Field Crop News

Website Address: http://fcn.agronomy.psu.edu/

November 18, 2005    Vol. 05:14

IN THIS ISSUE:

Mark Your Calendar

Weather Outlook

Production

Pest Management

Agents Corner

FROM THE EDITOR

This is the last edition of Field Crop News for the 2005 calendar year. I hope you have all benefitted from the research and extension updates provided to you by the Penn State Crop Management Extension Team and hope to see you all during meetings this winter. We would love to receive feedback about your opinion of FCN, so please talk to us (specialists or extension agents) about it. We are always looking for new ideas for our newsletter, so please give us your constructive comments. We are committed to provide you with high quality, up-to-date information that you can use in your everyday work and we like to hear from you whether that is the case or not. The next issue is scheduled to appear March 31st.

Sjoerd Duiker, Editor (swd10@psu.edu).

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

JOIN US FOR THE AGRONOMY AG-SERVICE SCHOOLS, DEC. 6 – 8, 2005

The Agronomy Ag Service Schools are designed to provide crop production professionals with the latest information on emerging issues in crop production and management in Pennsylvania. Penn State faculty from the College of Agricultural Sciences will share their thoughts on several diverse issues this year. The programs are conducted at three locations in the state (West, Southwest, and Central) and run from 8:30 am to 3:15 pm. Please contact the sponsoring extension offices provided below to PRE-REGISTER and for information on the exact registration fee for each meeting.

Please register with the county extension office hosting the event:

Both Pesticide Credits and CCA CEU’s will be offered.

2005 Meeting Agenda
Time Activity
8:30 am Registration
9:00 am Understanding soil phosphorus — Doug Beegle, Crop and Soil Sciences
9:45 am Managing and building soil organic matter — Rick Stehouwer, Crop and Soil Sciences
10:30 am Break
10:45 am Soybean insect and disease management update — Dave Johnson, Crop and Soil Sciences and Southeast Center
11:30 am Regional update
12:00 Lunch
1:00 pm Winter annual weed I.D. quiz — Bill Curran and Dwight Lingenfelter, Crop and Soil Sciences
1:45 pm Understanding and managing the weed seed bank — Steven Mirsky, Crop and Soil Sciences
2:15 pm Break
2:30 pm What’s happening with small grains? — Greg Roth, Crop and Soil Sciences (Meadville)

or

Biodiesel: Renewable, domestic energy? — Dennis Buffington, Ag and Bio Engineering (Somerset and Watsontown)
3:15 pm Questions and wrap up

WEATHER OUTLOOK

This past week marked a significant change in the weather pattern across North America. A deepening pool of chilly air has replaced the long spell of very warm and alternating dry and wet periods in the Northeast. Whether this is the set-up for the winter regime remains to be seen. Certainly the remainder of November will average below seasonal temperatures and precipitation will be light, though it may be snow, especially in the northwest and higher elevations. The next opportunity for significant precipitation will likely come near the end of the month when Pacific air returns with moderation and some rain.  Since there is no signal from the tropical Pacific (neutral phase of El Nino), the possibility of bitter cold periods during December-February is higher than average. Precipitation during those winters has been near to slightly above average. The most probable scenario for the next few months centers around a pattern that alternates between spells of very cold weather separated by a couple of weeks of generally mild conditions. It is during those transitions (both to cold and to mild) that the best opportunity for widespread wintry precipitation will occur.

Paul Knight, pgk2@psu.edu
Pennsylvania State Climatologist

PRODUCTION

FORAGE RADISH, A NEW COVER CROP

Figure 1. A full grown forage radish root.

A cover crop that is receiving considerable acclaim in Pennsylvania is forage radish. This cover crop can grow a very large taproot (up to 2” diameter, 18” long) that is investigated as to its ability to alleviate soil compaction. The idea is that the radish roots “drill holes” in the soil (called “biodrilling”). The cover crop grows in the winter when soil moisture content is usually high and the penetration resistance relatively low compared to dry soil. The taproot grows through potentially compacted layers. Upon death and decay, the roots leave behind channels that are now available for summer crops to follow. Similar results might be imagined with other crops that have deep taproots such as alfalfa.

A study was done in Maryland to investigate the ability of the radish roots to do their work. Different brassica species were tried (including oilseed radish, and canola), but the forage radish came out most promising. A forage radish/rye mix was also tried. The year after, soybeans were grown (both cover and main crops were grown no-till). Minirhizotrons showed that soybean roots actually occupied old root channels of previous cover crops, which is probably not a surprise to those who’ve dug in the soil a bit. The soybean yield was increased in one site (Wye Research and Education Center, Fig 3) after the forage radish/rye mix compared with straight no-till without a cover crop, but not at the other site (Beltsville), where the same yield was obtained with or without the brassica cover crop. The summer rainfall was much lower at the Wye than at Beltsville, which likely meant that the additional access to subsoil water was most important in the former location. Greatest yield was obtained after forage radish/rye mix in the Wye location. The reason was probably that the rye mulch contributed to moisture savings, and that radish holes offered increased water infiltration besides offering entry-ways for soybean roots.

Figure 2. Forage radish in mid-October in central PA (established first of September).

Forage radish is not winter hardy in Pennsylvania. It needs to be established in September in the southeast, and probably in August in central/northern PA to give appreciable growth. You need to use about 10-15 lbs/A of seed. The most full-proof way to establish forage radish is to drill it. In our trials we got excellent germination and stands (much better than with other brassica spp), even with little moisture. Fall growth is very quick, and soon after establishment the soil is covered. The cost of the seed is about $2/lb depending on availability. Hopefully we’ll get more seed producers as interest grows in this cover crop, as Steve Groff (www.cedarmeadowfarm.com) seems to be the only seed producer at this moment.

Forage radish may be an interesting choice for some growers in the southern parts of Pennsylvania, although the major problem will be to get it established early enough. Regarding establishment date and winter survival, it is similar to oats. However, oats have a fibrous root system, whereas forage radish has a large taproot. The residue of radishes is not as long-lasting as that of oats. Therefore, it may be beneficial to mix the radishes with oats (if the grower wants to rely on winterkill) or with rye that has to be killed with a burndown herbicide application. This way, the grower will have a nice mulch for next year’s crop. Don’t use a high rate of forage radish in this scenario, because it is very competitive early in the fall and may suffocate the small grain. The radish apparently does not like wet feet, so don’t try it in poorly drained soil. Other benefits such as nitrate capture and nematode suppression are currently under investigation.

Figure 4. Ground cover of forage radish in mid-October in central PA (established first of September). Figure 3. Cover crop effects on following soybean yields at Wye (graph from Williams and Weil, U. of Maryland).

Sjoerd Duiker, swd10@psu.edu
Soil Management, Crop and Soil Sciences

CORN SILAGE HYBRID PERFORMANCE DATA AVAILABLE ONLINE

We have completed the 2005 evaluation of corn silage hybrids in conjunction with the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania at four locations across the state and have posted the data online at http://cornandsoybeans.psu.edu/ We conducted evaluations at three locations in southcentral PA and one in northwest PA.

This year's results showed in general some lower yields than last year due to some drought stress at two of our three southcentral locations. The late season drought also probably contributed to slightly lower energy levels.

Some other interesting trends were noted in this year’s data. Fiber digestibility tended to be lower this year than in 2004. Often we assume that in dry years, the fiber digestibility is higher but that was not the case this year. Perhaps it was due to the late season nature of the drought or due to the slightly drier material at harvest. This year the yield difference between the late maturity (115-120 day hybrids and the early medium (105-110 day) hybrids was not as large as observed in 2004. Yields of the late hybrids were 1.3 and 0.5 tons/A higher than the early-medium and mid-maturity tests this year. Last year the difference between the late and early –medium maturity hybrids was 2.9 tons per acre. Apparently, the late hybrids this year were stressed by the hot, dry conditions during late August and early September that caused rapid maturation and this resulted in less dry matter accumulation than last year. We also observed slightly lower energy levels in the late hybrids, as we have in past years.

Greg Roth, gwr@psu.edu
Grain Crops Management, Crop and Soil Sciences

CORN GRAIN AND SOYBEAN YIELD DATA ONLINE

Preliminary data for the both the Pennsylvania Corn Hybrid Performance and Pennsylvania Soybean Evaluation Program has been posted online at our cornandsoybean.psu.edu site. Corn yields varied depending on the location across the state. Soybean yields were very good in our tests with the exception of the double crop following wheat at Landisville.

Greg Roth, gwr@psu.edu
Grain Crop Management, Crop and Soil Sciences

Pest Management

GLYPHOSATE STEWARDSHIP — HERBICIDE ROTATION, IS 2–1–2 GOOD ENOUGH?

Syngenta recently announced a new glyphosate stewardship program that provides a simple message. The acronymn for the message is 2-1-2 or “no more than two applications of glyphosate in one year over a two year period”. Syngenta is taking the approach that simple is better. For more information about Syngenta’s 2-1-2 approach, visit their “very cool” interactive website at www.farmassist.com/resistance_ fighter/content.html.

We certainly applaud Syngenta for their proactive approach and focus on herbicide stewardship, but also know as weed scientists that this may not be enough. In a recent newsletter article, Bob Hartzler of Iowa State and Mark Loux of Ohio State, debated the merits of the 2-1-2 approach (www.weeds.iastate.edu). Mark Loux made the statement that this is exactly the scenario that still allowed glyphosate resistant horseweed or marestail evolution in Ohio — two applications of glyphosate in no-till soybean (burndown plus in-crop application ) followed by some other program in corn. For some weeds like horseweed that are wind dispersed and that can travel distances, this certainly does not go far enough. For others, that are more common as summer annuals, it might be good enough. So, it is quite apparent that “one size does not fit all”. The real question is do we err on the conservative side to make sure that we cover all the bases or can we develop management programs for individual weed species and cropping systems? — a much more difficult goal. Mark Loux suggested a more conservative approach that is especially suitable for horseweed; it looks more like a 2-2-2-2 approach; over a 2-year period, two different crops — Roundup Ready vs. another — no more than two applications of glyphosate, and two different effective sites of action on each problem weed species each year — quite an ambitious goal!. This approach incorporates a strategy with effective tank mixtures which will certainly add to the resistance prevention equation, but can also be quite challenging. Certainly, two different sites of action could also incorporate some targeted “nonchemical” control approaches such as tillage (my apologies to the no-till crowd), fall cover crops to suppress winter annual weeds, or other cultural control tactics that seem to make sense for a particular system (my two cents worth). The specifics of making economic and practical sense is the real challenge for most of us....

Bill Curran, wcurran@psu.edu
Weed Management, Crop and Soil Sciences

Agents Corner

NORTHWEST

In the Northwest harvest is almost complete. Corn is about 95% completely harvested. Yields are all over the board, depending in what county you are in or which part of the county you are in.

Soybeans are mostly completely harvested, except for a few scattered fields here and there. Yields suffered in certain areas: drier areas had yields in the 20–25 bushel range, while others were in the 50 bushel area.

Pastures continue to stay green with some growth available to animals.

Fall seedings and cover crops continue to grow with the warm moist weather, but that looks like it may be ending soon as snow heads our way. Cover crop acreage looks to have increased this year with the early harvest of corn silage. It looks like the Tri-State Tillage Conference is finally having some impact on cover crops in the region as more acres are being planted in the fall.

Nelson Smith, nes2@psu.edu
Clarion County

SOUTHEAST

Almost all corn and beans have been harvested, with yield being extremely variable. On the heavier soils, yields seemed closer to “normal”, but on the lighter, shale soils, yields were extremely poor. Quality issues with soybeans were reported in the eastern corner of the county, with mold and shriveled beans common. Some forage producers took advantage of the warm, sunny weather during the early part of the month to clip some orchardgrass fields and salvage some second cutting. Some producers were late in getting their wheat planted, but even the late planted fields greened up with the recent warm weather.

Dwane Miller, dmiller@psu.edu
Schuykill County

THE LOWER SOUTHWEST

Soybean harvest is almost complete. A few acres of corn are still in the field, but the harvest is at least 90% complete at this point. Corn borer damage was high in many fields. Yields have been variable depending on summer rains, with some yields very good and some terrible. Small grain seedings look very good with warm moist conditions thus far. No killing frost yet. Pastures greened up over the past few weeks and some grazing is still occurring, although grass is still short in many areas due to the droughty conditions over the summer and into the fall.

Melanie Barkley, meh7@psu.edu
Bedford County

THE UPPER SOUTHWEST

Soybean harvest is all but complete, yields are averaging 40–50 bu/A. There are still a few acres of corn yet to be harvested. Yields have been quite variable, depending on amount of summer rains. Drier areas had yields as low as 40 bu/A. I helped with a yield check in northern Indiana County where there was some rain, top yield was 205 bu/A. Warm moist weather has benefited the small grain seedings. We haven't had a killing frost yet, so there is still a glimmer of hope for a decent final cutting of haylage.

Kevin Fry, ksf107@psu.edu
Armstrong County