CMEG Crop Management Extension Group

Field Crop News

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

November 4, 2008    Vol. 08:33

IN THIS ISSUE:

Weather Outlook — Paul Knight, Pennsylvania State Climatologist

Very mild weather will persist into Friday, albeit interrupted by clouds and some rain in the eastern half of the state from late Tuesday into early Thursday. Morning fog will be dense and persistent in some of the river valleys. A strengthening cold front will cross the state with some showers late Friday or more likely on Saturday. A blustery air flow will follow with a bit below normal temperatures from Sunday (Nov 9) through mid-week (Nov 13). A disturbance from the southern branch of the jet stream should approach the region next Tuesday or Wednesday. It is possible that enough residual cold air will be in place to cause the precipitation to start as snow or a wintry mixture in the northern tier. Expect several days of milder conditions at mid-month. There are indications that the second half of November will be highly changeable and rather stormy. This will likely be in the start of a 6-7 week period of unusually volatile weather which may yield a rather cold and quite snowy December.

A switch to a more tranquil and rather mild period is likely from mid-January into February.

Aphids In Timothy Fields — John Rowehl, Extension Educator, York County and John Tooker, PSU Entomology Specialist

Some timothy fields in southern York County have recently been observed being off color due to the tips of the timothy leaves becoming purple. Investigations by field men with Willard Agriservice found infestations of aphids. Some spraying of Warrior has been done and that appears to be working to stop the aphids’ activity and improving the appearance of the timothy; however, sprayed fields will need to be monitored because Warrior and other insecticides claim “suppression only” for some aphid-plant combinations. Examination of aphids collected from some fields shows the presence of at least two species, greenbug (Schizaphis graminum) and yellow sugarcane aphid (Sipha flava). Plant samples have been sent to the plant disease lab at Penn State for diagnosis.

Infestations of these species tend to be more common in cooler parts of the year, possibly because natural enemies are not as active. Both aphid species can be particularly damaging because they inject toxins into plants as they feed, causing yellowing. In some cases (and as was found in York County), the injury looks brown, reddish, or purple. When scouting for lower populations these species, start by looking low on the plant because greenbug tends to feed toward the base of plants, but move upward as populations increase. Yellow sugarcane aphid also appears to prefer lower leaves and can tolerate high population densities, only moving higher on plants or to adjacent plants as leaves yellow and die. To make matters worse, greenbug is a vector of barley yellow dwarf virus (yellow sugarcane aphid may also acts as a vector, but this is not clear), so growers will need to keep on eye out for this disease in their timothy and nearby grain fields.

We do not know how serious or widespread a problem this is and would appreciate being notified of other timothy fields in other parts of Pennsylvania with these symptoms. It would be helpful to have as many details on the history of the management of these fields as possible.

What’s my risk for 2009? — John Berry, Extension Educator, Lehigh County

Commodity markets over the past several months cause me to be anxious. Undreamed of price levels, non-ag market makers, and systemic financial stress are not typically part of my market planning. Additionally, commodity prices are falling while many expenses continue to rise. The futures markets suggests tighter profit margins are possible. At current prices and projected costs, it is difficult to project a crop profit in 2009. Adequate working capital is significant because the amount of capital needed to farm has nearly tripled compared to two years ago. Meanwhile suppliers are convincing producers to prepay for their supplies. Prepaying for inputs at record high prices, months in advance, is a tough decision to make. Farmers may now want to consider the liquidity and solvency of input suppliers. How can farmers manage in today's risk environment?

Many ag specialists believe combining a revenue-based crop insurance policy with apre-harvest marketing plan is still the best deal in town for managing risk.

(Bill Craig, agricultural business management educator with University of Minnesota Extension provided information for this article.)

Scout for Winter Annuals Now — Bill Curran, Penn State Weed Science

Winter annual weeds have become much more prevalent over the last 5 years in Pennsylvania. This may be related to less residual herbicide use in soybeans, more mild winters allowing better winter survival, more weed seed infested manure ending back in the field, or other reasons. These winter annuals include common chickweed, purple deadnettle, henbit, horseweed or marestail, a number of mustards, and some winter annual grasses such as ryegrass and downy brome. As a general rule, winter annuals emerge between late August and early November although depending on the year, some spring emergence can also occur. Winter annuals can be competitive in winter grains like wheat and barley, but also at planting time in no-till corn and soybeans. In addition, some winter annuals can serve as alternate hosts for soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and can result in increased SCN egg numbers in soil if the weeds are not eliminated early in their lifecycle. Purple deadnettle is one of the more prominent hosts for SCN. Researchers at Ohio State have been studying this interaction and recently published a newsletter article in C.O.R.N. discussing management of winter annuals weeds as it relates to SCN.

Late fall and early spring are the best times to control winter annuals with herbicides. For best activity, apply herbicides when daytime temperatures are above 50 F and night time temperatures are above 40 F for several days during application time. In fallow fields, a combination of glyphosate plus 2,4-D ester is fairly effective for control of most winter annual weeds. Delaying application until corn or soybean planting time can reduce the effectiveness of the treatment plus allow weed seed production which perpetuates the problem. Also, glyphosate resistant and tolerant weeds like marestail should be targeted early in their lifecycle.

On-Farm Cover Crop Demonstration Plot Tours — Andrew Frankenfield, Montgomery County Extension

Cover Crops are a key component to manage soil health and productivity. They can be especially beneficial in no-till. Penn State Cooperative Extension Educators have numerous cover crop plots around the state to provide research and demonstration opportunities. The Cover crop species include: Oats, Cereal Rye, Triticale, Wheat, Spelt, Annual Ryegrass, Hairy Vetch, Winter Peas, Forage Radish, Crimson Clover, Red Clover, Yellow Blossom Sweet Clover, Brassica and Cover Crop Mixes. Not all sites have every cover crop specie listed, but do have the majority of them. Listed below are the locations of the on-farm cover crop plots and dates of the tours. Local weather conditions and planting dates have significant impacts on the growth of cover crops. Overall the dry September and October has somewhat limited the growth of most of the cover crops. There is still sufficient ground cover in most of the plots to provide good soil cover over the winter. Take a few hours to visit a cover crop plot near you in the upcoming week Overwintering and spring growth will vary a lot between species. Spring is busy, but maybe even a more important time to evaluate species. Watch for more walks around the state coming in late March and April.

Lancaster County: Nov. 3rd. 1:00 – 3:00 PM Pequea Planter, 561 White Horse Pike, Gap.
Nov 6th 10-12:00 PM. A. Dale Herr Farm, 180 Fairview Rd. Kirkwood.
Jeff Graybill (717) 394-6851

York County: Nov 5th 10:00 AM. Buplyn farm. 9715 Loop Road, Seven Valleys.
Rain date: Nov 6th.
John Rowehl (717) 840-7408

Franklin County: Nov 7th 10–12:00 PM. Rice Crest Farm, New Franklin Rd. right onto Brechbill Loop Rd.
Rain date: Nov 11. Franklin (717) 263-9226

Columbia County: Nov 8th 10:00 – 12:00 PM. Steve Kistler Farm, 196 Stoney Brook Road, Orangeville, PA
Contact Dave Hartman at 784-6660 ext. 12

Cumberland County: Nov 10th 10:00–12:00 PM. Garmin Bros. Take 641, turn left onto Meeting House Rd.
Rain date Nov 12th.
Contact Jonathan Rotz (717) 240-6500

Dauphin County: Nov 10th 10:00–12:00 PM. Su-Dal Dairy Farm, 2950 Armstrong Valley Rd., Halifax, PA 17032
Contact Paul Craig (717) 921-8803

Montgomery County: April 7th 10:00 – 12:00 PM. Parkhouse (County Farm) 1600 Black Rock Road, Royersford.
April 7th 5:30 – 7:30 PM. Frankenfield Farm, 98 Allentown Road, Souderton, PA
Contact Andrew Frankenfield 610-489-4315

Cover Crops can provide tools to either hold nitrogen applied from manure or actually produce nitrogen. For legumes strive to get them planted as early as possible after silage preferably after a small grain. Legumes that have proved to be effective in producing 100lbs of nitrogen per acre are hairy vetch and crimson clover planted early. Grass cover crops such as oats and cover crop rye are great scavengers of nitrogen and will hold it for use next season. Many producers have found that by planting rye directly after silage and waiting until the rye has some growth on before spreading manure that they lose little of the available N from manure to volatilization and thereby do not need to incorporate manure. View this video on how other producers are using cover crops to assist in cropping programs.

Contributors: Extension Educators: Susan Alexander (Jefferson), Andrew Frankenfield (Montgomery), John Rowehl (Cumberland), Jeff Graybill (Lancaster), Jonathon Rotz (Cumberland), Kevin Fry (Armstrong), John Berry (Lehigh), Paul Craig (Dauphin), Delbert Voight (Lebanon). Specialists: Crop and Soil Sciences: Marvin Hall (forages), Bill Curran (weeds), Greg Roth (crops). Entomology: John Tooker (insects). Meteorology: Paul Knight (weather).

Editor: Tom Murphy (Lycoming Co.)

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