CMEG Crop Management Extension Group

Field Crop News

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

July 2, 2007    Vol. 07:18

IN THIS ISSUE:

Weather Outlook — Paul Knight, Pennsylvania State Climatologist

We have settled into a regime that features regular intervals of cool and very warm weather, but no long periods of either. At the same time, the atmospheric flow pattern is dominated by winds from the northwest, which has limited the amount of rain and there seems to be no significant change expected in the next week or so. Some of the computer guidance (from Canada and Europe) shows a pronounced heat wave from July 9–12 followed by another spell of cooler, less humid air.

Week One (July 3–10): The chilly, dry weather will be replaced by increasing clouds and a rise in humidity on Tuesday. A surge of rather humid, though seasonably warm, air will occupy the state on Wednesday and part of Thursday. Thundershowers will be common during this period with the vast majority receiving between 0.10 and 0.50 inches. A push of cooler, less humid will arrive by Friday and stay into Saturday. Another front will be nearby (just to the north) so there could be a few showers scattered across northern sections of the state. Temperatures will rise above seasonal levels early next week.

Week Two (July 10–17): There is a strong likelihood of a short heat wave from Monday through Wednesday and perhaps Thursday of next week. Daytime readings would reach near 90 in the mountains and well into the 90’s east of the mountains. Thunderstorms will pop up each afternoon (Tues—Thur), but some sections will miss the rain. Another push of Canadian air is expected by the weekend with much lower humidity and temperatures below seasonal levels (Sat-Mon).

Check out the predicted Growing Degree Days (base 55) for Pennsylvania for the next two weeks at: http://climate.met.psu.edu/data/regional_gdd.php

B) Market Report — Don Fretts, Fayette County Extension Educator

Our more experienced team wasn’t able to check in this week, so I will make an attempt to provide a market report.

Variability was the key this past week with firmer then softer prices for corn. In the past month Dec. corn has lost about $.90 per bushel. Beans have staged a significant new contract high following the higher than anticipated corn acreage report last week. Wheat also made 11 year highs on Friday, then corrected Monday. Questions for grain marketers:

  1. Can you profit from nearly $9.00 beans? Beans left a gap, so some correction is possible.
  2. Will corn prices rally with additional weather markets during the summer?
  3. Do you have any 08 wheat locked in?

Hold onto your hat, it may be a bumpy ride.

chart

What’s Eating Your Beans? — Andrew Frankenfield, Montgomery County Extension Educator

As we turn the calendar to July we are now finding new pests to deal with, specifically Japanese beetles and grasshoppers in the soybean fields. Soybean plants can tolerate up to 35 percent defoliation until bloom, about 15 percent while pods are small and soft, and about 35 percent when pods start hardening. Below these levels, defoliation does not adversely affect crop yield, so control is not suggested. What does 5–30% defoliation look like? You might be surprise. Follow this link to see pictures, http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/plantpath/soybean/beanlb/soybean_defol_composite.html

Identifying Damage
Japanese beetle adults chew larger holes than the other beetles. In general, Japanese beetle damage is very concentrated in comparison to other insect feeding that is randomly dispersed. Grasshopper injury is difficult to distinguish from bean leaf beetle or Japanese beetle injury. However, grasshopper injury tends to be more pronounced along the perimeters of fields near grassy alleyways, fence rows, and ditch banks.

Lifecycles
The Japanese beetle passes through 1 generation per year and overwinters in the larval stage. Larvae pupate in the late spring and adults generally appear in June or early July. Eggs are laid in the soil which hatch into grubs that develop and remain as the overwintering stage. Grasshoppers overwinter in the egg stage in the soil. Eggs hatch in the spring and nymphs feed on grassy areas gradually moving into soybeans. As nymphs become adults, populations become more evenly dispersed. In the fall, eggs are deposited in the soil which become the overwintering stage.

Sampling and Assessment
After trifoliate leaves have formed, damage assessment is based on estimates of defoliation. To estimate defoliation, the following procedure is recommended:

  1. Pick a trifoliate leaf from the top, middle and low third of 10 randomly selected plants. (It is suggested that you carry a plastic bag for collection of foliage so that damage assessment may be made at one time.)
  2. From each trifoliate discard the most and least damaged leaflets. At this point one should have 30 leaflets upon which the defoliation estimate will be based.
  3. Compare the selected leaflets to the illustration http://ohioline.osu.edu/icm-fact/fc-22.html and record the average level of defoliation.

Treatment
For a list of suggested insecticides, rates and restrictions for soybean insect control follow the link to the PSU Agronomy Guide.
LINKS:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/icm-fact/fc-22.html
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2002/7-29-2002/soydefoliation.html
http://agguide.agronomy.psu.edu/pm/sec4/sec43a.cfm
http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/soybeans_in_pa.htm

Summer Forage Seedings — Paul Craig, Dauphin County Extension Educator

A lot of discussion has been held regarding the short forage crop to date through out Pennsylvania and producer plans to produce additional forage supplies this season. Recent articles in this newsletter have addressed the use of “traditional” forage crops that can be planted at this time or following small grain harvest including forage sorghums, brassicas and oats. I was recently reminded by a county agent from New York State by the name of Mike Hunter that there is another “non—traditional” forage crop that is now available for hay producers to try this year. This crop is called Teff. Mike was gracious to provide me with information regarding this crop that I will try to summarize.

Teff is a warm season annual grass that is native to Ethiopia in Northern Africa. In Ethiopia teff is grown as a cereal crop and the flour is used to make flat bread called Injera. It is also grown for pasture and forage harvest. Teff is grown in Africa, India, Australia and South America. In 2006 a few forage producers planted Teff in parts of South Central PA with some success. This year quite a few other producers have already established some stands.

Where sorghum sudangrass is considered a haylage or baleage crop, teff is considered a dry hay crop but can also be handled as a silage crop. Recent research in New York by Mike Hunter has indicated a great promise for teff as a forage crop. Dr. Marvin Hall has established plots in Landisville to take a closer look at this new crop.

Mike reports that farmers in the Finger Lake region of New York are planting teff through late July and still harvesting 2 cuttings. Teff will not tolerate any frosts. Seeds are extremely small. Seeding rates are 4 to 5 pounds per acre and because of the small seed size seeding depth of 1/8 to ¼ inch is important. The seeds can be planted too deep and establishment will suffer. Adequate soil fertility levels of P and K are important for optimum growing conditions and 50 pounds of N at planting is recommended. Top dress a second application of 50 pounds of N following harvest for additional cuttings.

A rapid grower first cutting will be in about 50 to 55 days after emergence and later cuttings will be ready in about 40 days. Harvest at pre—boot stage for optimum quality and leave a 3 to 4 inch stubble height for rapid regrowth. For additional information here is a link to a fact sheet written by Mike Hunter. http://nmsp.css.cornell.edu/publications/factsheets/factsheet24.pdf

Mid Summer Weed Control Options for Grass and Legume Forages — Bill Curran, PSU Weed Specialist

With the recent dry and hot weather we are experiencing in much of Pennsylvania, cool season grass and legume forages are slow to recover after grazing or harvest yet the weeds seem to be doing fine. The biennial thistles and burdock are flowering in many areas and perennials like Canada thistle and hemp dogbane are not far behind. For the biennials, it’s probably too late to control them with an herbicide at this time, but mowing or clipping pastures can prevent seed production and may kill flowering annuals and mature biennials. If they recover following mowing, applying an herbicide 3 to 4 weeks later to the new regrowth can be effective.

In grass hay and pasture, spraying perennials with an effective systemic herbicide can work well at this time and will also prevent seed production which is often an important avenue for the spread into neighboring fields. A number of effective systemic broadleaf herbicides are available for Canada thistle including Forefront, Milestone, Overdrive, and Curtail (Stinger plus 2,4–D) to name a few. For hemp dogbane, a combination of dicamba (Clarity or Banvel) plus 2,4–D is one of the better treatments. Review Table 2.6–7 in the 2007–2008 Penn State Agronomy Guide for a complete listing of available herbicides for grass hay and pasture and their effectiveness on common weeds.

In alfalfa, several herbicides can be applied in between cuttings for control of annual weeds that may have emerged during the month of June or early July. Select or Poast Plus are the best choices for control of grasses such as crabgrass or foxtail, Pursuit or Raptor are excellent herbicides for pigweed, and Butyrac is still the best choice for control of common ragweed. Of course, glyphosate is effective on these weeds as well for use in Roundup Ready alfalfa. Review Table 2.6–3 in the Agronomy Guide for a more complete listing of available herbicides and their effectiveness on weeds in alfalfa hay.

Subsoiling Following Small Grain Harvest — Paul Craig, Dauphin County Extension Educator

Looking across many corn fields this season, with the limited availability of moisture supplies, one observation made is the wide variation in plant heights. In many fields some corn is nearly 6 feet tall and close by the stand is less than 4 feet tall. When looking at these conditions one factor that comes to mind is soil compaction. Soil compaction is caused by many factors with the primary cause being vehicle traffic on wet soils. Under ideal growing conditions soil compaction can be hidden but when soils turn dry the affect of poor root development can appear.

The use of subsoiling to alleviate soil compaction is a controversial subject. Many producers will incorporate a deep tillage tool to loosen their soil but research at many universities has been unable to consistently show direct benefits from the expense of this operation. Producers can make field observations using a penetrometer or steel rod to measure the tightness of soil layers. Frequently a plow layer can be found at about an 8 to 10 inch depth, sometimes slightly deeper. Another way to look for compaction layers is to use a shovel and dig into the root zone looking at how the roots have developed. At a pan the roots will stop growing downward and grow in a more horizontal pattern.

One of the most knowledgeable producers I have worked with, who is a proponent of subsoiling, has a theory on when to subsoil. He uses the example of cutting a potato chip. This farmer understands that the most benefit of subsoiling occurs when “shattering” of the compaction pan occurs. To maximize shattering the soil must be dry. Think of cutting a potato chip with a knife. If the chip is dry it will shatter into many pieces. If you dunk the chip into a liquid beverage and then cut it you will end up with only 2 pieces of wet chip.

For this reason many producers might want to consider investigating their soil conditions in their small grain fields following harvest. The dry conditions this summer have removed most of the soil moisture down to the compaction zone thereby providing the opportunity for soil shattering.

A few other factors to consider if you do any subsoiling: Set the subsoiler to work so that the point is about 1 inch below the compaction zone. Wings on the point provide additional shattering benefits and the faster the subsoiler is pulled the greater the effect of the shattering. Keep checking the operation of the tool. Check to make sure the depth of the compaction zone has not changed from field to field. Finally make sure management practices that lead to the compaction problems are not repeated.

Upcoming Events

Agronomic Weed Management Research Tour at Penn State
July 10, 2007
Tuesday, 9:00–12:00 noon
Penn State Rock Springs Agronomy Farm, Centre Co.
Cost: $15
Lunch and handouts will be provided.

A number of experiments will be showcased and available for viewing including many of the new corn and soybean herbicide programs plus the latest information on herbicide resistance, cover cropping and weed management research. Certified Crop Advisor CEU’s will be available at this event.

You must pre register with Lisa Crytser at Penn State to ensure you have a spot at lunch and on the wagons. Please pre—register by July 3, 2007 by phone (814-865-2543) or email (lac8@psu.edu).

2007 Penn State Agronomic Field Diagnostic Clinic — July 24 and 25
July 24 and 25
Penn State Rock Springs Agronomy Farm, Centre Co.

The dates and topics for our annual Diagnostic Clinic have been set. As in the past, the Clinic is a one—day event conducted at the Penn State Agronomy Research Farm near Rock Springs, PA. This year’s Clinic will be held on Tuesday, July 24 and then repeated on Wednesday, July 25, 2007. The topics include cover crop selection and management, no—till planter adjustments and attachments for use in cover crops, an overview of biomass crops for alternative energy use, nitrogen management issues, and pest management topics. As always, various credits will be offered.

Registration forms will be mailed and posted on our CMEG website (http://cmeg.psu.edu/) as time gets closer, so you can register and get additional information on each of the topics.

For additional information or comments about the Diagnostic Clinic contact Dwight Lingenfelter at (814) 865-2242 or by email, DwightL@psu.edu.

Ag Progress Days — August 14–16

Contributors: State Specialists: Dr. William Curran, Extension Weed Specialist, Dwight Lingenfelter, Extension Associate
Extension Educators: Andrew Frankenfield (Montgomery), Paul Craig (Dauphin), Kevin Fry (Armstrong), Jeffery Graybill (Lancaster), Joel Hunter (Crawford), Don Fretts (Fayette)

Editor: Don Fretts, Senior Extension Educator, Fayette County

Upcoming Events

Real time pest and heat unit activity: http://psu.zedxinc.com/cgi-bin/site.cgi?location=2&user=psu#

Calendar of Events: http://www.events.psu.edu/cgi-bin/cal/webevent.cgi?cmd=opencal&cal=cal209&

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If you have problems subscribing or wish to cancel your subscription, please contact Lisa Crytser by e-mail at lac8@psu.edu or by phone at 814-865-2543.

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