Month: August 2020

Soil Residual Herbicides And Establishment Of Cover Crops In The Fall

By Marcelo Zimmer and Bill Johnson, Purdue Extension

Indiana growers have shown increased interest in utilizing cover crops in our corn and soybean production systems over the last decade.  Concurrently, there has also been increased utilization of soil residual herbicides to help manage herbicide-resistant weeds such as marestail (horseweed), waterhemp, and giant ragweed in our corn and soybean production systems.  Soil residual herbicides can remain active in the soil for a period of weeks to months after application.  The length of time a residual herbicide remains biologically active in the soil is influenced by soil texture, soil pH, organic matter, rainfall, and temperature.  Since these factors will vary from field to field, definitive time intervals of residual herbicide activity can be difficult to predict. Continue reading Soil Residual Herbicides And Establishment Of Cover Crops In The Fall →

Thinking about storing more grain this fall?

By Chris Bruynis OSU Extension

There are several market factors that may have farmers looking to increase their storage for this fall. With lower prices, some farmers will look to store grain and hope prices will improve. With the current basis and price improvement between the harvest period compared to the January/March delivery period of 22 to 40 cents for corn and 16 to 34 cents for soybeans, elevators are sending a message to store grain.

The concern I have is that we will use some facilities that are not typically used for grain storage making aeration challenging at best. With poor air movement, grain going into storage will need to be of better quality, lower foreign material, and probably lower moisture.

Farmers interested in learning some strategies for successful drying and storage of grain, specifically corn and soybeans, are invited to join a Zoom Webinar on Monday August 24, 2020 at 8:00 PM.  Dr. Kenneth Hellevang, Ph.D., PE, Extension Engineer and Professor from North Dakota State University will be the featured speaker. He is one of the leading experts on grain drying, handling and storage.

To join the webinar, go to https://osu.zoom.us/j/7911606448?pwd=L1pQQ0VoODROZG56Q015enNBQkVVUT09 and enter the Password: STORAGE

Also, if you cannot attend the program during the broadcast time, the recording will be available on the Ohio Ag Manager website following the program. The recording will be located at  https://u.osu.edu/ohioagmanager/resources.

If you have questions, fell free to contact Chris Bruynis, bruynis.1@osu.edu or 740-702-3200. If you need assistance logging in on the evening of the program, contact David Marrison at 740-722-6073 or marrison.2@osu.edu.

USDA Extends CFAP Deadline, Covers Additional Commodities

Producers can now apply for Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) assistance through Sept. 11.

USDA extended the deadline of the $16 billion COVID-19 relief package and announced additional commodities to be covered by the program this week.

Farmers who already applied and received assistance can also expect a final payment. While producers initially received 80% of their payments to ensure availability of funding, USDA said the Farm Service Agency (FSA) will now automatically issue the remaining 20% to those eligible. Going forward, approved CFAP applicants will receive 100% of their total payment.

USDA recommends producers, especially those who have not previously worked with FSA, call 877-508-8364 to start the application process. More info on CFAP and how to apply here.

Late-Season Waterhemp – The Goal is Stopping Seed

By Mark Loux OSU Extension

In our windshield scouting of soybeans this year we have seen a lot of weedfree fields.  This makes sense given the shift toward Xtend, LibertyLink, LLGT27, and Enlist soybeans over the past several years, which provides us with effective POST options for our major weed problems – common and giant ragweed, marestail, and waterhemp (now if we could just get rid of the baggage some of these traits carry).  We are however getting manyreports of late-season waterhemp as it grows through the soybeans and becomes evident.  This also makes sense given that statewide we are in the midst of an overall increase in waterhemp, and continue to move up the curve in terms of number of fields infested and the size of the infestations.  Prevention and management of waterhemp and Palmer amaranth has been one of the primary goals of our state and county educational programs for half a decade or more.  And one of the most important points about waterhemp and Palmer that we try to get across is their capacity for prodigious seed production – 500,000 to upwards of a million seeds per plant – and what this means for their ability to rapidly ramp up populations, infest equipment, etc.

Flowering Waterhemp

The bottom line here is that it’s essential to scout fields this time of the season and kill or remove plants that could produce seed.  Allowing even a few plants to produce seed means an increased population for the next year or two at least.  Running harvest equipment through planst loaded with seed is a primary mechanism of spread from field to field.  Plants can survive into late season because they emerged after herbicide treatments, or survived an improperly timed and less than effective POST treatment.  These plants should produce less seed than plants allowed to grow full season without interruption.  It’s also possible given waterhemp’s propensity to become resistant to any herbicide used against it, that the survivors are resistant to whatever POST herbicide was used.  Resistance to glyphosate, ALS, and PPO inhibitors is widespread in Ohio, and we expect the development of resistance to dicamba, 2,4-D, and glufosinate will occur given their intensity of use (which is why the current period of clean fields makes us nervous).  The only way to ensure that resistance does not develop is to follow herbicide programs with later season scouting and removal of plants to prevent seed. Continue reading Late-Season Waterhemp – The Goal is Stopping Seed →

2020 Ohio Wheat Performance Test

By: Laura Lindsey and Matthew Hankinson, OSU Extension

Yield results for the 2020 Ohio Wheat Performance Test are online at: https://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/wheattrials/default.asp?year=2020

The purpose of the Ohio Wheat Performance Test is to evaluate wheat varieties, blends, brands, and breeding lines for yield, grain quality, and other important performance characteristics. This information gives wheat producers comparative information for selecting the varieties best suited for their production system and market. Varieties differ in yield potential, winter hardiness, maturity, standability, disease and insect resistance, and other agronomic characteristics. Selection should be based on performance from multiple test sites and years.

In fall 2019, wheat was planted at four out of the five locations within 10 days of the fly-free date. Due to poor soil conditions, wheat was planted in Wood County 21 days after the fly-free date; however, wheat grain yield averaged 99.5 bu/acre at that location. Wheat entered dormancy in good to excellent condition. Early season wheat growth and development were slower than previous years due to cool temperatures and above average precipitation. Harvest conditions were favorable and harvest dates average. Results from Union County were not included in this report due to extreme field variability caused by high rainfall. Overall, grain test weight averaged 58.8 lb/bu (compared to an average test weight of 55.0 lb/bu in 2019). Across the Wood, Wayne, Darke, and Pickaway locations, grain yield averaged 93.8 bu/acre.