Winchester Ag Breakfast Meeting Notes, June 12 2012

Discussion: From May 1st to June 5th the area accumulated approx. 600 CHUs, which is 100 CHUs above the 30 year average. A significant portion of Glengarry county was hit by hail on June 8th, but damage is mostly limited to some leaf shredding with little or no crop replant necessary. Soil moisture is generally adequate.

Cereals

  • Spring wheat is entering the heading stage with near ideal soil moisture. The application window for fusarium control fungicides is quite narrow, mostly 2 to 6 days after heading. Application requires specialized nozzles or nozzle combinations for best results. More information is available at: http://bit.ly/MMZBLf.
  • Lots of reports of armyworm activity in parts of western Ontario and Quebec. Only a few incidences of heavy armyworm feeding have been reported in eastern Ontario to date, but scouting is de rigueur. Threshold and control at: http://bit.ly/M3Tldo. It is best to apply insecticide and fungicide product separately if both products are needed.

Forages

  • First cut yields are better than expected, with average to slightly above average yields in many cases. There are some concerns over hay supply in areas west of Kingston.
  • New seedings established well and are showing 15” to 18” of growth. They should be ready to harvest by the end of June.
  • Cereal/pea mixtures are maturing quickly and are generally past the optimum harvest date.
  • Given the adequate soil moisture levels, fields with a high percentage of grass (50% +) would benefit from an application of nitrogen (40 lbs/acre +) after 1st cut.

 Corn

  • Most corn stands look good. However, population is down by 5 – 6,000 plants per acre in a number of fields planted before April 25th, eg. stands planted at 33-34,000 seeds/acre mostly have 27-29,000 plants per acre. Feeling is that some growers could improve stand establishment with better control of planting depth.
  • Weed control and sidedress nitrogen applications are mostly up to date.
  • A few growers are reporting wildlife damage.  Concern is that the damage reduces the grower’s average farm yield, but is not significant enough to trigger a payout. Growers with damage need to contact Agricorp to have field evaluated.

Soybeans

  • Soybeans are uniform and progressing well. There are still a few fields to be planted following 1st cut hay harvest.
  • Most of the area received sufficient precipitation to activate pre-emergence herbicides. Annual grass pressure is more evident at this point than broadleaf weed pressure.
  • Herbicide ratings for postemergence control options for yellow nut sedge in soybeans and corn are listed at: http://bit.ly/Lmjxkz .

Weed ID

Weeds brought in for identification: Onoclea sensitive L., Iris versicolor, Canada goldenrod, white cockle, annual fleabane, purslane speedwell, little-leaf buttercup, celery-leaved buttercup, red elderberry, boneset, Marchantia polymorpha L. (a liverwort), Kochia, marsh yellow cress. Thanks to Stephen Darbyshire, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for the prompt identification work.

Crop Insurance deadlines:

June 30th: Last day to report final acreage.

Eastern Ontario Crop Diagnostic Day will be held on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at the Winchester Research Farm, Kemptville Campus -University of Guelph

 Crop Technology Contacts:

Scott Banks, 613-294-4436 scott.banks@ontario.ca

Gilles Quesnel, 613-294-4457 gilles.quesnel@ontario.ca

 NEXT MEETING: Country Kitchen, Winchester, June 26th, 2012