Corn

2023 eFields Booklet Now Available!

The 2023 eFields Book is now available in local Extension Offices. The eFields booklet is a free publication that highlights on-farm research from around the state. The topics in this year’s copy are Corn, Soybean, Small Grain, Forages, Water Quality, Tech, and Other. Each of these sections highlights research conducted during the 2023 growing season. This booklet hosts a lot of exciting information that can assist agriculturists in their management decisions. Stop into the Extension Office to pick up your copy today!

The companion copy of this book for livestock is eBarns. The 2022 copy of this report is available at this link. This publication also covers on-farm research from across the state in the areas of Forages, Dairy, Beef, Small Ruminant, Manure Nutrients, Swine, and Poultry.

Williams County Crop Update – October 16, 2023

All information is representative of the Williams County Area. Based on the Bryan Zip Code, over last week and this weekend, the accumulated rainfall hovered around 1.2 inches. Temperatures have not dipped below freezing yet, the average date for the first has passed, so freezing temperatures should be expected at any point.

Corn harvest is just getting started, and not a lot of acres have been harvested yet. The acres that have been harvested have been coming off with high moisture, 18-25%. There has been vomitoxin reported; however, the levels are below concern. Soybeans are around 60% harvested. At the beginning of harvest, the soybeans were coming in dry around 12-13% moisture; however, with the recent rainfall and cloud cover, soybeans are coming in on the wetter side with 15-17% moisture. The current average has hovered around 60 bushels per acre, with the range being 50-70 bushels per acre. Wheat is beginning to be planted and fields are also being tilled as the crops come off the field.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) is currently monitoring Box Tree Moth (BTM) (Cydalima perspectalis, family Crambidae). It is currently being found in southwest Ohio. It is the first time this nonnative boxwood defoliator has been found in Ohio. For more information, visit the ODA website or the article published on Buckeye Yard & Garden online (Boxwood Tree Moth Article).

Battle for the Belt: Corn vs. Soybean

Have you ever wondered or debated with others on which crop should be planted first – corn or soybean?

  • Which crop has the smallest yield penalty for delayed planting?
  • Can you adjust your management practices to mitigate losses due to late planting?
  • How are insects, diseases, weeds, and other factors affected by planting date?

For soybean and corn, earlier planting is promoted to maximize yield; however, the planting date window is often short and disconnected due to bad weather. As a result farmers often ‘debate’ which crop should be planted first – corn or soybean.

Follow along with Dr. Laura Lindsey and Dr. Osler Ortez as they ‘Battle for the Belt’. Videos and updates will be posted on the CORN newsletter and the AgCrops Team Youtube channel. Click here to access the YouTube playlist.

Research: the plan is to conduct field experiments at three locations in 2023: Western, Northwest, and Wooster. Five planting date windows:

  1. Ultra-early (first two weeks of April)
  2. Early (second two weeks of April)
  3. Normal (first two weeks of May)
  4. Late (last two weeks of May)
  5. Very late (first two weeks of June)

Corn and soybean will be planted side by side on each planting date. The plan is to repeat the study in 2024.

Extension: on the extension side, we plan on having short, bi-weekly video updates from the field that will be advertised through the CORN newsletter, YouTube, and Twitter. Video updates will include agronomists (OSU and others), other specialists (e.g., plant pathology, weed science, entomology), and farmers. Each will ‘weigh’ the benefits/drawbacks of planting each crop too early or too late. In addition, the research outcomes will be presented as extension articles and talks at extension programming events and field days across the state.

 

Replanting Decisions in Corn and Soybeans… What to Consider

By:  Osler Ortez, Laura Lindsey, and Alexander Lindsey

Early plantings, cold air and soil temperatures, precipitation, wind, and warmer temperatures during or after planting may lead to reduced stands in planted fields due to factors such as imbibitional chilling, frost damage, soil crusting, and standing water. These factors (or combinations of them) can negatively affect seedling vigor, plant growth, crop establishment, and plant stands. Reduced stands may result in lower yields. If reduced stands are a concern, a potential solution is to replant fields. However, before replanting, here is a list of steps to consider: Continue reading →

eFields Partnering with Growers to Evaluate Xyway™ Fungicide

Northern corn leaf blight symptoms

By:  Stephanie Karhoff

Preventing significant yield losses from disease is likely on the forefront of growers’ minds following the 2021 growing season. A new product in our disease management toolbox is FMC’s fungicide Xyway™ LFR®. OSU Extension eFields program is partnering with growers to conduct on-farm trials evaluating the effect of an at-plant soil application of flutriafol (Xyway) on corn health and yield. Information from this trial will be used to improve corn disease management recommendations for growers throughout the state. Continue reading →

OSU Extension Williams County to Monitor Corn Pests and Pathogens

Western Bean Cutworm Trap

OSU Extension Williams County will be monitoring for Western Bean Cutworm (WBC) moths again during the 2022 growing season.

Moths are trapped by placing pheromone traps (see picture) at the edge of corn fields throughout the county, and checked on a weekly basis beginning late June and proceeding through August.

The WBC monitoring program is a state-led initiative to better understand insect populations, and develop management recommendations for growers. Each week, WBC numbers will be published in the C.O.R.N. newsletter. Williams County WBC numbers will also be published on this blog on a weekly basis. (Farm name and location is NOT shared with WBC numbers).

New this year, OSU Extension Williams County will also be collaborating with State Specialist Dr. Pierce Paul to monitor spore movement of the fungal pathogen that causes Tar spot in corn. Traps will be placed at the edge of corn fields and then analyzed by the corn pathology lab in Wooster to count the number of spores present. This will help answer the question of how this pathogen spreads and will improve Tar spot management strategies. Fields that have been affected by Tar spot in the past are preferred.

If you are interested in hosting a WBC bucket trap or Tar spot spore trap in one of your corn fields in 2022, please call ANR Educator Stephanie Karhoff at 419-636-5608 by April 1 with field location.

Low Vomitoxin Levels in Corn but Rain and Delayed Harvest Could Change this Picture

By:  Pierce Paul, Wanderson B. Moraes, Marian Luis

After walking more than 40 corn fields and sampling more than 3,500 ears, we believe that Gibberella ear rot (GER), and consequently, vomitoxin levels likely will be much lower this year than they were last fall. This is because conditions during the weeks after silking were considerably less favorable for the disease to develop and the toxin to contaminate grain this year than last year. However, as is often the case, there were a few exceptions. We found low levels of GER in (sentinel-type) plots and research fields deliberately planted with hybrids that are highly susceptible to the disease, and these plots/fields will likely yield grain with some level of vomitoxin contamination (we are still processing our samples). Averaged across 10 locations, the incidence of GER on a susceptible hybrid ranged from 10 to 20%, i.e., 1 to 2 out of every 10 ears had visual symptoms of GER, and on average, less than 5% of the surface area of affected ears showed symptoms of the disease. Continue reading →

Answer your Tar Spot Questions with On-Farm Research

By:  Stephanie Karhoff

To growers’ dismay, 2021 is shaping up to be a “good” year for Tar Spot (“good” if you are a plant pathologist at least). Though the combine will have the last say on Tar Spot’s yield impact on corn fields across Williams County, it is already evident that Tar Spot has become more widespread across the county, state, and even the Corn Belt. Continue reading →

Tar Spot more Widespread Cross the State of Ohio in 2021

By:  Pierce Paul, Mark Badertscher, Marian Luis

Contrary to what was observed over the last three growing seasons when tar spot was restricted to a few counties in the NW corner of the state, in 2021, the disease has so far been reposted in 21 counties, including as far South as Clark County and as far east as Holmes County. In the past, the disease was seen late in the season (after R4), but this year it was reported in some fields at or before silking (R1). In most of the effected fields, only a few stromata (black tar-like spots) are observed on a few leaves, but in other cases, large sections of fields are affected and there is evidence of an increase in disease severity (percentage of leaf surface covered with stromata) as the crop matures. Severely affected fields show premature drying and wilting of leaves. Another interesting observation is the different in the pattern of development of stromata among hybrids. Disease severity varies considerable among hybrids; some affected hybrids develop many small spots (stromata) that do not seem to increase in size over time, whereas other hybrids develop fewer, but much larger stromata. Continue reading →