Weed Management of Winter Wheat Stubble

Proper management of winter wheat stubble after harvest substantially impacts future weed control. The goal of weed management in wheat stubble should be to eliminate or drastically reduce seed production of all weed species and biennial and perennial species. Control of volunteer winter wheat prior to the end of August is also a benefit. Controlling volunteer winter wheat should reduce the risk of barley yellow dwarf inoculum because there will be fewer host species for aphid (transmitters of barley yellow dwarf) populations to develop.

For full details of this story, follow this link- http://corn.osu.edu/story.php?setissueID=195&storyID=1199

Fungicide Applications of Corn and Soybeans

So You Are Trying Fungicides On Corn And Soybeans, How To Evaluate If They Are Worth The Cost?

A quick trip around the county this past few days indicated that fungicide treatments are being applied to both corn and beans. I ask you think independently of your crop chemical dealer. Am I getting my monies worth for this product? For those of you that would like to “experiment” with this plant health aspect, here are a few guidelines that can help evaluate if this is truly providing any benefit.

1. Know what the variety or hybrid is. For both corn and soybeans only the moderately susceptible and highly susceptible hybrids and varieties have demonstrated yield impacts in fungicide applications.



2. Have more than one check strip, wider than your combine, and space them across the field. Three should be plenty but two is not enough.



3. In your comparisons, do not include the parts of the field where you have weed escapes or along tree lines, these areas are going to yield less anyways, so this is false data whether it was treated or not. Make sure other variables such as soil types, soil fertility variations and pest issues are not biasing your field experiment.



4. Approximately 3 weeks after applications, walk some of the strips. For corn, look at the ear leaf – what percent leaf area has got lesions in the treated vs non treated. Is gray leaf spot, anthracnose, or northern leaf blight present? For soybeans – look at the upper canopy for frogeye or downy mildew and on the lower canopy look at how much brown spot is present.



5. Take averages. When you do harvest your fields, take several strips, both untreated and treated. Then take the average of the untreated strips and compare that average to the treated. Fields are not uniform and with our stand issues and unevenness across many fields this year, there is going to be even more variability.

Farm Focus Hosts 2008 Field Day on July 29

A variety of speakers will address issues on the minds of local and regional farmers at the Farm Focus Field Day being held on Tuesday, July 29 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Van Wert, Ohio. Local agri-businesses and equipment dealers will be on hand with demonstrations of their newest products and equipment pertaining to today’s farming needs. The Farm Focus committee invites all area farmers and agri-business persons to attend the field day which is free and open to the public. For more details visit...http://farmfocus.osu.edu/

Soybean Defoliators

With soybeans beginning to enter their flowering stages, we need to remind growers of the various defoliators that are starting to make their presence known. These defoliators include Japanese beetle adults, first generation bean leaf beetle adults, Mexican bean beetle adults, green cloverworm larvae, and grasshoppers, and all are now being found throughout the state. In terms of defoliation, it would be unusual for any of the above mentioned insects alone to cause significant defoliation throughout a field. However, a complex of two or more might cause defoliation levels to rise above threshold levels. Remember you need to sample from numerous locations in the field to get a good idea of what is happening across the entire field. For fields with large populations of Japanese beetles, remember that these beetles will congregate; finding one Japanese beetle means you will usually find a lot of them in the same area. Thus, at least for this insect, you need to make an extra effort to sample from numerous locations in the field to get a better idea of what is happening across the entire field. Growers are advised to initiate scouting procedures over the next few weeks to prevent defoliation from reaching the 15-20% defoliation threshold during the reproductive growth stages, R1-R5, which then rises to 20-25% during growth stage R6 late in the summer. When sampling, check numerous places within the field, avoiding the field edges which often tend to have higher levels than the rest of the field. A list of labeled insecticides for control of all these soybean defoliators is available at http://entomology.osu.edu/ag/545/soy545.pdf .

Corn Pollination Underway in Many Ohio Corn Fields

During the past week, tassels began appearing in corn fields that were planted in late April and early May. However the pollination period is going to vary widely across the state this year.

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service ( http://www.nass.usda.gov/oh/ ), about a third of our corn acreage was planted on or before May 4, then due to persistent rainy conditions, another third of our corn was planted over the next three weeks, and the remaining third of our acreage was planted (or replanted) in late May and early June. The late planted corn will not be tasselling until early to mid August. The pollination period, the flowering stage in corn, is the most critical period in the development of a corn plant from the standpoint of grain yield determination. Stress conditions such as drought or hail damage have the greatest impact on yield potential during the reproductive stage. The following are some key steps in the corn pollination process. For more on corn pollination click ...http://corn.osu.edu/#C

Another good source of information is the following: http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/Tassels.html

Wheat Harvest - Baling Straw - Double Crop Beans

Wheat harvest is just getting underway and preliminary wheat yields being reported are in the range of 70-80 bushels per acre. Initial fields reported did not have fungicide application so there will be an interesting comparing of notes once the final fields are harvested. Double crop soybeans are being planted into ideal moisture and soil conditions. Stay tuned next week for an update on Wheat yields and double crop bean planting.

Double Cropping Soybeans After Wheat

For many of you, double cropping has become second nature with our early wheat harvest. Some growers may plant this year in order to capture potential profits with soybeans in the teens. Please take a moment to review some production practices that will give you the greatest chance of a bountiful harvest.

Click here for more info...Double-Cropping Soybeans Following Wheat

Wheat Harvest Underway- Will Rain Hamper Season?

The wheat harvest is well underway in Pickaway and Ross Counties. We may be dealing with weather challenges in the next few days, so take a moment to read what our specialists are suggesting for a wet wheat harvest.

Click on this link to access the following article:
A Wet Wheat Harvest Season Ahead