CMEG Crop Management Extension Group

Field Crop News

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

February 14, 2007    Vol. 07:02

IN THIS ISSUE:

Newsletter Survey Dear Field Crop News subscriber:

Managing your crops requires you to stay on top of a multitude of issues, such as upcoming developments in the weather, insect pest and disease dynamics, weed populations, new products and research findings etc. Many times, these issues are time–sensitive. To help you make better crop management decisions, the Penn State Crop Management Extension Group revised its Field Crop News publication during the 2006 growing season. Newsletter topics are now determined during a conference call between County–based extension educators and campus–based university specialists. Within twenty four hours, the newsletter is delivered to your e–mailbox. Articles are kept short.

To evaluate our first summer’s efforts and improve Field Crop News for the 2007 season, please provide your opinions and suggestions. Our goal is to help YOU and other subscribers like you. Responses are kept confidential, and you will be informed of the outcome. Feel free to contact Marvin Hall, 814-863-1019 or mhh2@psu.edu if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you very much for your participation.

Click on link below to find this web-based survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=783013256820

Resident Canada Geese Control — Contributed by Andrew Frankenfield, Montgomery County

PA Game Commission State Wildlife Agency Release #011–07

In response to changes in federal regulations, the PA Game Commission has approved a measure to streamline the process for those permitted to control resident Canada geese on their property under certain circumstances.

Private landowners and managers of public lands and their employees or agents, who have registered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will be permitted to addle eggs and destroy nests of resident Canada geese when necessary to resolve or prevent injury to people or damage to property or agricultural crops. These activities will be permitted between March 1 and June 30.

Private landowners or public land managers may register with USFWS via their website www.fws.gov/permits/mbpermits/gooseeggregistration.html

Each person who will be conducting the activity must be registered at this site prior to implementing control activities.

Reports of addling and nest destruction must be filed annually with USFWS via their website no later than October 31.

Those engaged in commercial agriculture may apply for a state issued resident Canada geese depredation permit. This permit allows commercial agriculture producers and their legitimate employees and agents to engage in the shooting or capture of resident Canada geese when necessary to prevent damage to agricultural crops or other interests by resident Canada geese.

The permit will describe the method of take and the number of geese that may be taken. The permit will be valid from May 1 through August 31. The permittee must file an annual report with the Game Commission no later than October 31.

For more information, contact your local WCO, or the regional Game Commission office. Visit PGC website for regional information. http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=463&q=150174

Limestone and Gypsum – Douglas Beegle, Crop and Soil Sciences

Limestone (CaCO3) and Gypsum (CaSO4) are both excellent sources of calcium for crop production. The difference between these materials is that limestone also neutralizes acidity while gypsum does not change soil pH. Pennsylvania soils are naturally acidic and thus require periodic liming to adjust soil pH for optimum crop production. When we apply a ton of calcium carbonate limestone to correct soil pH, we are also applying 800 lb/A of Ca. Even a dolomitic limestone will contain over 400 lb Ca/ton. Crop removal of calcium ranges from less than 5 lb Ca/A for corn to over 100 lb Ca/A for alfalfa hay. Thus regular liming to maintain soil pH in the optimum range will easily maintain calcium levels against crop removal. Also, the average soil Ca level from agronomic samples run through the Ag Analytical Services Lab at Penn State last year was 2910 lb exchangeable Ca/A. Thus, supplemental calcium fertilization is not normally necessary to meet crop demands. Gypsum is sometimes used as a Ca fertilizer for acid loving crops where Ca in needed but you do not want to increase the pH by using limestone.

In addition to meeting crop demands for Ca, another concern is maintaining adequate Ca on the soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) which is important for maintaining adequate Ca availability and for maintaining soil physical properties. The concept of “Ideal” Basic Cation Saturation Ratios (BCSR) was developed in the 1930s and 40s and suggested an ideal percentage of basic cations (Ca2+, Mg2+ , K+) on the soil CEC. Gypsum often enters this discussion because when trying to achieve an “Ideal” BCSR, using limestone to establish a high Ca saturation may result in over liming the soil thus gypsum can be used as a Ca source to increase the Ca level on the CEC but not affect soil pH. The BCSR is conceptually correct, but extensive research has shown that, while a general balance of cations in important, there is a wide range of cation saturation ratios that will result in maximum crop yield and good soil physical properties. From a practical management point of view, if K and Mg in the soil are adequate but not excessive and if the soil pH is adjusted to near the optimum range for crops, there will be plenty of Ca and there is no reason to adjust the soil further to try to achieve specific basic cation saturation ratios.

The other area where Gypsum comes up is related to improving soil physical properties. It is true that having adequate Ca and Mg on the CEC is important for promoting and maintaining good soil aggregation. However, again if soils have adequate K and Mg and are limed to an optimum pH there will be plenty of these cations to maintain good soil structure and no further adjustments in cation ratios are necessary. The reputation of gypsum for correcting soil physical properties actually comes from its use in reclaiming sodic soils in arid regions of the world. Sodic soils have a high percentage of Na+ on the CEC which causes the soils to disperse rather than aggregate. This results in very tight soils with poor physical properties. This can be thought of as chemical compaction. The cure for this condition is to replace the Na+ on the CEC with Ca2+ which then enables the soils to aggregate and improves the physical properties. Since these soils are also very high in pH (>8.5) gypsum is used as a source of Ca rather than limestone. Thus, in sodic soils, which we do not have in PA, gypsum can have dramatic effects on soil physical properties. However, adding gypsum would have no effect on physically compacted soils in PA as long as the soils have been limed to anywhere near optimum soil pH.

Soil testing and regular liming are the keys to healthy cation balance.

White Grubs in Pastures – Mary Barbercheck, Entomology

There are many species of white grubs found in pastures. This article discusses beneficial grubs, such as the dung beetle and several species that constitute pests. Grub identification and lifecycles, monitoring and control of grubs is described.

Go to: http://fcn.agronomy.psu.edu/2007/white_grubs_in_pasture.pdf

Glyphosate Stewardship Publication Series Available – William Curran, Crop and Soil Sciences

A new series of regional publications that address herbicide resistant weeds are available. These publications were reviewed and endorsed by the Glyphosate, Weeds, and Crops Group across the North Central and Northeast Regions. Members are university weed scientists from major corn and soybean producing states who have been working on weed management in glyphosate–resistant cropping systems. To date, the following publications are available with several others coming on–line in the near future. The first four can be accessed via the Purdue website at www.glyphosateweedscrops.org/Pubs.html and I have a limited quantity and would be glad to send you some (wcurran@psu.edu or 814-863-1014). These should be very useful as we continue to consider how to most wisely use glyphosate and other important herbicides.

Currently Available:

Coming Soon:

Commodity Marketing Meeting Features Jerry Gulke – John Berry, Lehigh Countyf

Jerry Gulke is a market analyst with Strategic Marketing Services. He also is a grower of several commodity grains in the Midwest and is the featured speaker on March 7, 2007 at the Berks County Agricultural Center, Leesport, PA. In addition to his advisory duties with SMS, Gulke is a marketing columnist for Top Producer magazine and an editorial columnist for DTN, an electronic information data service for farmers and agribusinesses.

For registration information, go to: http://fcn.agronomy.psu.edu/2007/jerry_gulke_grain_marketing.pdf

Third Annual Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance Conference – Jeff McClellan, PA No–Till Alliance

The Pennsylvania No–Till Alliance announces plans for their 3rd annual conference, slated to be held in State College, PA at the Ramada Conference Center March 13–14, 2007. The conference is geared to provide hands on, practical information that any producer can take to the field and be more successful with their no–till system. Register early for a 25% discount and guaranteed space. Call (814) 863–4260 or go to our web site at www.panotill.com

Contributors: Dept. Crop & Soil Science: Douglas Beegle, William Curran, Sjoerd Duiker, Marvin Hall, Ronald Hoover, Dwight Lingenfelter, Jeffrey McClellan, Department of Entomology: Mary Barbercheck, Extension Educators: Andrew Frankenfield (Montgomery), Joel Hunter (Crawford), David Messersmith (Wayne), Dwane Miller (Schuylkill).

Editor: Mena Hautau, Berks County

Upcoming Events

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