Fulton County Crop Scouting Update 6/23/08

During the past week I have done a crop scouting transect across Fulton County using County Road L and County Road B from the Lucas to the Williams County line. At each stop within a mile I noted crop growth stage, row width and plant population. Plus noted any weed, disease or insect presence. This is a summary of those observation.

The Corn crop has really taken off. The average growth stage would be V6 with a range of V3 to V9. Not surprisingly the crop is all planted in 30 inch rows the average plant population was 29,750 plants per acre. The range was 24,000 to 36,000. I did observe 1st generation corn borers at low levels in 3 fields of 37 fields scouted.

The Soybean crop is starting to work through the yellow stage from V1 to V2 where the seed nitrogen has run out and the nodules are fully fixing nitrogen. The average growth stage is V3 with a range of V1 to V6. Population and row widths are noted in the table below. The biggest pest problem is weeds which if they have not been taken care of should be a top priority. Lambsquarter, ragweeds and others are growing well in addition to the soybeans. Some Bean Leaf Beetle activity was noted but a very low levels. From a disease standpoint typical brown spot is seen but nothing that would be economical to treat.

Wheat continues to mature. A big change in color can be seen in the last week. Armyworm was being found in low numbers 1-3 per linear foot of row. Most wheat is at the point where all we need is a couple more weeks and we will be in harvest. Typically we start around July 10 and this seems to be our time frame at this point. Any high temps from this date on will hasten drydown. Harvest of wheat can begin as moisture reaches 18-22%. If you plan to double crop soybeans harvesting at higher moisture and running air on the wheat in the bin to finish drying to 13% can provide a couple day earlier planting date for double crop beans. Planting double crop beans after July 10 becomes increasingly less profitable and is why it is not a common practice here in NW Ohio. But has been successful if we have moisture about 1 out of 5 years. With soybean prices trading above $14.50 some will consider it. The current longterm weather forecast is somewhat favorable with the one month forecast of below average temperatures and above normal rainfall and the three month forecast of normal rainfall and temperatures .

More information on double cropping soybeans can be found at the link highlighted in the previous text.

What to Do with Thin Soybean Stands

Most corn and soybean fields in the local area have gotten off to a good start. There are some soybean fields that are the exception and a decision on what to do with these fields will need to be made soon.

The thought process on replanting is sometime straight forward where large areas have not emerged. Several of the field I have seen are not quite as straight forward. The stands are thin or rows are missing but there are some beans there. Likely we are seeing the effects of some of the germination problems that were associated with some lots of seeds and difference in some cases of planting depth from row to row.

The first question to answer is, Is this a fairly even stand. If the stand is even then it is worth doing a stand count and if the population is 75,000-90,000 plants per then the potential of 90% is doable. This stand may require an extra herbicide pass to keep weeds under control, but this type of stand may at this point be best left alone.

If the stand is fairly uneven then a closer evaluation is required. A publication on soybean replanting from Iowa State does a good job of summarizing the stand evaluation process and I would highly recommend taking at look at it. Soybean Replant Decisions.

5/30 Crop Report for Fulton County

Corn planting is completed. Emergence is progressing well and stands are good. Some nitrogen sidedressing is under way. Several have asked about nitrogen rates recommended by OSU. Midwest universities have moved away from a crop response model for N rates and have adopted an economic model that takes into account the current price of nitrogen and corn. The rates suggested are based on crop response models but acknowledge the wide range in corn yield response to various nitrogen rates. The model uses an Excel Spreadsheet format and can be found at Nitrogen Spreadsheet. For example with a corn price of $5.60 and anhydrous price of $900 a ton ($0.55 per pound of N) a total of 149 to 158 pound of N is recommended.

Soybeans are 65-75% planted. Emergence of the earliest planted beans began this week.

Wheat is in the 10.1 (head emergence) and will soon be in the 10.5 stage (flowering). This is the time to monitor for the potential for head scab. The wheat scab predictor website is an excellent monitor of weather conditions by region. Remember, scab develops best when wet, humid conditions occur during the seven days before flowering, so even if it is dry at flowering, any three to six days of extended rainfall during the seven days before flowering would be enough to increase the risk of scab. Now that we have fungicides labeled for head scab suppression, the risk tool would be of great value to help guide fungicide application decisions. Proper timing of fungicide application is critical for head scab suppression. It is extremely important to apply the fungicide at anthesis (when fresh male floral parts are seen sticking out of the heads), well before visual symptoms are seen on the heads. Symptoms usually develop about three weeks after anthesis (depending on the weather), so the risk tool can be used as a predictor of the risk of scab occurring to help guide fungicide decisions. In general, fungicides provide about 45 to 55% reduction in scab and vomitoxin, if applied at anthesis. Applications made 3 days before or 3 days after anthesis will reduce the level of suppression.

Alfalfa harvest has continued this week and should eliminate the potential for alfalfa weevil damage. Only a few fields have had the presence of this insect and damage has been fairly limited.

Defiance County 5/28 Crop Progess

Corn planting is essentially complete with approximately 30-40% emerged. Some concerns about sidewall compaction as the soil continues to dry. Soil crusting after planting has been noted on some tilled ground which may make emergence difficult. Rain showers are forecasted for Thursday night and Friday that could improve emergence.
Soybeans are 50-60% planted with approximately 10% emerged. Soybean seed supply remains tight. Current conditions and weather forecast suggests not a lot of widespread replant for 2008.
Alfalfa first cutting has begun with the remaining to be cut over the next 1-2 weeks. Some fields were sprayed for alfalfa weevil last week as larvea counts were greater than 2 per stem, defoliation greater then 50%, and harvest more than 2 weeks away. Approximately 25-30% of the alfalfa acres were damaged or distroyed by winter injury. Many of those fields have been killed with herbicide and planted to corn.

Garlic? Onion? Star of Bethlehem...

A plant was recently brought in as a weed in a corn/soybean rotation that caused me to spend a few minutes going through possibilities and then deciding I had something different. At first it looked like onion, but the bulbs did not have an onion odor, maybe wild garlic but no garlic odor, it really had no odor at all. I then noticed a distinct white mid-vein. The flower bud was there but not yet open could only tell that the plant had a white flower. A few minutes on the web and I had identified Star-of-Bethlehem. Not an common weed in a corn/soybean rotation that is in fact an escaped horticultural plant found in northern US and Canada. As you can see from the field view picture, the plants can be very thick in the field and one can image planting difficulties plus the potential moisture loss. The bulbs range from very small up to about quarter size. When in flowering you can note the 6 petal, white flower. The plant primarily spread by the bulbs so field to field spread is from tillage. Research from Southern Illinois University showed the best 12 month control came from Gramoxone application in the spring. SIU Factsheet on Star-of-Bethlehem.

5/21/08 Crop Observations for Fulton County

Wheat is generally between Feekes growth stage 9.0 and 10.0. Growth stage 9 is where the collar region of the flag leaf has cleared the end of the stem and Growth stage 10 would commonly be referred to as the boot stage where the head is still inside the stem but close to emergence. Generally few diseases are noted with only certain susceptible varieties with significant powdery mildew observations. No significant reports of wheat insects- aphids or armyworm have been received. Reports of injury from fall 2,4-D applications have been recieved from Fulton County. See previous article for more details or the CORN Newsletter.

Corn planting has progressed somewhat and we are nearing 60-70% planted which could fairly quickly change with a few more sunny days. The earlier planted crop is emerging. Stands appear to be very good, even in wet spots and emergence is not being delayed within the row. As expected with the cold days and nights the emerged plants are yellow with some of the common purple edges.

Soybean planting is generally just off to a good start. Maybe 15-20% have been planted with the first emergence just beginning.

Alfalfa is fairly advanced in growth and the first cutting was seen on May 20. Some alfalfa weevil activity has been noted but seems to be more scattered than reports just to the south of us. The weevil that have been found are also very small so more damage could potetnially be seen if harvest is delayed.

2,4-D Herbicide Injury to Wheat

Wheat fields that received an application of 2,4-D herbicide last fall are showing injury sympoms. The damage found ranges from 10% up to 90%+. The injury appears as distorted stems, crinkled leaves and stunted plants. Difference have been noted by variety, planting date and stage of tillering last fall. Observations and labels information have been summarized by Dr Mark Loux, OSU Extension Agronomist in the May 19th CORN Newsletter from OSU Extension. "Many of the fields that were most severely affected were treated with a combination of Peak and 2,4-D last fall, and the use of 2,4-D in these treatments may be a primary cause of the injury. Peak is labeled for postemergence application to wheat in fall or spring, from emergence until the second node is detectable in stem elongation (Feeke’s Growth Stage 7). Labels for 2,4-D products vary in their wording on the use of 2,4-D in wheat. The more conservative labels state that 2,4-D should be applied in the spring after wheat has fully tillered, while others (including some products used in the affected fields) state that application can be made after tiller initiation with no mention of fall versus spring application."

Options maybe limited for the most severely affected fields. 1) The Peak label has a 10 month recrop restriction for soybeans. pH above 7.8 also play into decisions about replanting. Refer to product label for details. A bioassay maybe used and is outlined in the previously mentioned CORN Newsletter article. 2) Field could possibly be harvested as wheatlage then replanted to corn. Restrictions on forage use should be checked. 3) Field could be sprayed with roundup and planted to corn. These fields would then need to be scouted for armyworm development.

For more details see the Crop Observation and Recommendation Newsletter-CORN.