Thursday, September 12, 2013

Crop Alert: September 12, 2013

This Crop Alert was originally written for and distributed to farmers and other members of the agricultural industry in western New York.

Small Grains in New Forage Seedings
Wheat, rye, barley, and oat seed that was left in the field after harvest has germinated in many new hay and haylage seedings across western NY, Figure 1. If left uncontrolled these small grains will greatly reduce the alfalfa in the these stands. Spraying with Poast Plus (http://www.cdms.net/LDat/ld00H006.pdf), Select Max (http://www.cdms.net/LDat/ld6SQ009.pdf), or Assure II (http://www.cdms.net/LDat/ld742006.pdf) when the small grain is 2‐6 inches should provide desired control. This herbicide application will kill or injure most perennial grasses planted, but it is necessary to protect the alfalfa. Clipping in the fall does not control small grains because most small grains (with the exception of oats) do not have any stem growth. Control of small grains contaminating hay and haylage fields the following spring with herbicides is much less effective than fall spraying. Spraying in the next couple of weeks will provide better control compared to a later spray under cooler conditions in October.

Figure 1: Wheat in Haylage Seeding

Shredlage Harvest Recommendations
We have recently received more detailed information from the Shredlage manufacture about the appropriate settings for a variety of situations. Check it out on our website:
(http://www.nwnyteam.org/submission.php?id=293&crumb=forages|2)

Corn and Soybean Drydown
Corn and soybeans are beginning to drydown across the region. Most of the corn is partially or completely dented and many soybeans are in the R6 to R7 growth stages with some plants already dropping leaves. Given the delayed maturity this season the corn will probably be drying down in the 0.4‐0.6% per day range based on work from Purdue (http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/graindrying.html). Varieties with earlier maturities and in drier years (like 2012) have corn drydown percentages around 0.8‐1.0% a day. In good windy, warm weather soybeans can have 1% drydown per day, but under cooler, rainy conditions soybean drydown is only 0‐0.3% per day. While some corn silage harvest is occurring, many farms have been delayed by the recent rains and are holding off until this weekend/next week in order to avoid high effluent levels coming out of the bunks and silos.

Clean Sweep NY Fall 2013
This year Clean Sweep NY will target Region 8 which includes Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates Counties. Check out their webpage (http://www.cleansweepny.org/) to find out more information about this program for safely disposing of left over agricultural chemicals.

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