As we enter the last week of May we can all think of how in the farming community not much has changed in that as you prepared machinery for the spring, figured out crop management plans, booked product, and figured out the jobs for each person in your operation, not that much was different than in previous years. Then when you go to town or try to conduct business with your banker, at your USDA office, or possibly ask a valid question from one of your long time suppliers things go absolutely nuts and it seems that the world has gone insane and a great number of people are scared silly and have no more common sense. You base your decisions and life on facts and information.
You had to be asking ‘Don’t they teach people to think for themselves anymore?’ The best quote of the week that I read was from Thomas Jefferson. He said and wrote that “When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.” Watching the large protest in states where their overzealous governors or mayors are making rules up that keep shuttered businesses locked down, tells you that people have had enough and are recognizing that 95+ % of the experts had no clue as to what has been going on and are not managing for the national and personal financial wellbeing.
I have mentioned in past columns that a $.30 per day treatment regime of zinc and tonic water killed the virus within 5 to 6 days and plus acted as a preventative. The quinine, as an extract from the bark of the Cinchona tree, has been used since the 1600s to treat malaria. When combined with the zinc it keeps the virus out of the body. In addition several medical research groups summarized and publicized their findings that a commonly used animal wormer derived from a Japanese soil fungus had been found to be killing 99.98% of the virus particles within 48 hours. The safety profile of the product was also quite good and no major side effects had been seen.
For our Memorial Day jaunt were watching the radar weather so stayed close and visited Ledges State Park on Sunday. It was an 80 F day with good amounts of sunshine. There were quite a few visitors hiking, having smaller picnics, playing with their kids or grandkids, and just enjoying being outside and acting as normal people. It was good to hear other peoples’ voices as they partook in summertime activities.
Field Happenings
Overall the fear that the freezing temps were going to result in lots of replant acres did not materialize in most of Iowa. In most cases the cooldown slowed the germination and early growth of both the corn and soybean seedlings enough that the growing points were below ground and safe from frost. In the end a negative became a positive. If the temps had been 2 or 3 degrees cooler, or if the daily temps had been warmer and sped up plant growth of both crops, the amount of replant could have been high.
The first planted corn acres hold plants that are now in the V2 – V3 growth stage. Having such slow GDU accumulation seems to be quite similar to 2018 where lots of corn acres were way behind in development and many of us did the calculations as to flowering date. There seems to be slim to no chance of having a normal maturity crop. Then a near record warm June developed and we saw the corn plants add 3 to 4 feet in growth and had nearly caught up by tasseling time. Might the same thing happen again this season?
The focus for most growers once the fields get dry enough will be to apply any needed broadleaf weed control products to their corn fields. If only grass control products were applied pre-emerge the list of emerged broadleaves is quite long. The commonly used Callisto has always done a good job with good crop safety and a long residual period. Where both grass and broadleaf control are needed the Armeazon or Impact products have performed well in the past. Remembering the last two years we have to hope for enough dry weather that these early post applications can be applied while the weeds are in the controllable stages and labels can be followed.
Soybeans
Depending on when the post-emerge broadleaf pass on corn fields get completed the focus will shift to the soybean fields as the 25 to 30 days after planting time window will be here soon. The cool and cloudy conditions have slowed emergence and growth but a few 80 degree days will change that quickly. Recent history and recommendations from herbicide specialists say that small broadleaves are much easier to kill than larger ones, as the ones you don’t control harden off and have developed many more growing points.
The practice of making a reapplication of a residual broadleaf products has become very common. With a high percentage of the bean seeds having been in the ground for nearly a month, but with most of the beans plants only at their early growth stage, the timing of that reapplication may also need to be earlier than normal. Then does a person increase the rate of that product to lengthen the residual period? That issue will have to be discussed since the germination of waterhemp can be thru mid-August. It appears that we will be hoping for the PPO products to provide enough control of those late emergers.
Insect Issues
To this point early scouting passes have not seen any major insect issues. The fields have generally been too wet to get into the see what might be appearing. Generally if bean leaf beetles are a problem they will also be around buildings and other plants chewing on the leaves.
Post Weed Control Activities
It is common for growers after they get any weeds or grass under control to assume the main work is over with. That may not be the case. For many years after a popular herbicide had been applied both major crops would show the ‘yellow flash’ and have an ugly yellowish striped appearance. It often took two weeks for the green color to reappear. A bit of that could be explained in that the roots had to hit the nitrogen zone. Yet the majority of the cause was the chelation of the minerals that had occurred in the plants that was limiting the plants’ ability to form chlorophyll, inhibiting the ability of the roots to ward off invasion of the roots by pathogenic fungi and a host of other problems. Corn and soybean growers in S America always followed such herbicide applications with a micro-nutrient trip 7 to 10 days later to avoid or reverse the problem.
Once the corn reaches the V5 growth stage the crop scout or grower should be watching the plants for any deficiency symptoms and pulling leaf samples to send for analysis. Even in a year when a number of growers are inclined to not spend any more money on crop inputs, if a mineral related to plant growth and health, N efficiency, or sugar deposition, the chance of getting a decent ROI from an application of a MicroMix and Moly yields wise or late season standability wise are still good.
Boron and Moly Sufficiency
While mentioning micro-nutrients a grower has to recognize the function of these two minerals in the plant. Proper boron levels dictate where the sugar goes in the plant plus facilitates intake of other minerals into the cells. Moly is important to both corn and soybeans in constructing an enzyme needed to convert nitrate nitrogen into protein. If and when that doesn’t happen the plants are more disease and insect prone. Tissue test results from the Midwest indicate that those two elements are deficient in 90 plus percent of the fields sampled.
Other thoughts to consider are plant health maintenance. If your thought process when someone mentions plant health and you immediately think fungicide, a better response needs to be proper nutrition and mineral sufficiency. That applies to be plant and human health and is why God gave you an immune system.
Bob Streit is an independent crop consultant and columnist for Farm News. He can be reached at (515) 709-0143 or www.CentralIowaAg.com.