Budget Savvy Corn

As markets continue to be volatile and margins are scrutinized we all are looking for a place to save some green, is your corn doing the same? Recently there has been a lot of attention focused on corn hybrids and their use of nitrogen. What if genetic advancements allow us to change our nitrogen recommendations on corn, how about if you use the same nitrogen but increase the yield? Research has already shown that yield response to nitrogen is not only based on amount but also tied to soil type and yield potential so it seems only natural that the specific genetics of the plant may also be a player. Recent research and demonstration has also shown that some of the most striking differences with hybrids is how fast they can recover after a time of stress. Another interesting article was also recently posted on AgWeb looking at some of the possibilities to advancing corn yields in the future by minimizing stress to individual plants. Individual plants must compete with each other for nutrients in order to have consistent growth across the field, so if these plants can get better at competing hopefully they will utilize more of the nutrients available to them in the field.

As we look down the road we may see more ways that corn becomes budget savvy. This shouldn't be a surprise to us since in some sense it has already happened. With new traits we can now plant corn resistant to pests allowing us to spend less on chemicals and applications (while more for the bag of seed) and also saving us some time. As we move forward in the market there is no doubt our corn will continue to get 'smarter' and hopefully widen our margins on the farm.

Food for the Festivities

The holiday season are here! These celebrations often involve time with family, friends and food. For most of us, food plays a significant role in our celebrations. Food may also even be part of a tradition, like that famous fruit cake recipe passed down through my mother's family. Even in challenging economic times, most of us will have more than enough food for our holiday celebrations. So, during the hectic pace of the season, I challenge you to take a moment and think about how fortunate we are to be served by farmers and others in agriculture who assure us nutritious foods. Whether it is getting out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to go milk cows, or spending seemingly endless hours in the field growing crops for human or animal consumption, Pennsylvania agriculture has a diverse workforce of farmers all unified by one common goal: producing high quality food for those living in the state and around the world.

Pennsylvania is also home to a wide variety of agricultural products. Our state's number one product is dairy, with product valued at over two trillion dollars. The next most valuable agriculture product is cattle and calves followed by mushrooms, corn and greenhouse/nursery products (USDA ERS 2007). Chester County, in Southeastern Pennsylvania, produces over 50% of all the fresh mushrooms grown in the United States. White button, shitake and oyster mushrooms are all produced by Pennsylvania mushroom growers. Pennsylvania agriculture will be well represented on your holiday table from the butter used in those delicious cookies, to the corn that fed the turkey, and the mushrooms in the hors d'oeuvres and salad.

So over this holiday season take a moment to appreciate the local farmers in your community. If you know them, thank them. If they make their food production available for retail sale on their farm, support them with your purchases. But most of all take a moment to think of how much time, effort and love went into preparing your holiday treats before they even reached your kitchen.

Technology Anyone?

As I was driving to State College yesterday for a meeting I passed an interesting site on my way through Big Valley. It caught my attention enough to stop and be a tourist on the way home, clicking a few pictures. One of these accompanies this post. At first this caught me off guard since it is an odd clash of modern technologies coupled with a very old practice. Does this mean one or the other doesn't belong? Maybe, maybe not, I'll let you decide for yourself. However as I thought about this I thought each farm has this mixture to some extent, new practices and technologies mixed with remnants of the past. The only step is then to identify each. I think this may be an interesting practice for all of us to look at both on and off the farm. What are areas we are excelling in and what areas could use a little polishing. I'm not stating we have to all be immediate adopters of everything that comes down the road, nor am I stating that we leave everything Dad and Grandpa taught us and move on, we simply need a balance that moves us steadily forward. Maybe it's a good time for all of us to think hard about why we do things. Consider what changes may be made, do a small trial and your farm see how it performs. Just like this photo shows, anyone can implement technology on their farm.

Will it ever stop?

As we continue to see rain and gray sky's the question arises will this trend ever stop and allow us to get back to the fields? We are under the influence of a cold front moving across the mid west being fueled by an extreme trough in the jet stream. This trough is fueling this moist weather with gulf moisture. This slow moving trough looks like it may release by early next week. Hopefully that brings enough dry weather to get us back into the fields to finish up harvest.

To Cut or Not to Cut, that really is the quesiton

With our first major frost behind us many questions arise about what is next and what we should do. One of the most pressing is what if you have standing alfalfa? This perennial crop needs enough energy to get through the winter, but we often don't want to waste what is still in the field. The question arises is alfalfa now dormant and thus OK to cut? I had a discussion with Dr. Marvin Hall today about considerations for alfalfa after a frost. Here are some of the main points.

• Depending on your previous management of the crop this may be a mute point. If at any point this season you had 1/10th bloom or better you probably have enough stored energy to get through the winter. If you made every cut for maximum quality (no bloom) you may be short energy.


• Alfalfa takes a very hard freeze to go into dormancy. Typically we need to get down around 25 degrees for multiple hours to trigger dormancy. Currently our alfalfa probably is not dormant.


• Alfalfa that has gone into dormancy will quickly come back out at the first sign of warm weather. With the forecast and today's temperatures if your alfalfa would have gotten enough cold temps to initiate dormancy it is no longer dormant. Wait till cold temps are the norm, not the extreme.

Another point of discussion I brought up was cutting height. I have typically been under the impression to cut high on the last cutting to offer protection of the crown throughout the winter. Dr. Hall stated this was an OK practice but may be more trouble then needed due to our more southerly location and lower amounts of snow. Cut high if you want to make sure your safe or as normal if you believe this will be a 'normal' winter.

See Dr. Hall's latest article in this weeks Field Crop News on this very topic! (will be posted tomorrow).

Cover Crops Growing Well!

The cover crop plots around the county are growing well. It has been amazing with these warm afternoons how much growth some of these species have put on. With a ten day forecast showing warmer temperatures and no sign of frost it will be interesting to see what kind of growth we get out of our later plantings. Their will be a cover crop walk on Friday October 23rd from 10-noon for any interested.

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.

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!

Corn Silage Update

As of today our plot is just over 33% D.M. I have noticed a descent amount of silage coming off especially in the southern portion of the county. We are almost where we need to be if we are filling trenches, but we need to be careful we don't push it too quick going into uprights. Again review the comments I have below about setting your kernel processors, I believe this will be crucial.

Check you ears!

No pun intended actually, we really do need to get into the cornfields and check your ears prior to harvest. I received a call today from a local crop scout who has been seeing and hearing of 'beer can' ears around the county. This is a phenomenon where the bottom few rows of the ear are properly filled while the top of the cob is barren. This obviously can cost a lot of yield.

It is believed that this phenomenon is usually due to a cold snap when the corn plant is forming the ear (V5-V8). This always occurs in this manner since corn will always develop kernels from the bottom of the ear to the top. So what fields are at risk? Well typically it appears that it takes lower 40s to stress the corn so I dove into the this years temperature records to try to pin this down.

It appears the May 14th and 19th are likely the main dates when damage likely occurred. Hagerstown Airport reported a low of 41 degrees for both days. If we look at the fact that it typically takes 4 weeks to reach V8 (where ear development is thought to be complete) and V5 is normally about 3 weeks after planting we can assume the highest risk corn for this abnormality was planted between April 14th and April 28th (due to two dates with low temps). Obviously any fields around this period should be checked. Overall, you may want to check all your early plantings.

The main issue with this abnormality would be decreased yield when shelling the corn. If you have the ability to chop this corn for silage and shell another field it may be advantageous. Of course you will take a hit on energy in your silage as well, however it may be a better option.

Corn Starts to Dry Again!

I just got done looking at moisture on our plot. In review this was planted on the 29th of April and the variety I'm looking at is a 114 day variety. The moisture this morning finally has moved from the 30-31% D.M. we have been holding at for about a week. Today we are standing at 31.7% D.M. Although this isn't a huge jump it is finally in the right direction. The downside to this is that we are to have rain today and tomorrow which means we probably won't be drying down much going forward. So with all this said it looks like we may be into September before we really get silage harvest rolling. I know many have been pulling into the fields this week but I think for the most part in the county we are still waiting. The silver lining to all of this is that we have quite the crop sitting in the field when we do start in.