Your Local Weekly Ag Partners Agronomic Update.
The one-stop-shop to hearing everything you need to know this week about what is happening in your fields.
This week’s featured agronomists are:
Austin Schultz- Le Center
Chad Wiersma- Owatonna
Tyrell Treptow – Goodhue
Kenny Loftus- Lewiston
Eric Soley- Ellsworth
Scroll down to hear from your local agronomist.
West
Belle Plaine – LeCenter – LeSueur
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Austin Schultz |
We find ourselves waiting on warmer weather and moisture here in the west. There are many things to focus on at this point in the growing season, however I think it is important to focus on weed control. This week we are wrapping up on pre-emerge spraying for corn and beans. I would say that 95% of our crops are planted and sprayed. Since we have been fortunate with a great spring that has been relatively dry, it has been pretty easy getting pre-emerges on everything in a timely manner that has been planted. |
The lack of moisture may have benefitted us in that regard, however it may come back to haunt us down the road. We need to keep an eye on our herbicides and watch closely for any escaped weeds as the pre-emergent treatments may start to lose their grip with the lack of moisture. As always, we need to focus on spraying the weeds while they are small, while layering the residuals and modes of action. Remember, one waterhemp plant that makes it to maturity on average produces 250,000 seeds which remain viable for 4-5 years. A giant ragweed can produce 15,000 seeds that remain viable for 2-3 years.
Central
Wanamingo – Kenyon – Morristown – Owatonna
|
Chad Wiersma |
Planting in our area is mostly wrapped up and we are continuing to still wait on rain and warm temps. We saw frost in areas the past few mornings. On a brighter note, the weatherman is calling for a warming trend and put some chances of rain in for the weekend and next week. |
Some of the corn has been in the ground for over a month and we are just now, in the past 5-7 days, seeing emergence. The earliest planted corn seems to be the most uneven with stands anywhere from 18,000 to 28,000. Some of the corn in the lower stand counts is still coming but it will be several days behind. While out scouting and digging I have found some cold shock and leafing out underground. In the following pictures you can see the stress the cold weather has put on our crop. Also, note the Giant Ragweed seems to be doing just fine.
South
Lewiston
|
Kenny Loftus |
Wow that was fast…nearly all of the corn has left the bag and has been planted. And unbelievably, the soybeans are not far behind. Now that the crop is in the ground and starting to emerge, it’s time to go give your planter a grade- its report card. How well did your planter place the seed? |
How well did your planter place the seed? Planter monitors have come a long way from the old “flashers” that flickered a small light bulb every time a seed passed a photo eye when falling through the seed tube. The latest generation of seed monitors informs operators of singulation, skips, doubles, seed spacing, ride quality, downforce and many other variables. Understanding the meaning to all those numbers on the screen is critical to optimizing planter performance.
Singulation: The simple definition of 100% singulation is one seed dropped at every spot you want a seed to drop. Thus, giving each seed the best chance to grow.
The top picture shows a stand with multiple doubles and skips. The bottom picture shows an ideal “picket fence” corn stand.
As the corn plants start to emerge, watch for Ag Partners to be out in your field, grading your planter. If you have more questions or would like to see your planter’s report card, feel free to reach out to your Ag Partners agronomist.
East
Pine Island – Cannon Falls -Goodhue -Lake City
|
Tyrell Treptow |
WATCH MY CORN POP UP IN ROWS! What else do we like to see? We like to see uniform emergence and growth. Attaining optimum plant populations and uniformity is more important than perfect spacing within a row – the “picket fence” stand. Variable emergence and growth reduces yield if development stages vary by two leaves or more. Grain yield is reduced by about 20% for plants that are one leaf stage behind earlier-emerged plants early in the season, and by 50% for plants that are two leaf stages behind. |
Several factors leading to uneven emergence:
- Variation in soil moisture
- Poor seed to soil contact
- Soil temperatures uneven from crop residues
Image Credit: https://assets.corteva.com/is/image/Corteva/corn-stand-evaluation-6a
TAKING STAND COUNTS
- Measure out 1/1000th of an acre based on your row width.
- For a 30-inch row spacing, measure out 17 feet, 5 inches.
- Count the number of live plants in the measured area.
- Watch this YouTube video to learn more about taking stand assessments.
Repeat this process multiple times across the field to provide a more accurate estimate of the number of plants per acre. Average the counts and multiply the average number of plants by 1,000 to obtain the plant population per acre.
WWAS
Ellsworth
|
Eric Soley |
If worrying about Aaron Rodgers’ future with the Packers wasn’t enough over here in Wisconsin, now we have to hope for a shot of rain soon too! Just about all of the corn acres are planted and the majority of soybeans will be done by week’s end- the only thing missing is heat and rain! With the warmer temps expected by the end of the week a lot of the early planted corn should start poking through the ground by the weekend. |
This corn field was planted April 22nd, 2021.
This will be an interesting year to do stand counts and see how the cooler and drier soil affected germination. It is easier to cool and heat dry soil which leads to more fluctuating temperatures and can cause uneven emergence.
It turns out that giant ragweed has an incredible seedling vigor score and its drought tolerance is off the charts. Therefore, we still have to be proactive in staying ahead of these tough to kill weeds, despite the cooler and drier weather.
Giant Ragweed thriving with our current Spring conditions.
We are still encouraging growers to continue with their planned pre-emerge herbicide program knowing that eventually we will get a rain to activate these chemicals and help us stay ahead of the weeds.
