Harvest around the corner....are you ready?

Harvest is almost here. I found my first bit of black layered corn today. It was 97 day corn south of Dickens. The husks were open and it will be ready in about 2 weeks if it stays nice. Have you been watching your corn begin to change color? I have been out in a lot of corn. I am looking for fields that should be harvested first and fields that should be able to stand awhile. In one instance I found a later variety that will need to go first at a higher moisture because we found some stalks that we were able to squeeze very easily. A strong wind could jepordize the harvested yield for a otherwise great looking corn hybrid. My advice is take a little time and look at your fields. Know where the various hybrids are in each field and know if you need to harvest first or even ahead of the beans to get it into the bin at its maximum potential. You paid for the inputs and have hopefully marketed at the good commodity prices we ware seeing. You deserve to get it into the bin too. Remember that we lose about a .5 - .8 point of moisture per day under average drying conditions. If the husks are open and the ears get the air they can crash even faster. Tighter husks will possibly slow down dry down. It will still pay to take out 17-19% corn this year if the stalks are lodging or blowing over.

Beans will be coming along on a couple weeks as well. Do you know what your fertility plans are for the next crop? Do you know if you plan on rotating or doing continuous corn? If your field needs soil samples let your agroinomist know now. A little planning now helps ensure tasks are completed in a timely fashion this fall. Remember that if your yields are improving to fertilize for that. The old 23-60-60 or 31-80-80 is no longer the standard two year fetilizer blend if you are trying for 180+ bu. corn and 60+ bu. beans. If you attended our answer plots this summer you saw how fertilizer applied for each year was showing better results from a plant health, harvest timing, and yield points of view.

These componets all come together as R7. The right genetics for the right soil type at the right plant population in the right cropping system with the right traits fed the right plant nutrition defended with the right crop protection. See one of Green Plains Agronomist today to see how we can fit into your farm operation and assist you in making the right choices for success.

Post Applications and Mixing Order

As we begin to think about post emergence applications, make sure you visit with your application teams and farmers about the proper mixing order. It is very important with all herbicides, but becomes critical when adding micronutrients to the tank. Follow these simple steps:

The DALE Sequence
Create the best environment for chemistry compatibility with this general mixing rule:
Dry flowables: add these to water in the mix tank first.
Agitate to fully disperse chemicals; begin agitation before adding chemicals.
Liquid chemicals: add liquids or flowables while continuing to agitate.
Emulsified concentrates (ECs): add these next.

After the DALE sequence, surfactants and oils are generally added last.

Micronutrient/Glyphosate Mixing Sequence
For maximum activity, glyphosate and/or micronutrients need to be added in the correct order.
1. Fill the tank halfway with water.
2. Class Act® NG® or AMS, to condition water.
3. Add micronutrients, then more water.
4. Add glyphosate.
5. Use the DALE sequence for remaining products.

A few extra minutes mixing things properly can save a lot of time versus cleaning out a tank that is no longer a sprayable liquid or if you have to respray the field.

Spring 2010: Corn and Cold Weather . . . When to Spray

Spring 2010: Corn and Cold Weather . . . When to Spray

I'm sure that you've come face to face with the cold weather we've seen over the last few days. This brings me to a very important issue . . .

DON'T SPRAY THE CORN THAT'S ALREADY UP WHEN WEATHER IS THIS COLD!! !

Here's why:

• The corn was growing normally prior to the cold & wet weather system now in place; so were the weeds and grasses. It was appropriate to spray the fields prior to the weather system moving in, however, we should wait for actively growing weeds and a growing crop before spraying again. With good growing weather, the weeds & grasses were developing a very thin cuticle layer, which was really easy to penetrate with chemicals you applied. Remember, the corn plant gets covered with just as much chemical as the weeds do. Cold weather really slows the chemical breakdown process (metabolism) in the corn plant. At the same time, the plant is not actively growing and may struggle to metabolize the chemical which can add further injury to the crop. When it is this cold, weeds are not actively growing either, which is what we chemical companies stress for successful post-application results. The corn and weeds are still alive, yet they are growing at a very reduced pace when it's cold. Keep in mind when temperatures are below 50° degrees F, the corn is not accumulating any heat units needed for crop growth.
  
• You're probably not going to be happy with your kill if you spray ANY CHEMICAL in these cold conditions, and besides, you might ding your corn. Avoid this heartache.
  

How long do we have to wait before we can do our post-applications? Opinions vary on this, but a general guideline would be to wait until neither the nighttime nor daytime temperatures drop below 60 degrees. Also, the corn should be allowed at least 48-72 hours to start actively growing before any spray application occurs. Makes for safer corn, deader weeds.

Greg Alexander

Sales Representative

712-395-1026

galexander@dow.com

Assessing Frost Damage on Corn and Soybeans

Here is some information from Steve Barnhart. Since we had some frost Sunday morning I thought maybe there would be soem folks worried about the affects.

Frost hit many areas of the Midwest this weekend. Fortunately in most of these areas much of the corn and soybeans are either not planted or they have not emerged. However, in Missouri and other more southern areas of the Midwest, these crops have emerged and are susceptible to injury. Frost issues create a number of grower questions as to their effect on emerged corn and soybeans. The following may help answer some of these questions.

When ever frost occurs and crops are damaged, growers request help in assessing the extent of the crop damage. Often they want someone to come the same day or day following a frost. To more accurately diagnose the extent of damage and chances of recovery, examination of affected plants should be delayed for a few days (usually a minimum of 3-4 days) following the frost.

Generally speaking, final stands and yield of corn are not affected by frost that occurs during the 4-leaf stage of growth and earlier. Above ground plant tissue can be frozen, turn gray, and wilt; however, the growing point which is below the soil surface at this stage of growth is generally not affected. If weather conditions should warm up, normal growth would be expected to occur. If weather conditions following a frost remain cool and wet, instead of drying up, above ground leaf tissue may begin to decay. This decay or mold can move down in the plant and eventually affect the growing point. The duration of below freezing temperatures is also important. If freezing temperatures persist for more than just a couple of hours, the growing point (even below ground) may be affected.

At about the 5-leaf stage of growth, the growing point is at the soil surface and will be above ground with further growth. The growing point is in the center of the developing above ground stalk and is protected somewhat from freezing conditions; however, there is a greater risk of significant damage compared to earlier growth stages.

To assess the damage to young corn seedlings, dig up a number of plants and carefully dissect them to expose the growing point. On 4-leaf corn, the growing point will generally be 0.5-1" below the soil surface. If the growing point is firm and not a discolored gray, tan or brown, normal growth will occur as the weather warms up. A water-soaked, discolored growing point indicates that the growing point is injured and probably dead. Too often growers jump the gun and replant when all that was actually damaged was some leaf tissue resulting in cosmetic damage, but no real yield or stand reductions.

Unlike corn, the growing point on soybean seedlings is above ground from emergence on. Soybeans can actually withstand temperatures lower than corn without significant damage; however, the growing point is exposed making them more susceptible to freezing temperatures. All of the leaf tissue on soybeans may be injured and turn black or brown and the soybean plant can still recover. There are axillary buds located at the attachment area of the cotyledons, unifoliate and trifoliate leaves that can develop if the leaves and terminal growing point are damaged. As long as these axillary buds are not damage by the frost, the plant can recover.

To assess the extent of damage to soybeans caused by freezing conditions, you need to examine the plants to see if just the leaf tissue is affected or whether the axillary buds have also been damaged. Axillary buds located at each node need to be examined. If the buds are dark green or black, the plant is probably dead. Again, like in corn, don't be too hasty in making a replant decision. Give it several days to determine what percent of the actual stand is affected. Soybeans can compensate very well for stand reductions early in the season.

Steve Barnhart

Regional Agronomist – Winfield Solutions

712-943-4690

Planting Time

How do you decide when to hook up the planter and put the corn in? Is it by the calendar? Do you wait until your neighbor is planting? Do you want to beat your neighbor to the field? Do you always wait until the ground is fit?
These are good questions and responses we often hear. We are curious what makes you decide. The best window is probably April 15 - May 10. This is actually a large window. If you plan for the 15th, but it rains or the field isn't ready yet. You can wait until the next week and so on and still get planted within that window in most cases.
Another bit of advice is to call a week ahead and get on the schedule for your fertilizer applications. You can always call and reschedule if the fields aren't ready, but at least you will be in the schedule. This will make the whole system work a little smoother and potentially allows you to not have to wait for your fertilizer.
We'd like to hear your comments on planting timing.

Let the thawing commence

March is finally here! That usually means longer days, slightly warmer temperatures, and the possibility of lousy, wet weather. This week we should see some thawing especially if the night time temperatures don't drop to dramatically.
If you have been in the country you have noticed the tiles and creeks have been running for a while now. Two weeks ago ISU reported that the 4 inch soil depth temp. was about 31 degrees F. I would say we are thawing from the bottom up. This combined with gradual thawing could lessen some flooding. However we experienced lots of fog this winter so I would guess we will have a rather rainy end of March and April.
What does this mean? Soil conditions will probably be difficult. Timing for tillage, fertilizer applications, & planting will be difficult. We will be trying to be as on the time as possible with applications, but stress and tension will no doubt be high again this spring. What can you do to help make spring work as smooth as possible? Meet with your sales agronomist in March. Plan your fields. What work needs done? What order will they likely be done in? When will your seed be delivered? Can you make crop plans and work orders now? Taking care of these house keeping items in March will potentially make April and May work much less stressful.
What concerns should you have about Nitrogen management when there is a wet spring threat? If you are on a Nitrogen management plan trying to use precision planting techniques you may need to look at the soil types again to check the leaching risks for those soil types so you can be prepared to manage loss.
Fall NH3 applications have the possibility of experiencing added losses to an extra wet spring. Be prepared to side-dress nitrogen or add some over the top pre-plant nitrogen fertilizer.
If your planning on putting all your nitrogen on pre-plant watch for losses if we have excess rains. React by side dressing. Another option would be to use nitrogen inhibitors such as Instinct.

We have been waiting for months to start a new season. Spring is marked on the calender in 20 days. Let's hope for spring weather too.

Time to Check Your Grain Quality Again

Grain quality will become an issue again soon. Please be checking your bins. As the days begin to warm up again problems that existed in the fall will begin to fester again.

Here are the points to the concerns:

The corn was wet - 20% or higher sometimes

Test weights were low. They didn't often increase after drying.

Low protein was common.

Storage life is about half of normal corn at the same moisture and temperatures.

One comment I hear a lot is "I dried the corn down to 12 or 13% last fall it will be fine." This may be true, but more often than not this year you could still see issues. Hot spots can form form the higher FM we have been seeing this year. Take the cores out to help remove the trash.

Inspect your corn weekly and record the temperatures. Changes(increases) in temperature over time without fan activity are an indication that the corn is beginning to spoil. Spoiling corn will continue to be problem until it is moved out.

Mold damage was higher than normal last fall. It was running around 3-5%. Normally we only see about 1-2%. It was often cladisporium which doesn't produce toxins.

Here is a list of items you can do now:

Record the temperature, moisture, test weight of grain in every bin. This will be key for later decisions.

If you have corn wetter than 20% or higher, dry or move asap.

Market your lightest to heaviest test weight.

If possible remove grain form each bin in early March. Check & re-level.

If your temperatures go up move immediately.

Test protein and toxins levels if feeding grain.

Remember that damage levels were high coming out of the fields in the fall. It would make since that we will still have damage coming out of storage. This will make blending to make good corn difficult. Corn will be graded at delivery and expect that there will be discounts if you have high damage. Good quality corn will be in demand this summer. It will pay to keep checking your grain.