, alfalfa is starting to break dormancy! It’s time to check the need for weed control. Keep in mind all of these herbicides are labeled for use in pure-stand alfalfa. However, only metribuzin and Pursuit can be applied to established alfalfa-grass mixes. Here are a few guidelines about available products:

Gramoxone Inteon 2L (paraquat) - May be applied at 2 to 3 pt/A to established “dormant” stands before 2 inches of spring regrowth. The weeds must be actively growing at the time of application. Gramoxone is also labeled at 1 to 2 pt/A for dormant application on new fall seeded stands. Gramoxone will desiccate any green tissue including actively growing alfalfa. Be especially cautious with new fall seedings. Gramoxone is effective on low to moderate infestations of winter annuals including chickweed, henbit, deadnettle, and mustard species. If winter annual weed infestations are severe, consider one of the soil active alternatives. Do not use on mixed stands.

Poast Plus 1E (sethoxydim) - Poast Plus controls annual grasses and suppresses perennial grasses in seedling and established alfalfa. Apply Poast Plus at 1.5 to 2.5 pt/A to actively growing grassy weeds. Poast Plus should be applied to small grasses and performance improves with warmer temperatures. Do not use on mixed stands.

Prowl H₂O 3.8CS - has a supplemental label for use in seedling and established alfalfa. For seedling alfalfa (2-trifoliate to six inches tall), apply Prowl H2O at 1.1 to 2.1 pints pt/A prior to weed emergence. For established stands (i.e., alfalfa that was planted in fall or spring and has gone through a first cutting/mowing), apply 1.1 to 4.2 quarts/A prior to weed emergence. Applications can be made in the fall after the last cutting, during winter dormancy, or in the spring before alfalfa reaches 6 inches of regrowth and weeds have germinated. Prowl H₂O will control many annual grasses and broadleaves including crabgrass, panicums, foxtails, lambsquarters, pigweed at the 1 to 4 pt rate. Other weeds such as annual bluegrass, common chickweed, dodder, henbit, prostrate knotweed, smartweed, and velvetleaf can be controlled with the 2 to 4 qt rate. Some stunting and yellowing to the alfalfa may occur after application. Do not harvest alfalfa less than 28 days after applying ≤2.1 quarts/A, or less than 50 days if >2.1 quarts/A. Only Prowl H₂O has this supplemental label for use in alfalfa, NOT Prowl 3.3EC.

Pursuit 70DG (imazethapyr) - Pursuit may be used for weed control in seedling (2 trifoliates or larger) or established alfalfa. Apply Pursuit at 1.08 to 2.16 oz/A plus adjuvants to actively growing weeds 1 to 3 inches in height. Pursuit performance improves with warmer temperatures. If spraying during extended cold periods, expect weeds to respond slower or the herbicide can have reduced activity. Pursuit is effective on many winter annual broadleaves including small chickweed. Pursuit may be used on established alfalfa-grass mixtures.

Raptor 1AS (imazamox) - Raptor may be used for weed control in seedling or established alfalfa. Apply Raptor at 4 to 6 fl oz/A plus adjuvants to small, actively growing weeds and to established alfalfa in the fall or in the spring. Any application should be made before significant alfalfa growth or regrowth (3 inches) to allow Raptor to reach the target weeds. Like Pursuit, Raptor performance is influenced by temperature. Therefore, try to apply the herbicide on warmer days and when weeds are actively growing. Raptor has a similar spectrum of winter annual weed control as Pursuit. Do not use on mixed stands.

Select 2EC (clethodim) - Apply Select at 6 to 8 fl oz to actively growing grasses that are less than 6 inches tall. Rates up to 16 fl oz may be used to control larger grasses, annual bluegrass or perennials such as quackgrass. Include a crop oil concentrate in the spray mixture. May be tank-mixed with Pursuit, Buctril, or 2,4–DB for broadleaf weed control. Do not use on mixed stands.

Sinbar 80W (terbacil) - May be applied to established alfalfa at up to 1.5 lb/A or to a new fall seeding at 0.33 to 0.5 lb/A. The reduced rate seedling year application is specifically aimed at chickweed. Sinbar is effective on a number of annual broadleaves and some grasses at the higher rates. Apply to ‘dormant’ alfalfa before 2 inches of spring regrowth. Do not use on mixed stands.

Metribuzin 75DF (formerly Sencor) - May be used on established alfalfa. Apply 0.5 to 1 lb/A before spring regrowth. Impregnation on dry fertilizer can improve crop safety and allow for slightly later applications (up to 3 inches spring regrowth). Sencor controls winter annual broadleaves and grasses (higher rates for grass control). May be used on mixed alfalfa-grass stands. Higher rates can potentially cause a reduction in grass stand.

Velpar 2L (hexazinone) - Apply Velpar to established alfalfa at 2 to 6 pt/A during the dormant period before 2 inches of spring regrowth. Velpar is effective on annual broadleaves and grasses. Velpar is the most effective dormant season treatment for suppression of dandelion and dock species (higher rates for grasses and perennial suppression). Do not use on mixed stands.

Your best bet when controlling…

• Chickweed - Gramoxone Inteon, Pursuit, Raptor, Metribuzin, Velpar
• Annual bluegrass - Gramoxone Inteon
• Henbit/deadnettle - Gramoxone Inteon, Metribuzin, Velpar
• Yellow rocket - Pursuit, Raptor, Metribuzin, Velpar
• Dandelion - Velpar (suppression) or Pursuit (early spring is better)
• Curly dock (suppression) - Pursuit or Raptor (early spring is better)

FSA Farm Programs Deadlines ALERT! &mdashs; Joel Hunter, Crawford County

The USDA Farm Services Offices across Pennsylvania would like participating producers to be aware of FAS Farm Program DEADLINE REMINDERS … apparently even without a mailed reminder as in the past. Producers are advised to call their local USDA FSA office in advance for appointments and information. PLEASE NOTE: ACTUAL REPRORTING DATES MAY VARY BY LOCATION. Below is a Deadline Reminder Table received by our office.

Upcoming Events

February 9–Crop Conference-Lebanon Valley Expo Center

CCA, Manure Hauler, Nutrient management, Professional Forage Agronomist and Pesticide Education Credits will be offered. Walk-ins are welcome.

For details: http://cmegicmlebanon.blogspot.com/2012/01/penn-state-crops-conference-and-ag.html

Feb 22–23-Professional Crop Producer Conference

You can still register for this year’s Professional Crop Producer Conference at the Lancaster Host and Conference Center. The conference is sponsored by several of our key crop commodity groups: The Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance, The Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Council, The Pennsylvania Corn Growers Association, and the Mid Atlantic Soybean Association in conjunction with Penn State Extension. This year the conference has a number of new features, including a preconference symposium, a spouse’s tour, an evening market simulation program, and a special Advanced Equipment Technology Program where industry leaders explain equipment innovations with some hands on demonstrations.

The conference will build on the success of last year’s conference and will feature some top speakers and the popular farmer roundtables. This will be a great opportunity to network with other crop producers and consultants on the latest strategies for producing top yields in our state.

This year the registration has been reduced to $75 for this two day information packed conference. For more information on registering, exhibiting or being a sponsor of the conference, check out the conference website: http://www.professionalcropproducersconference.org or call (717) 635-2320 for more information.

March 2-Value Added Small Grains Production and Marketing, Columbia County Ag Center.

County Pesticide Update Meetings for January-March

http://extension.psu.edu/cmeg/documents/2012-pesticide-update-trainings.pdf

Contributors: County Educators: Mike Fournier (Bucks), Andrew Frankenfield (Montgomery), Mena Hautau (Berks), Greg Hostetter (Mifflin), Joel Hunter (Crawford) Mark Madden (Sullivan), Dwane Miller (Schuylkill) Del Voight (Lebanon) Department of Crop and Soil Sciences: Marvin Hall (Forage Management), Sjoerd Duiker (Soil Management), Paul Knight, Department of Meteorology, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Editor:John Rowehl (York)

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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