CMEG Crop Management Extension Group

Field Crop News

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

May 13, 2008    Vol. 08:10

IN THIS ISSUE:

Weather Outlook — Paul Knight, Pennsylvania State Climatologist

The weather pattern has taken a decided shift toward cooler conditions in the Northeast and Mid—Atlantic region and this should last for at least the next 10–12 days. While Wednesday will bring moderation to near normal temperatures, there will be three frontal passages between Thursday and Sunday and each will be followed by progressively cooler weather. Showers will accompany each push of cooler air so rainfall for the next week will be at or above normal. The winds will be persistent and gusty from Saturday through Tuesday, so drying conditions will be improving. With rather cool air in the region, it is possible for an unseasonable late front in parts of central and northeast Pennsylvania during the middle of next week.

There are indications of an intense, but short—lived heat wave during the first week of June, however, the general pattern for the summer favors near average temperatures with alternating wet and dry months — June becoming dry, July turning wet and August becoming dry again.

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

Last Chance On Land Rent Survey — Andrew Frankenfield, Montgomery County Educator

May 31 is your last chance to participate in the Land Rent Survey.

The Crop Management Extension Group at Penn State Cooperative Extension are asking for your help to benchmark land rent throughout Pennsylvania and it’s counties over time. Currently the average cash rental rate in Pennsylvania according to PA Agricultural Statistics is $48 per acre for cropland and $30 per acre for pasture. From that value it is impossible to determine what the range of cash rental rates are in a specific county and with varying soil types. This information will to be used internally by Extension and will not be publically disclosed. Responses are anonymous. These results will not be printed and shared with the public.

Please click on the link below to access the short survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=PVCdqb4GNDX_2fc252Mc3rnQ_3d_3d

Folicur Receives Federal Registration on Cereal Crops — Del Voight, Acting Grain Crop Specialist

Several fungicides are being applied this Spring between the rain drops to manage Powdery Mildew and Septoria. There is a new triazole fungicide Folicur now Federally registered for use on cereal crops. Folicur provides suppression of Fusarium head blight and control of rusts on wheat and barley. Folicur has worked well for the past 11 years in some states under a Section 18 exemption of which Pa was not one of them.

Folicur should be applied at Feeke’s 10.51. Only one application may be utilized via ground or air at the rate of 4 fluid ounces per acre per year. There is a 30 day PHI.

Folicur may be used alone, or it may be combined with Proline according to Section 2ee. The 2ee allows 3 ounces of each product to be tank mixed for the highest level of activity against all of the important foliar and head diseases on wheat and barley.

Pa State registration will follow shortly.

Grass Hay Fertilization — Doug Beegle, Soil Fertility Specialist

As grass hay harvest gets underway we need to be thinking about fertilizing those stands with nitrogen (N). The most efficient way to fertilize these grass hay stands is to split apply N based on the expected yield of the next growth. The actual rate should be 50 lb N/ton of expected hay yield. Fertilizer should be applied as soon after cutting as practical. All of our common N fertilizer materials work well. If urea or UAN are used, applying these right before rain will help to minimize N volatilization loss. Manure is an excellent choice for these grass hay fields, especially with current high fertilizer prices. Grass hay has a high demand for all manure nutrients so it will make good use of manure nutrients. Be aware that if manure is used as the sole source of N for a grass hay crop, excess P and K will likely be applied over time. Follow regular soil testing to monitor for excesses of these nutrients. Grass hay fields are a much better choice for manure than legume based hay fields because they need the N, where as the legumes do not need the N. Applying manure between cuttings also provides another window to spread manure. This is typically manure that, if not spread on these hay fields, would be stored and spread in the fall when manure nutrient use efficiency is generally very low. Applying to these hay fields can thus dramatically increase the economic return from manure nutrients compared to late fall applications of the same manure for next year’s crops. Be careful not to apply too much manure that you smother the hay. Also, apply as soon after harvest as practical to reduce potential injury to the regrowth. Finally, watch soil conditions so that you do not cause compaction by driving heavy manure spreaders on wet soils in these hay fields. Liquid manure is probably best on hay fields because there is less chance of smothering and you are less likely to gather up remnants of the manure in the next hay harvest. Estimate the amount of N that will be available from the manure application to make sure it is adequate for optimum production. Depending on the rate applied, supplemental fertilizer N may be needed also. The availability of manure N applied between hay cuttings will range from around 50% if it gets significant rain (∼1/2 in) within a day of application to only 20% if there is no rain for a week (See Agronomy Guide Table 1.2–14 for details). For example, using book values, applying 5000 gal/A of dairy manure and getting it rained in right away will supply adequate N for most 2nd cuttings of grass hay (5000 gal/A x 28 lb N/1000 gal x 0.5 = 70 lb avail. N). However, if you apply 5000 gal/A anticipating rain and it does not rain you may only get 28 lb avail. N/A (5000 gal/A x 28 lb N/1000 gal x 0.2 = 28 lb avail. N), which means you would need an additional 42 lb N/A, probably as fertilizer, to meet the crop needs for optimum production in this situation. The bottom line is that with good management, this 5000 gal/A manure application to a grass hay field could be worth as much as $150/A in fertilizer nutrient value.

Delayed PRE/ Early POST Herbicide Considerations for Corn — Dwight Lingenfelter, PSU Weed Science

If the corn is already coming up and you didn’t get a chance to apply a pre herbicide, have no fear, because there is still an opportunity to apply certain soil residual products. A number of residual herbicides can be applied after planting up until corn and weeds reach a certain size or growth stage. The greatest risk of failure comes with trying to control annual grasses such as foxtail and panicum after they emerge. However, several products are available to control emerged grasses (e.g., Accent, Basis, Celebrity Plus, Equip, Impact, Laudis, Option, Steadfast (ATZ), Stout, glyphosate on Roundup Ready corn only, and Liberty/Ignite on LibertyLink/GR corn.) In most cases, these post—grass herbicides can be tank—mixed with the residual products if some annual grasses have already emerged. (See the herbicide label for additional information on tank—mixing— www.cdms.net or www.greenbook.net). For most products, do not apply in a liquid fertilizer carrier if corn has emerged or injury may occur. (Degree and Degree Xtra are the exceptions to this rule. These products can be applied in liquid fertilizer to corn up to 6 inches tall as long as air temperatures do not exceed 85 degrees.) Maximum corn and weed sizes vary for delayed pre/early post herbicide applications in corn depending on the product. Herbicides such as Balance Pro, Radius, and Princep must be applied before corn emergence. Other herbicides such as Bicep II Magnum, Bullet, Cinch ATZ, Dual II Magnum, and Stalwart Xtra, Trizmet II can be applied to corn up to 5 inches tall. Acetochlor—containing products such as Degree (Xtra), Harness (Xtra), FulTime, Keystone (LA), SureStart, and Volley Atz can be applied to corn up to 11 inches tall. Herbicides such as Atrazine, Lumax, Lexar, Guardsman Max, and Resolve can be applied to corn up to 12 inches tall. And finally, Prowl H2O and Halex GT can be applied to 30 inch tall corn or less. Keep in mind, when tank—mixing with other pesticides follow the most restrictive product label. For a listing of additional herbicides and maximum corn heights and information on maximum weeds sizes for these products please refer to Table 2.2-12 in the Penn State Agronomy Guide or online at http://agguide.agronomy.psu.edu/pm/sec2/table2-2-12.cfm. Or see a similar table from Iowa State at http://www.weeds.iastate.edu/mgmt/2008/delayedpre.htm

Weed Control in CREP and Non-Croplands — Dwight Lingenfelter, PSU Weed Science

We routinely get asked questions about weed control in non—crop areas such as CREP, roadsides, natural areas, riparian settings, etc. Since most of our research involves field crops we generally defer to others who have more experience in these areas. Art Gover and John Johnson in the Department of Horticulture have compiled a group of fact sheets that deal with the biology and management of aggressive weed species such as tree—of—heaven, Japanese knotweed, Canada thistle, multiflora rose, and purple loosestrife. Below are two websites, the Penn State Vegetation Management Research site http://vm.cas.psu.edu/pubs.html and the PA NRCS site for more information on CREP and weed management in that setting, http://www.pa.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/crp.html

Forage Harvests Between the Rains — Paul Craig, Dauphin County Educator

Unlike the two most recent springs, moisture has become abundant and proving difficult for harvest of first cutting. Considerations for adequate drying time, rapidly increasing stage of maturities of the crop, wet soil conditions and reliability of weather forecasting is making the 2008 harvest more than challenging. The question is “what is the potential gain verses risk of more mature forage or rained on forage or worse too wet forage.”

Mike Rankin, Wisconsin Field Crop Educator summarized results from investigations done at U of W by Dr. Dan Undersander. The results of field studies show that losses in both yield and quality of forage can be caused by many different effects. These include longer plant respiration from the time the forage is cut until it is preserved by ensiling or dry hay harvest; leaching of the soluble plant nutrients in the leaves, leaf loss from shattering, bleaching of the color which can affect price; and molds, bacteria and yeasts that consume the soluble carbohydrates while the forage is laying in the windrow.

Unfortunately all forage losses are not the same. The highly digestible contents of forage dry matter are the soluble carbohydrates. These nutrients are rapidly leached out of the forage by rainfall. Silage producers recognize that these soluble nutrients are needed by bacteria during the early stages of silage and baleage fermentation. Severely damaged haylage can benefit from the use of proper haylage inoculants.

All plants produce carbohydrates to sustain production by the process of photosynthesis. In the presence of sunlight, chlorophyll in plant cells continue to function, even for a period after the plants are cut. During this process the plant cells create additional carbohydrates and releases internal moisture through the stomates located on leaf surfaces reducing plant moisture levels. When plant moistures reach the mid to lower 60 percent range these stomates will close. This process is driven by sunlight. Mowing and putting the forage in as wide a swath as possible will help to speed up dry down times. The timely and proper use of a tedder to evening distribute forage on the soil surface can be invaluable during short harvest windows.

Mike Rankin summarizes the risk of mowing or waiting for less risky weather with the following guidelines: Ensiling permits shorter dry down windows; large harvest acreage requires the risk of many acres not being cut in timely manner; forage rained on shortly after mowing has less negative effects than hay almost fit and then rained on again; and a short duration rain causes less leaching than a long duration rain event.

Make sure all harvesting equipment is ready to go and be sure to keep in contact with any custom harvesters if you use their services. What about storage sites? Are the bunkers or silos ready to go? What about silage wrap and inoculants?

Cooler Temperatures and Cereal Pests — John Tooker, PSU Entomology Specialist

May is usually when populations of insect pests of cereal crops start to become apparent and we have heard of at least one report of a large population of cereal leaf beetle in Berks County. So folks would be wise to scout diligently.

This spring, however, has been cooler than normal in several parts of Pennsylvania and colder temperatures tend to slow insect development. This is true of cereal aphids, which can infest wheat, barley, and oats among other grass species. “Cereal aphids” comprise many aphid species including bird—cherry oat aphid, corn leaf aphid, English grain aphid and greenbug (for aid in identifying these species and distinguishing them from one another see this site from North Dakota State University: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/pests/e493w.htm). Most of these aphid species usually do not inflict economic damage by themselves, particularly in spring when natural—enemy communities can keep their populations in check. Greenbug is an exception however because they feed by injecting toxic saliva into plants causing yellowing that resembles nitrogen or moisture stress. All these aphid species are a concern because they can transmit barley yellow dwarf virus, which was featured in FCN just two weeks ago (http://fcn.agronomy.psu.edu/2008/fcn0808.cfm#e).

Most of these aphid species reproduce optimally when temperatures are in the 70s so the cooler spring has probably delayed their development to a degree, but they are still able to feed and reproduce under cooler conditions. A moist spring may promote growth and spread of some diseases of aphid, which can limit their populations. A cool spring can also exacerbate spring aphid problems because insect predators and parasitoids of aphids tend to be more severely affected by cooler temperatures than aphids themselves.

Controlling aphids and their associated viruses is best addressed with an integrated management plan, beginning in the fall by choosing to plant resistant varieties. These resistant varieties can work well to complement the suite of natural enemies which eat aphids and often control their early season populations. (Pesticide application can disrupt this natural control.) As mentioned above, early season insecticidal treatments are often not warranted, but scouting will reveal if populations are high. The threshold published in the Penn State Agronomy Guide is 100 aphids per foot of row. This threshold was not based on the current higher price of wheat and other cereals, but growers should be wary of expecting a yield advantage for spring applications of insecticides against typical populations of these cereal aphids.

2008 Farm Bill — Ross Pifer, Director, Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center

Over the past few weeks, Congress has made substantial progress towards the enactment of a new Farm Bill. After months and months of debate and negotiation, we could have a new Farm Bill in a matter of days. Then again, with the threat of a Presidential veto looming over the pending legislation, the enactment of a new Farm Bill could be subjected to further delays.

The House of Representatives passed its version of the Farm Bill on July 27, 2007, and the Senate passed its version on December 14, 2007. The House and the Senate then appointed a Conference Committee to resolve the differences in the legislation passed by each of the legislative bodies. On May 8, 2008, the Conference Committee finally reached an agreement on all issues and promulgated its Conference Report. The legislation is now scheduled to be presented to the full membership of both legislative bodies for votes within the next week. The legislation has wide support in the legislature so its passage is not in doubt. The administration, however, has strong opposition to the legislation, and Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer has indicated that the President will veto it. The administration believes that the legislation does not satisfactorily reform commodity program payments. Even if the President does veto the legislation, however, there may be sufficient support of the bill in the legislature to override the Presidential veto, in which case the pending legislation will become law.

The legislation is formally entitled, “The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.” According to the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, the proposed legislation will “expand food security programs, protect our vital natural resources, promote healthier foods and local food networks, and reform commodity and biofuel programs to reflect the priorities of the nation.” With regard to conservation programs, the proposed legislation will extend the Conservation Reserve Program and Conservation Security Program, expand the Wetland Reserve Program, and increase EQIP funding by $3.4 billion.

For further details about the proposed Farm Bill, please see http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/FarmBill.html.

Pennsylvania Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (PA—PIPE) website launched/coming — Bill Curran, Weed Science Specialist

A new website http://pa-pipe.zedxinc.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi/ has been launched in collaboration between Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension and ZedX Inc. that consolidates crop, disease, insect, and weed growth and development based on predictive models using temperature and other climatic factors. The models accessible through this website are designed to provide users with dynamic, geospatial information, in the form of landscape maps, about phenomena that are important for agricultural decision making. The website also includes accumulated degree days (and departure from average), daily average 2—inch soil temperature and daily minimum 2—inch temperature. The forecast function allows you to look 1 to 7 days ahead as well as look back to see how things have changed. This site is a work in progress, so some functions are not yet active. We will continue to update you on its progress.

Double Crop Corn After First Cutting Alfalfa — Risky Business — Bill Curran, Weed Science Specialist

Harvesting first cutting alfalfa and then no—tilling corn into the alfalfa stubble can be challenging and risky business. We have had several trials out over the last several years focused on controlling Roundup Ready alfalfa, but the same principles holds true for conventional alfalfa. Two of the biggest challenges are 1.) Getting acceptable control of alfalfa after first cutting, and 2.) Even with acceptable control, what impact can the dying alfalfa crop have on corn yield? To answer the first question, the key to successful control is choosing the correct herbicide program and making sure there is adequate regrowth before making the herbicide application. In the trials that we conducted last year, we harvested alfalfa on May 9 at Landisville and May 15 at Rock Springs. We planted corn as soon thereafter as possible and had three different herbicide application timings using the same treatments. Our PRE treatment went out about 5 days after harvest and shortly after corn planting, we had an Early Post (EPOST) timing about 10 days after harvest when alfalfa growth was about 6 inches tall, and our final attempt was a Mid Post (MPOST) timing about 17 days after harvest when the alfalfa was 10 inches tall. Our herbicide programs focused on 2,4—DLVE at 1 pint, Banvel also at 1 pint, and 2,4—D + Banvel at 0.5 pint each or 0.5 pint 2,4—D plus 1 pint Banvel. We have discovered that the combination of these two herbicides is probably the most consistent for control of alfalfa. Glyphosate will add some control of conventional alfalfa, and is a definite must if annual or perennial grasses are present, but it really doesn’t alter the success of timings that are too early with inadequate alfalfa regrowth.

In short, none of the PRE treatments were effective (40% or less). Waiting about 10 days after harvest to make the herbicide application provided 79 to 99% control by early July with the combination of 2,4—D + Banvel providing the best results. There was no advantage for the higher rate of the two products. By waiting 17 days after harvest when the alfalfa was 10 inches tall, all treatments effectively killed the alfalfa.

Now the bad news, we took both these locations to yield and because of the dry weather in May (1.44 inches at Rock Springs and 0.94 inches at Landisville), corn yields were severely reduced in all treatments. Yields averaged 8 bu/acre in the untreated checks, 52 bu in the PRE treatments, 84 bu in the EPOST timing and 76 bu/acre in the MPOST timings. Yields were fairly similar at the two locations and although we did not include a alfalfa—free check, typical corn yields at both research farms were at or above normal for the regions. So, even with adequate alfalfa control a month into the growing season, we could not recover from the early season competition and the moisture deficit. Although this season is starting out much differently, keep in mind the importance of alfalfa regrowth for adequate control (6 inches is the minimum) and how soil moisture may make the ultimate yield decision.

Weed Twilight Tour at Landisville — July 1, 2008 — Bill Curran, Weed Science Specialist

We are trying something different this year and will have a twilight weed tour at our Southeast Research and Extension Center (Landisville) starting at 4:30 pm on July 1, 2008. This is the evening before the Agronomy—Industry—No—till Field Day on July 2. We will tour the weed control plots from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. You will have an opportunity to examine corn, soybean, wheat, sweet corn, and snap bean weed control trials. New herbicides include Balance Flexx, Corvus, Capreno, Halex GT, Ignite, Impact, Laudis, SureStart, Envive, Prefix, and Sonic to name a few. Also, compare the effectiveness of different herbicides for burning down hairy vetch and annual ryegrass in no—till corn. In addition see how the roller/crimper is working on cereal rye and hairy vetch in reduced and no herbicide systems. The format of the program will allow time to view the various treatments /studies and discuss the results with those in attendance. We will finish the evening socializing with one another and enjoying a hot meal.

This event costs $25 per person and includes dinner and educational materials. To register, send contact information and number attending and registration fee before June 27 to: Weed Twilight Tour, Penn State Cooperative Extension, 2120 Cornwall Road Suite 1 Lebanon, Pa 17042 (Check payable to PSCE Fund). Pesticide and CCA credits will be offered Please contact Del Voight at 717–270–4391 in advance if you need additional information.

Other Upcoming Events

May 20 Envirothon, Rock Springs
May 27–29 Agronomy Schools for NRCS and Conservation Districts
June 1–3 Agriculture and the Environment Workshop in Harrisburg: Achieving a Balance
June 4 Small Grains Field Day at Landisville
July 1 Cover crop field day at Tim Rodgers’ farm, Centre County
July 2 Landisville field day
July 10 Rock Springs Agronomy Weed Tour
July 22 and 23 Agronomic Field Diagnostic Clinics, Rock Springs Agronomy Farm

Contributors: County Educators: Paul Craig (Dauphin), Joel Hunter (Crawford), Mark Madden (Sullivan), Mena Hautau (Berks), Kevin Fry (Armstrong), Delbert Voight (Lebanon), Andrew Frankenfield (Montgomery). Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Marvin Hall, Bill Curran, Sjoerd Duiker, Dwight Lingenfelter, Doug Beegle and John Tooker. Ross Pifer, Director of the Agricultural Law Resource & Reference Center. Paul Knight, PA State Climatologist.

Editor: Dave Messersmith, Wayne County Educator

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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