Here we go!

Corn is 'rolling' out of the fields in Franklin County. Though a lot of corn is still standing we are starting to take high moisture off and it looks like quite the crop so far. Today I was in a field that was running about 24% and with a corrected yield of 230 bu. It looks like most of this years corn will be a great crop. This field was an early planted field with 114 day corn. Overall I believe we will see high yields across the county. Most silage has been running around 25 tons on the better soils with highs in the 30's. Some of the less productive ground has been running around 15-18 tons which isn't bad at all! Tomorrow I'm going out to harvest the Franklin Co. bean plots so hopefully I have some information on what the bean crop looks like as well.

Cut Costs, don’t eliminate!

As I was working on my father-in-law's dairy farm this weekend I couldn't help but think of the current economic situation facing all dairy farmers and most of agriculture in general. Things are tight and because of this costs need to be reassessed. As I was bedding up some cows I thought of how crucial some costs really are. Take the straw I was using at that point. I could have just eliminated the use of the straw to cut costs, however we all know the long term affects of that would be devastating in cattle health and production. This got me thinking about all the upcoming costs on the agronomic side of farming and where we may try to eliminate costs that may hurt us in the long run. Here are some of my thoughts.

Soil testing is a practice we preach all the time, and the fall is the best time to do it. Although this can be a low cost practice it may be one that gets a scrutinizing eye as we hit hard times. Depending on your current testing practices you may have some room to cut costs here, but they should not be eliminated. If you soil test every year you can probably take a year off. Use last year's soil tests along with this year's crop grown and yield to estimate nutrient removal and thus see what nutrients need to be added for next year's crop. If you haven't soil tested in over three year you ought to consider taking soil samples to check where you are at.

Once you have soil tested the question always is where do I spend money first? The most important area in soil health and nutrient availability to the plant is pH. If you have low pH (low depends on crop but typically no lower than 6.0) lime is the best product you can buy. Dollar for dollar this will return the greatest on your investment. Soil pH is a driver in many other nutrient cycles as well as the microbial population in the soil. If you have only one product you can buy for your soils make it lime. This year we have seen many cases around the state of poorly inoculated soybeans, one of the contributing factors to this has been low pH.

Fertility in the form of commercial fertilizers is always a large expense on most farms. Many farms in this area do have the availability of manure, however many of us need to supplement our manure nutrients with fertilizer. One of my biggest concerns at this point in time is potassium. Due to last year's high prices for potassium many decided to take a year off of buying potassium and mine some of the potassium in the soils. This year due to excellent rainfalls many of us have experienced yields at the high end of our expectations; this means more potassium has been used. Now we are in a situation where very few may want to invest again in potassium even thought the price is falling. This could set us up for some deficiencies. If I were to offer one suggestion on potassium fertilizer at this point it would be this. If you have manure at your disposal get it tested for nutrients. If commercial potassium is more expensive then nitrogen, apply your manure at a rate to supply potassium and supplement with nitrogen. If you are going into corn the use of a mid season nitrogen test such as the PSNT or Chlorophyll meter along with sidedressing can save money as will. In addition to potassium make sure you keep an eye on boron levels on alfalfa. This year we have had great yields so therefore if you are harvesting silage of any type, hay, and/or fodder you have a lot of nutrients in your bunkers, silos, and barns.

As we try to manage this current time of tight economics we need to take a good assessment of cutting costs without hurting ourselves in the future. With good soil tests you may be able to find some areas where you can cut costs, however we want to maintain enough nutrition in the soil to allow for good yields in the years to come. Many times if we get behind in nutrition in the soil it will take a long time to get it back. Additionally, if we don't have soil tests we will need to wait until we see deficiency in the crop before we know we are behind. At that time we have lost yield and that can be a costly mistake.

Up and running

Just about a week after planting the rye/radish mixture is getting to the point you can 'see' my thought process. As you will notice the rye is coming on well and the radish isn't far behind. Typically I have observed the radish to be a little slow in germination but a vigorous grower once germinated. Again the rows of radish will winter kill while the rye will remain. This should allow direct planting of corn in the early spring between the rows of rye.

Great year for beans?

This year most of our full season beans are looking great! After a year of ample rain and minimal pest pressure over most of the acres we should be set for some great yields. Make sure you are getting ready to get into those fields. Once 95% of the pods are brown you should take to the fields for harvest. This minimizes losses from trying to harvest beans that are too dry. As always make sure to pay attention to the combine adjustments and check your settings once you are in the field and starting to harvest. Hopefully this year will produce some great bean yields for all!

Corn drying well

I have been taking a few samples in the fields to see where some of the grain corn is at as far as moisture's. To be honest I have been surprised at the numbers I've been seeing. Most early planted corn I have been testing has been around 20-26% moisture. I have noticed a few combines running, and for good reason. If you are looking to shell high moisture corn and have some mid length corn (around 114 day) that was planted in good time this year it may be time to take a sample through the field to see where you are at. We had trouble getting whole plant moisture to the place we needed it for silage, however our ears have been drying well, even on green stalks. Make sure to take a representative sample from your fields, now just the outer rows.

A new cover crop?

As some may have noticed I have been spending less time on my blog lately. This is because I have been out planting a cover crop trial to test a new method of using cover crops. I'm planing a mixture of rye with tillage radish, which obviously has been done before, however with a slightly different twist. I have alternating double rows of rye and radish (see illustration) that will hopefully allow for corn to be directly planted into the winter killed radish rows in the spring.

So the question may be why do this? Here are a few reasons we are looking into.

We have all heard the benefits of letting cover crops grow to increase soil carbon as well as add a mulch to conserve moisture. However, this practice means you have to give up an early planting date to receive the benefit of the crop. With the alternating rows the rye can continue to grow along with the corn for a short time. Another issue we see often is residue from most cover crops holds moisture and keeps soils cool. Radish leaves little to no residue by spring so the strip they are in should heat up and dry out a little quicker. Lastly pests are often an issue in fields where we have had cover crops. This is the area that this will either perform as desired or be a disaster. Hopefully the corn will grow with little residue immediately around it so slugs will not be an issue. Additionally some observations from last year have made me think that we may be able to get the pests to feed on something other then the corn by having a living crop in the field with the corn.

Some of this may be a stretch but we feel it is worth looking into. I will have more on how this is going in the near future.

Selling Considerations; Shell versus Silage

As corn dries down many look to prices and markets to see what options they have. In Franklin County we typically have the option of either selling silage or grain depending on what seems to have the most favorable economics. I am not an expert in the markets so I'm not going to tell you that this is black and white, however I do have a few considerations you should make prior to selling your crop.

The main difference on the agronomic side of silage versus grain is the nutrients removed from the field when we take the whole plant versus just the grain. For this example I'm going to look at only phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Nitrogen can also play a role but the system is very complex so it is not clear exactly how much we will keep around until next years growing season either with or without cover crops (this is why we test prior to side dressing N).

So if we look at removal of P and K from silage we can estimate (using Penn State's Agronomy Guide) that we will remove approx. 5.0lbs/Ton of P and 11.0lbs/Ton of K. As a rough estimate we typically consider the conversion from bushels of corn to tons of silage as 6.5-7bu/ton of silage. If we use this conversion for our removal rates for grain end up at 2.8lbs of P and 2.1 lbs of K removed (7*book values for grain removal). This means that roughly twice the amount of P is removed and over 5 times the amount of K is removed when comparing silage to grain.

So let's do a quick example to clarify. Initial estimates show a 150 bu/ac grain yield or 21.5 Ton/ac silage yield in a specific field. We are trying to decide if we should sell it to the neighbor or keep it for grain. December futures are showing a price of $3.09/bu or$464/ac on this yield. The difference between grain and silage in nutrients removed at this yield will be 47.5 lbs of P and 191.5 lbs of K. With today's price of $0.25/lb. P and $0.50/lb. K this is a difference of $107.63/ac. just to buy back the nutrients you lost by selling silage. If we add that into our grain price ($464) we need $572/ac. or about $27/ton (on 21.5 Ton/ac) to break even with our grain price of $3.09. Obviously neither of these take into account the cost of harvest etc. so keep in mind who is paying for that when pricing your corn.

Cover Crop Time

So here we are with August gone and September under way. Silage harvest is in full swing, finally, and hopefully you are finding the yields you expected for this above average year. As those silage fields get finished off keep in mind this is a great time to plant cover crops. Even for your fields that have little to no slope or are not in close proximity to water cover cropping is an excellent practice. Cover crops not only protect your soil from erosion from water and wind they also help to enhance the soil carbon and add to soil structure through root growth. We also see a better over wintering of mycorrhiza when a similar species is planted as a cover crop (for instance corn to rye to corn is all a grass). The benefits to cover crops are numerous, however try to best fit the cover crop with your rotation. Here are some examples.

For those fields that are bare now and may be some of your last plantings in the spring you may consider utilizing a legume like crimson clover. This can give you some 'free' nitrogen while helping to retain soil over the winter. Crimson clover, like most legumes, need a long growing time to get the most out of the plant, as far as nitrogen production. Don't plant legumes where you are going to want to get a quick start to the planting season.

For those fields that may get a winter or early spring application of manure you should look to utilize a winter small grain. Rye seems to have the best root structure to hold our heavy equipment and grows well over winter. This would also be a good match for those fields you will want to get into earlier in the spring.

Just a reminder we have a cover crop plot here in the county and I'll be holding a fall and a spring walk where we will look at different species and discuss where they may fit. As always feel free to call in with any specific question you have about cover crop selection or benefits and drawbacks of specific species. Have a great weekend!