Just as any person over the age of 65 remembers where they were on Nov 22nd, 1963. The broadcasts and telecasts told of happenings in Dallas that rocked the country and much of the free world. When you heard the date of Sept 11, 20001 the same sort of thoughts are resurrected in most people’s minds. Just as in 1963, when there are many questions generated about what actually happened and how so many different people at high levels were related to the events, many of us watched the events of that weekend and felt we were getting spoon fed conclusions before any real investigations had been conducted done. Either way we as a nation lost some or our soul and innocence that day. So whether it was ‘I Saw it on TV’ written by CCR front man John Fogerty, or American Pie by Don McClean, a lot of things went down without answers being supplied.
Now that the real hot daytime temperatures seem to be in the past, sundown is occurring over an hour earlier and smell of fall is in the air, we know that harvest in different parts of the state may be starting within two weeks. A high % of the bean fields have yellowed ahead of schedule and the plants in the corn fields range from dark green to different shades of browned husks, to fired from the top and the bottom to being totally brown with ears that have tipped down.
Like many people we were discussing where to go or what to do to make Labor Day memorable. So, we headed to Dayton on Sunday night to attend the Dayton Rodeo. The cowboys: men, ladies and kids; Clowns, announcers and choreographers, and medical crew put on an absolutely fantastic show. They even had a dirt bike cyclist who did acrobatics while he was whistling up a high speed ramp at 35 feet above the ground. They had calf roping, barrel racing, wild horse and bull riding along with little kids trying to ride sheep. It was a hoot to watch and take it all in. Put it on your calendar for next year for sure.
Crop Tours and Their Accuracy
As to what we can expect for yields across the Midwest, the ProFarmer tour participants said the crops west of the Mississippi were erratic at best. Yield summaries in those states would be highly variable. Much of the reason for this that most of the summer rains, if any came, were in the form of passing showers that were quite small rather than large fronts that dumped two to three inches over entire states. Most counties had no rain in April, not much in May, then a small total in June and July before a few larger fronts delivered precipitation during August. Often the tours are held too early and they rate crops for their potential, assuming rain fall amounts will be normal for the rest of the season.
Summing up or giving an average for the corn crop would be difficult. If I drove 50 miles in different directions I could walk into corn fields that might yield 60 Bu/A on the low end or I could walk into fields that could be in the 220 to 260 Bu range. As far as seeing many very high yielding fields there are too many rings of kernels aborted from the ear tips to see that happen. Those extremely hot days of June and early July where the leaves were severely rolled up by 9 am took a toll on plants stressed by both lack of moisture and temps in excess of 86 degrees.
Phantom Bushels
As to our crop raising counterparts to our east and west, their crops have also been stressed and will not be record breaking. A number of others and myself who drove clear thru Nebraska late in the season saw a corn crop that rather than staying green had turned different shades of brown on a varying percent of the plants in each field. In the better fields the upper 20% of the leaf tissue was brown. In other fields the upper leaves (top 1/3 rd ) were brown. The cause was likely a mix of extreme heat along with not being able to keep up with moisture demand and later season leaf diseases. To our east most comments from both growers and crop tour participants traveling through Illinois and Indiana were predicting record corn yields. Since those projections, Ken Ferrie, a crop scout from Illinois and frequent guest columnist in Farm Journal and DTN, was reporting that a mixture of leaf diseases, Anthracnose, Eyespot, Goss’s Wilt. GLS and Tar had moved in and were reaching severe levels. His statement was that fields that were poised to yield 250 will be closer to 200. The late season rains and high humidities were conducive to foliar fungal and bacterial diseases. Is there a chance the projected residual activity was reduced from previous years?
So how might the yields be in surrounding states? We were thinking earlier that Nebraska irrigated farmers might get to claim the #1 corn state title by bushels/A or total bushels by state. Driving to and back from Denver in late August gave me a chance to views their crop from the highway. We did not have the extra time to make field inspections. What we saw was a crop that looked very tough once you got west of Grand Island.
What would be a learning experience would be if every field, both corn and beans had to be labeled as to what genetic family the variety was in, the RM, the Haney score and what if any microbials had been applied, traits if any, root type and architecture, compaction readings and depth to those hardpans, prior crop, tissue test readings, soil organic carbon levels, water extractable organic carbon scores, rainfall amounts by weekly totals, moisture infiltration rates, seeding rate, days of severe leaf rolling and major soil types. Why would one with that? Because all of those things influenced how the crop responded to ever human controlled input and they what nature threw at it. We could learn from everyone’s mistakes and be more proactive next season.
Late Yield Enhancement of Bean Yields
With bean prices above $12/Bu and expected high demand from China more growers had the thought of coaxing more bushels from their bean acres. That is one area in which the guys who have won the contest in their respective states or on a national level have better sleuthed out the needed steps and products they have had success with. In Kip’s field that made 154 Bu/A about eight years ago his bean size was 1900 – 1915 per lb. We shucked and weighted a representative sample as we were curious.
A number of fertilizer companies have mineral mixes they sell to people hoping to do the same. Which one is best still needs to be contested. No one knows at this time. Two fertilizer experts assembled a reasonable and doable mixture that coaxed out a 20+ Bu/A increases in a droughty neighboring state in 2020. We used a close version of that in a few local fields, pulling the trigger after their areas picked up 2+” of rain in late August. They had already implemented the first parts of the HYMS program.
Another grower in a nearby state applied some of the same minerals to beans near the R3 or 3.5 stages and his beans size was huge as of 9/8. Included in those programs were SprayTec, BRT, BW Fusion, Full Sircle and Albion products.
The same grower used a strong mineral program and the new Amino Acid chelated minerals and enough acres of BioEmpruv to get a good opinion about their efficacy. Having very green corn plants with long and large diameter ears filled to the tip without having spent any money on fungicides is a success. Many of the fields in his area are under heavy pressure from Tar Spot. There were a few lesions on the plants but we mostly contained. The BioEmpruv worked again and passed the tests for Tar Spot.
For 2022
As we move into the harvest season we have to recognize the two main challenges for most growers. The first would be the need to increase fertilizer efficiencies due to the large price increases seen with most of the products. Using the proven microbes into your soil to increase your Haney scores has been proving via soil and tissue testing to be key to getting the most for your fertilizer dollars,
Next is learning that there are several ways to manage plant disease beyond simply applying a fungicide near R3 or VT. This would be to use a biological mix plus a carbon source to stimulate residue degradation so as to minimize the amount of inoculums present to infect next year’s crop. We have seen very good results with the BioDyne MeltDown product. Sizing the residue prior to application is advised. We saw this past year that growers planting no-till into untouched corn stalks often had problems with seed placement due to the hair pinning that occurred.
Bob Streit is an independent crop consultant and columnist for Farm News. He can be reached at (515) 709-0143 or www.CentralIowaAg.com.