Exeter Agribusiness Minutes – May 23, 2017

Thanks to Steve Johns, for chairing the meeting and to Jamie O’Shea (Pioneer) for sponsoring breakfast.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 6th starting at 7:00am for breakfast and 7:30 for the meeting. Robert Maloney will be the chair.

Synopsis: There was widespread rainfall over the Victoria Day long weekend with most areas receiving 1-1.5”. With the dry weather at the end of last week corn and soybean planting was in full swing with most of the corn in the area now planted. Soybean planting is progressing with some fields beginning to emerge. Estimates ranged from 30 – 60% seeded depending on the area. Relatively few soybeans have been seeded in Lambton and Niagara. Cover crop management continues to be an issue for those corn growers that did not spray off the crop. Disease continues to remain at low levels in the winter wheat crop. The risk for Fusarium is high this year. Winter wheat will begin heading out in the area in the next few days for early planted wheat. Fields will need to be scouted and the weather monitored for proper timing of FHB fungicide applications. Essentially no edible beans have been planted and growers are encouraged to wait to plant until after the rain events later this week.

Corn: With conditions drying up last week growers were able to get into the fields and corn planting is now 90% complete in the area. Most of the corn planted last week and into the weekend was planted into good conditions. The group suggested that the cut-off date for planting corn in the area before significant yield losses may be observed is May 31^st. If the forecast is correct and it rains again on Thursday growers will make the decision to switch from corn to soybeans this week. Some fields are now emerging, with significant emergence expected this week. There were some reports of growers who were planning to plant green that are not able to plant their corn as a result of the ground not drying out. There have been a few damage reports in corn to Agricorp due to the seed rotting in the ground on some of the earlier planted fields primarily in the Chatham-Kent area. Some initial lab results on soil nitrate levels suggests that nitrate levels may be lower (6-7 ppm) compared to other years at this time of year which are typically in the 10-11 ppm range.

Soybeans: Soybean planting began the end of last week and went into the Victoria Day long weekend with some areas being 60-70% complete while others are less than 30% complete. Areas with heavier soils have a lower percentage of soybeans planted bringing the overall planting to 35% complete across the province. Many of the soybeans were planted into good conditions with some of the earlier planted fields beginning to emerge. However, some areas did receive heavy rains shortly after planting and stands may need to be assessed to determine population counts. Ontario research has found that a 33% reduction in the stand, distributed uniformly over the field, will not significantly affect yield. If the plant stand is more than 90,000 plants/acre in 7.5 inch rows do not replant the stand. Heavy clay soils need a minimum of 110,000 plants/acre before a replant should be considered. Fields that were planted last week but did not receive a burndown either last fall or this spring are seeing some very large Canada fleabane. There are no control options once the beans have emerged. Tank mixes with Eragon can be applied up to 3 days after planting. Once soybeans have been planted for more than 3 days Eragon will need to be taken out of the tank and options for controlling this weed become limited. Growers are encouraged to control this weed in the fall or in the spring prior to planting for optimum control. If best management practices have been used but the weather does not allow for herbicide application uncontrollable weeds that cause yield losses are considered an insurable peril.

Wheat: Stripe rust is not moving as fast as last year and continues to remain at low levels in fields of susceptible varieties. Overall disease pressure is relatively low with many growers having applied an early season fungicide. Wheat has begun heading out in Essex County while most wheat in this area is at swollen boot to awns starting to poke through. With the weather forecast calling for significant rain events, growers are advised to scout their fields, note the weather forecast and as well as DONcast to best coordinate FHB fungicide application at flowering. Growers are reminded that they should not apply a strobilurin based fungicide on wheat from the boot stage and later. Use medium or coarse droplets. Fine droplets will not penetrate the canopy. Sulphur deficiency continues to be an issue this year with fields still showing signs of deficiency. Previous research has demonstrated yield losses when S deficiency was not corrected so growers are encouraged to apply sulphur to their wheat crop as they continue to push nitrogen rates and there is reduced atmospheric deposition. Cereal leaf beetle has been found at threshold in Waterloo County with other areas showing signs of feeding but have not yet reached threshold. There have been damage reports in winter wheat after some of the heavy rains received left water standing in fields.

Forages: 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. Some leaf diseases are being reported in forages. If fungicides are being used, the greatest response to yield appears to be when fungicides are applied at least 21 days prior to cutting and in fields that are intensively managed. There are also varietal differences in response to fungicide applications in alfalfa. Remember to follow the pre-harvest interval which is typically 14 days. There were reports of a few growers starting forage harvest due to low feed supplies or growers that are aiming to make more than 3 cuts per year. Seed supply for forage oats and peas is tight so if you are in need of seed it should be ordered as soon as possible. It is also important to ensure you are selecting the proper varieties of oats and peas when growing them for high quality forages.

Edible Beans: Research on the optimum planting date has shown that the optimum planting date is often very weather dependent. There is no advantage to planting edible beans on May 20^th over June 1^st particularly if planting is followed by a heavy rain event. If the forecast is calling for heavy rain events immediately after you are able to plant, consider holding off.

Agricorp Dates:

June 15: Last day to report unseeded acreage.

June 30: Spring seeded final acreage reports due.

July 10: Premiums

Report Damage as soon as it occurs.

Meeting Minutes: Previous meeting minutes are posted on: Field Crop News Website – https://fieldcropnews.com/

Upcoming Events:

Southwest Crop Diagnostic Days – July 5 and 6, 2017

FarmSmart Expo – July 13

Eastern Crops Day – July 19

Stratford Crop Technology Contacts:

Horst Bohner, horst.bohner@ontario.ca