Thanks to Jack Legg, SGS Labs for chairing the meeting and sponsoring breakfast.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 7th starting at 7:00am for breakfast and 7:30 for the meeting.
Corn
Corn planting is essentially complete in the area with the exception of fields that will go in after an early forage/hay harvest and a few fields on heavier soils. Many fields are now emerging, with significant emergence occurring as a result of the warm temperatures over the Victoria Day long weekend. Emergence may range from 20-50% or more depending on area, with more advanced corn at the V1-V2 stage. Corn appears to be taking longer to emerge this spring, which is expected to be a function of cooler soil conditions and planting depth as conditions dried. Overall emergence is good; however, areas of some fields that were worked when not fit appear to be struggling. There have been observations of fields with emergence a fair bit lower than what was planted (stands of mid to upper 20,000’s) and fields with plants leafing out underground. Some of the earliest planted corn (planted prior to last week of April) appears pale yellow. There have also been observations of differences in emergence between hybrids or seed treatments where more than one hybrid or seed treatment were applied in a field. This suggests some differences in early-season/cold-tolerance. Some crusting observed in areas where ground was worked fine and heavier rains were received. Running single disk openers with a no-till drill was agreed to be preferable to rotary hoeing in order to correct this. Revised PSNT recommendations suggest higher rates of nitrogen for higher yielding corn than what was recommended with traditional PSNT recommendations, particularly under high yield scenarios (Table 1).
Table 1. Revised (2015) PSNT nitrogen recommendations incorporating soil nitrate concentration and expected yield
|
Soil |
Expected Yield (bu/ac) |
|||||
|
Nitrate |
120 | 143 | 167 | 191 | 215 | 239 |
|
(PPM) |
Sidedress Nitrogen Fertilizer Recommendations (lb N/ac) | |||||
| 0 | 176 | 197 | 218 | 240 | 261 | 282 |
| 2.5 | 163 | 184 | 205 | 225 | 246 | 267 |
| 5 | 151 | 171 | 191 | 211 | 231 | 252 |
| 7.5 | 138 | 158 | 177 | 197 | 216 | 236 |
| 10 | 126 | 144 | 163 | 182 | 201 | 221 |
| 12.5 | 113 | 131 | 149 | 168 | 187 | 206 |
| 15 | 99 | 117 | 135 | 153 | 172 | 190 |
| 17.5 | 83 | 102 | 120 | 138 | 156 | 175 |
| 20 | 57 | 86 | 105 | 123 | 141 | 159 |
| 22.5 | 0 | 60 | 88 | 107 | 126 | 144 |
| 25 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 90 | 110 | 128 |
| 27.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 92 | 111 |
| 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 93 |
| 32.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 |
| 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Soybeans
Soybean planting is nearly wrapped up in the area, with planting estimated to be 90-95% complete. A significant amount of soybean planting was completed with good conditions over the Victoria Day long weekend. Some areas with heavier soils just recently started planting but are progressing quickly. Some of the earliest planted fields (first week of May) are just beginning to emerge. Some early planted soybeans are being replanted to increase stands where beans had germinated but appear to be slow to emerge and lack vigour.
Wheat
Stripe rust is showing up in the Southwest, particularly with more susceptible varieties (evident when susceptible and non-susceptible varieties are side-by-side), but generally limited to West of London and south of the 401 at this point in time. Some leaf rust had been observed in region but fungicide application halted progression. Current warm temperatures are at top end of the optimum range for rust development. Most T1 (weed control timing) fungicide applications are holding off the disease. At this stage, many growers will likely wait until T3 before applying another application. See Field Crop News article for distinguishing difference between stripe rust and leaf rust (http://bit.ly/1sS7gk4). Overall disease pressure is relatively low. Sulphur deficiency appears more pronounced this spring, even showing up in fields where one wouldn’t expect (ie. fields with history of manure applications). This suggests this may be a function of a cooler than normal April (reduced S mineralization), or drier winter which may have limited atmospheric S deposition. These are similar to observations in 2012 where the wheat crop was advanced but weather was dry. Ontario research has demonstrated yield losses when S deficiency was not corrected for even if the deficiency eventually diminishes with warmer temperatures. Wheat appears slower to respond to S application this year (ie. “green-up” in past years would take 2-4 days, reports of taking up to 10-14 days this year). Past OMAFRA research suggests yield responses for S applications when tissue-S concentrations are below 0.25, while tissue-S concentrations above 0.30 rarely show a response. Many observations of a shorter than expected wheat crop , which would be in line with the cooler night temperatures experienced in the last couple of weeks. In fields where soil test phosphorous is low, “corn-row” syndrome (growth response to residual corn starter fertilizer bands) has been particularly evident this spring, even where MAP was included with seed.
Weeds
A survey of herbicide resistant waterhemp in SW counties (Essex, Kent, Lambton) in Dr. Peter Sikkema’s lab at Ridgetown has revealed that of waterhemp from 35 sites in SW Ontario, 35 (100%) were Group 2 resistant, 26 (74%) were triazine (Group 5) resistant, 27 (77%) were glyphosate resistant, and 19 (54%) had three-way resistance to groups 2,5,9. Glyphosate resistant waterhemp was not known to exist in Ontario 20 months ago, and is now present in the 3 counties mentioned above. The best control options for resistant waterhemp in corn is Group 15 (Focus – Pyroxasulfone) or Group 27 (Callisto, Converge) products. Best control options for resistant waterhemp in soybeans is Fierce (Group 14 Flumioxazin, Group 15 Pyroxasulfone)
Forages
New forage establishment appears excellent this year, just enough rainfall for good establishment and growth. Given response to sulphur in cereals this spring, attention should also be paid to S nutrition on alfalfa, which can be very responsive to S as well. Forage harvest has started in some areas, particularly growers who aim to make more than 3 cuts per year. There have been some questions about fibre levels when cutting forage at this advanced of a stage.
Edible Beans
Adzuki bean planting is now underway. Growers of white and black beans are being advised to hold off for the time being, although some planting has also occurred. Some growers think it is still on the early side based on calendar date, but the forecast looks good (temperatures in the upper 20’s) so growers should be ok. Optimum planting date research has demonstrated that theoptimum planting date is often very weather dependent. Research has shown that yields are best when they are not followed by heavy rains after planting.
Agricorp Dates:
– Unseeded Acreage Benefit reporting deadline is June 15th
– Report planted acres by June 30th
– Production Insurance Premiums due July 10th
– Risk Management Program payment is due August 8th– deadline for RMP (Risk Management program)
Coming Events:
– Southwest Crop Diagnostic Days (UG Ridgetown, July 6 & 7) – Registration is now open diagnosticdays.ca
– FarmSmart Expo 2016 (University of Guelph, Elora Research Station) – July 14, 2016
– Eastern Crop Diagnostic Days (Winchester Research Farm) – July 28, 2016
– IPM certification courses are free until August 31, 2016. Register online at IPMcertified.ca or by calling 1-866-225-9020