| Printable Version
It's The Little Things
by Clark Poppert- Geneva, NE
Yes, it’s the little things that make a difference! It is this way in all walks of life; education, marriage and competition. There was a time in agriculture where you could plant, water and harvest and make somewhat of a profit without being efficient and managing a fine tuned operation. That has all changed. To be successful in today’s business climate, you, as a grower, must not only be good at marketing and raising a crop, you must be excellent. If you have a weakness in any part of your operation, it shows, and financially, it hurts. We all know that farming is a lifestyle, but those growers that are still in business know that it’s just that, a business. The family farm is still here, but it has been transformed into a big business. The many decisions that you make this time of year are so important to your bottom line.
Treating with a fungicide has been, so we say, trendy the last 2-3 years. Does it pay? According to Servi-Tech research it does in certain areas of the Midwest. The last three years, with the price of corn and the average yield advantage of approximately ten bushels per acre, in Southeast Nebraska we have been able to come close to doubling our investment that was made in the fungicide and application. We will probably not see this large of a return on a yearly basis, but can we break-even 75% of the time? Yes, probably easier than one might think. We get so caught up in the yield difference and the commodity price that we do not consider harvest expenses. Use your own numbers to compare your harvest costs; labor, fuel and machine hours in a field where a fungicide was applied to a field that is lodging or even worse, down. Reducing harvest speed by 25% adds enough cost to pay a large part of the fungicide bill. Downfalls that have been seen the last few years with heavier fungicide use are about a half point higher grain moisture and the price of fungicides. A few companies have substantially raised their prices for 2009 inwhat looks like a move to test the top end of the market. This is not last on your agronomist’s mind and they will recommend what product is going to make your bottom line the healthiest.
Another little thing that has gained a lot more exposure the last few years is the final irrigation. Twenty years ago, many growers felt that they did not need irrigation scheduling. Over the years that frame of mind has changed. One pass with the pivot is expensive! Agronomists can always tell when the fuel and electric bills are mailed out, because we hear the same questions and get the same disgusted looks when we recommend, continue to irrigate. Remember that your agronomist makes these recommendations because this is the best decision for your bottom line.
We realize that investing money that might not have been budgeted is tough, but we try making recommendations to insure the best possible bottom line for your business and for your family.
Sulfur Deficiencies
by Travis Kinnison- Osceola, NE
|
|
More frequently, sulfur deficiencies are showing up as producers push yields to new levels in some areas of our territories. With high fertilizer prices, is another nutrient cost input necessary for your operation?
Sulfur is important for synthesis of amino acids, protein formation and photosynthesis. A 200 bushel per acre corn crop uses approximately 34 pounds of sulfur/acre.
Sulfur deficiency is most common on low organic matter, sandy soils. This year, with a very cool May, sulfur deficiency was evident in no-till, heavy crop residue fields. Sulfur deficiency shows up as yellowing between veins in the newest plant growth. Sulfur is immobile and does not readily move from old growth to new growth as opposed to nitrogen deficiency, which will show up first on the bottom leaves. The best way to diagnose a deficiency in sulfur is with a tissue analysis. Laboratory test results may be reported with sulfur sufficiency ranges and also nitrogen to sulfur ratios. Desirable nitrogen to total sulfur ratios range from 7:1 to 15:1. Larger ratios could point to a potential deficiency of sulfur in the plant. Please visit with your Servi-Tech agronomist if you are interested in a tissue test and interpretation from him/her, or a Servi-Tech laboratory representative.
There are many different sulfur fertilizer sources that may be used for rescue treatment if sulfur is deficient. Two of the more common forms are a dry-spread material of (21-0-0-24) ammonium sulfate or liquid ammonium thiosulfate (12-0-0-26). Ammonium sulfate (21-0-0-24) is usually dry-spread near the V4 to V6 stage of the corn plant, incorporated into the soil with cultivation, or watered into the soil using the center pivot. An added benefit is the nitrogen in ammonium thiosulfate is in the NH4+ form, unlike urea, which may be susceptible to a substantial amount of nitrogen loss. Conditions that favor this nitrogen loss are high residue, warm temperatures, alkaline soil pH, and low CEC. Ammonium thiosulfate is typically applied as a liquid through side-dress rigs such as cultivators, liquid injection machines, and also through center pivots.
Another source of sulfur, that is often times overlooked is your irrigation water. Many of the wells that are high in nitrates, especially through the Platte River Valley, may be high in sulfates as well. When irrigation water exceeds approximately five ppm, SO4-S, deficiency of sulfur is rarely seen. An irrigation water sample can be collected by your Servi-Tech consultant and be tested to see how much sulfur you are applying while irrigating. Please talk to your agronomist about this service.
Source: Fertilizing for Irrigated Corn Guide to Best Management Practices Edited by W.M. Stewart and W.B. Gordon
|
SmartCrop in Your Field
by Adam Banks- Geneva, NE
As irrigation season starts in central Nebraska, we need to keep in mind the many factors that are used for scheduling irrigation. This season, Servi-Tech has access to new technology that is helping track these factors. Servi-Tech is using SmartCrop, which was created by a company called Smartfield. This technology uses the plants themselves to monitor irrigation.
A Servi-Tech agronomist places the wireless sensors in the crops with infrared thermometers that measure the crop canopy temperatures. These readings are sent back to a base station on the pivot point where a digital rain gauge, thermometer, and relative humidity sensors are located. Each sensor can measure IR temperatures along with ambient temperatures. We can then determine the amount of stress each crop is experiencing based on the temperature of the canopy. Plants use the moisture in the soil to cool themselves and each crop has a base temperature in which they grow the best. Once the temperature changes on the crop, we know that moisture is either adequate or running low. The stress is measured in time units and charted on graphs to show the trend of the stress. Each crop is allowed so many stress minutes past the initial point of stress before irrigation is needed. By measuring the crop temperature, along with being able to monitor the rainfall and relative humidity, we can accurately tell when crops need water. If the plants are in stress, but the relative humidity is too high, we can see that even with water we will not be able to relieve the stress of the plants.
All of this information is relayed via cell phone signal. The base station has its own modem and communicates with the internet and your cell phone. You have the option of setting up alerts on your cell phone. The station will send you a text message when a rainfall event has happened, the pivot is running or has shut down, or if the crop is under stress and it is time to start the pivot. If your pivot is running and a rainfall event occurs, this system has the option of shutting down your pivot after a specified amount of rainfall has occurred which will take your plants out of stress.
There are many options with this system, but the bottom line is that actually monitoring the plants themselves, versus soil moisture, is more efficient, and being efficient saves money. Servi-Tech is monitoring 77 systems this year in Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado. The information gathered this year and the results seen already will help push this technology forward.
Please contact your agronomist or Servi-Tech’s SmartCrop Service Representative, Tanner Oliphant, if you are interested in more SmartCrop information: tannero@servi-techinc.com or 620-408-6277.
|
Illegal Water Wells: Quailfications & Solutions
by Nancy Jenny- Hastings, NE
Abandoned wells can be a significant environmental and safety hazard if they are not decommissioned properly.
What used to be termed as abandoned well, by Nebraska regulations have now been re-termed as “illegal” wells, thus signifying the importance of the necessity to take such a situation seriously.
An abandoned or “illegal” well is one that has not been properly decommissioned and can be identified and judged by the criteria as stated in the NebGuide G1471 as follows:
1). Well is in such condition that it cannot be placed as active
or inactive status.
2). Necessary operating equipment has been removed and has
not been placed in an inactive status.
3). Water well is in such disrepair that continued use for the
purpose it was constructed is no longer viable.
4). Water wells constructed after Oct. 1, 1986, but not construct
ed by a licensed well contractor or by an individual on land
owned by him or her for farming, ranching, or agricultural
purposes, or at place of abode.
5). Water well poses a health and safety hazard.
6). Water well is illegal according to state statutes.
7). Water well was constructed after Oct. 1, 1986, and is not in
compliance with the standards developed under the Water
Well Standards and Contractors Licensing Act.
Nebraska alone has many illegal wells that potentially threaten the safety of our ground water. During the time of early settlers it was common to have more than one well per homestead, each constructed at the point of use, rather than have a central well that fed several distribution points. Due to consolidation and modernization, these wells have been abandoned or taken out of service without proper decommissioning. A windmill tower is a sign that there is likely a well in the area. Old stock tanks, cement pads (where a windmill once stood), and a pipe sticking out of the ground are clues to where an abandoned well may still be in existence.
Illegal wells can compromise human safety and health. Wells not properly decommissioned can allow direct flow from the surface to the groundwater below, allowing contaminates to directly effect the water integrity. Organic wastes, microbial contaminates, pesticides, fertilizers, even small animals can easily infiltrate a well that has not been properly decommissioned. Open water wells can also pose an imminent physical threat to small children and animals in the event they should fall into the well.
If you become aware of the possibility of an illegal well, it would be wise to inform the landowner of the potential hazards that could occur if the well was not decommissioned properly.
There are specific processes that have been stated in State guidelines, described in Title 178, Chapter 12, “Regulations Governing Water Well Construction, Pump Installation and Water Well Decommissioning Standards” of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
Decommissioning steps involve removal of well equipment, excavation, disinfection, filling and sealing, capping, backfilling and reporting the well.
The cost of decommissioning an illegal well varies according to characteristics of the well, such as: accessibility, construction materials, depth, diameter and condition. Materials may include: sand, gravel, concrete, chlorine, and fuel. The cost of decommissioning an abandoned well may run from $300 - $1500.
There is an importance and necessity to protect our groundwater. Nearly every Nebraska Resources District (NRD) offers cost sharing incentives to assist in the decommissioning of abandon wells. NRD’s will assist with 60-75% of the cost, therefore alleviating the cost burden to the well owner.
Chloride & Wheat Revisited
by Mike Ferrari- Yuma, CO
Chloride is an essential micronutrient for proper plant growth and plays a role in plant photosynthesis and enzyme activation, as well as the movement of water and nutrients within the plant and stomata operation. Adequate chloride levels also help in minimizing lodging, and suppressing disease. Chloride has also been found to control physiological leaf spotting in certain varieties of wheat and barley.
In the soil, chloride (Cl-) is a negatively charged element. It behaves much like nitrate, in that it does not attach to clay or organic matter in the soil, but moves freely (up and down within a soil profile) with soil water. Chloride levels in soil tend to be greatest in areas close to oceans, from atmospheric deposition, where potash fertilizer, (potassium chloride), is used extensively, and in irrigated areas where chloride levels are high in irrigation water.
Research has shown that wheat varieties vary greatly in their sensitivity to low chloride levels. The presence of non-physiological leaf spotting in susceptible varieties is indicative of chloride deficiency. These same “susceptible” varieties have shown some of the greatest yield responses to corrected chloride defiencies. Research has also shown that yield responses vary from year to year even within the same cultivar, whether they are of the suseptible variety or not. However, the overall trend of response to low chloride-tested soils is positive.
Wheat production factors that show the highest probability of response to chloride include:
1.) Soil test levels (0-2 ft) of less than 40 pounds per acre
or leaf tissue levels less than 0.12% .
2.) The use of wheat varieties that exhibit
physiological leaf spotting and are more susceptible
to leaf rust.
3.) Continuous wheat or situations where leaf and root
disease pressures would be high.
Under the right conditions proper chloride levels can cause significant yield increases in wheat production. Take time to visit with your Servi-Tech consultant to see if chloride should be part of your wheat fertility program.
Wheat 2010 Questions
by Dave Green- Haxtun, CO
Managing the High Plains wheat crop is getting more complicated every day. We face decisions about planting products in regard to new varieties released by the state breeding programs, as well as various private programs. Should you select a variety with high yield in the best situation, or a workhorse variety that will stay tough for years and will still be in the top 25% of the varieties? More so, what disease tolerance or resistance is critical and what diseases can we manage by other means? Do we need to consider one of the new varieties that has some level of virus tolerance or avoidance of the vector even though they may not be the top in yield? Is it a high yield irrigated situation or a marginal dryland situation? All of these questions and more are important in making decisions.
Diseases can include the rusts (leaf, stripe, stem), tan spot, or various other foliar diseases. Also rearing its head more and more are the viruses. We used to know of wheat streak mosaic virus, barley yellow dwarf virus and soil borne mosaic virus; now we have to add high plains virus and triticum mosaic virus. Research is revealing one of these viruses in a plant is bad, but two at a time can be lethal to plant performance. Most of the viruses are best managed by breaking the “green bridge” of the aphid or mite vectors prior to drilling the new crop, but soil borne mosaic requires resistant varieties. This requires producers to be good neighbors by controlling their own volunteer and alternate hosts where possible in the hopes the producers around them do the same.
Has your production method shifted to less summer fallow, no-till or more continuous crop? If it has, the old fertilizer plan may not be appropriate. No-till and continuous cropping doesn’t cycle the nutrients in the soil organic matter as fast as some fertilizer, especially if nitrogen might be needed. Shortage of basic fertility can make plants appear to have disease problems.
There are many seed treatment options. Micronutrient application and disease agents are hot topics at this time. Obtaining repeatable results when testing can be a problem, but they do fit some situations. In northeast Colorado there seems to be more loose smut, which is a situation best dealt with by a seed treatment.
Should we be using our bin run seed and if so how should it be prepared? There is good data to say certified class seed pays its way and should help avoid some of the weed seed and seed borne disease issues. Is our saved seed of the proper test weight, seed size and protein to maximize emergence and subsequent production?
Putting this whole puzzle together takes time, expertise and a little luck from the weather to have a good crop for the next harvest. Your crop specialist can help answer these questions and others to put the puzzle together for the 2010 crop.
|