I think all those in the Seaforth-Mitchell area can say we are blessed this year. First we were surprised by the soybean yields and now we are seeing some AMAZING corn yields. Some people in the area have grown their best corn ever this year. None of us would have seen that coming in July - I know I pegged the crop at 150-180bus/ac. You don't have to go far to get into those numbers or worse. In some areas, the average response to corn yield is "I didn't know the yield monitor could go that low".
So, the question is - how do we repeat the big yields next year? Basically, we can break the yield down into three parts 1) Agronomics 2)Genetics 3)Weather.
1)Agronomics - Yes, we are doing a better job in soil preparation, seed and fertilizer placement, and weed control. This year, the big advantages were even emergence, tillage that conserved soil moisture, and late weed control as when the rain came so did the weeds.
2)Genetics - Can I say that a newer corn hybrid will always yield better than an older variety? No, but I can say that the newer products are much more specific to certain field conditions and when the right product is on the right acre it will out perform the older ones.
3)Weather - The big one. There is no doubt, if you got the timely rain you are ahead of the pack. The question is do you gamble and plant all your acres to a 3100HU drought tolerant Hybrid in 2013? Notice the word gamble. We have no clue if we will have a repeat performance of 2012 next year.
Are we in a trend of increasing Heat Units? I think so. By growing all 2700 HU corn and soys, I do believe you are giving up yield. On the safe side, pushing at least 2900HU on some acres should work out.
So in the end, what do we plan on for next year? We pick hybrids and varieties by field, and spread out risk with different maturities. The right product for the right acre.
There are quite a few plots off, and lots more to go. Be sure to check out https://www.pioneer.com/home/site/ca to see the plots that have been uploaded. For our area, P9855HR has handled the drought well, P9910XR is showing great and P0216AM-R is leading the pack. Keep and eye out for the new earlier hybrids P9329HR and P9411HR as well.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
The View from Here
This was a conversation I had the other day with my eight year old son Cole:
Cole - Mom, when I get older I want to do what you do.
Me - That's great, why? (thinking that this is wonderful and his answer will be that he wants to be involved in agriculture, find better ways to grow more food, and take pride in what he is doing)
Cole - It looks like fun. You get to tour around on a four wheeler, ride in combines and talk on an iphone.
Me - yep, that about sums it up.
Cole - Mom, when I get older I want to do what you do.
Me - That's great, why? (thinking that this is wonderful and his answer will be that he wants to be involved in agriculture, find better ways to grow more food, and take pride in what he is doing)
Cole - It looks like fun. You get to tour around on a four wheeler, ride in combines and talk on an iphone.
Me - yep, that about sums it up.
Friday, October 5, 2012
A quick look wouldn't hurt
I've been popping in and out of a few corn fields this week, and there has been some chatter in the country side about odd things happening in the field. A few things:
Cobs on the Ground: yes in some areas there is some cobs dropping. It is not as much variety specific as it is area specific. It seems to be much more prevalent in areas that were very drought stressed. If you are seeing some, as a rule of thumb on a 150bus crop at 30,000 pop with 200 cobs/ac on the ground would be a loss of a bushel of corn.
Another aspect of cob drop is weak shanks. Due to the draught and cannibalization, the shanks were weakened and the cobs prematurely dropped down. This pinched the shank and cut off the nutrient flow to the kernels. This could result in lower test weight.
Weak stalks: Some early samples of silage are coming back low on fibre. This correlates to the weak stalks that I am seeing in the fields. Since the plant was under stress it cannibalized the fibre in the stalk to feed the cob. Some very stressed fields are starting to break down. It would be a good idea to go thru your fields and do the push test to evaluate which fields should be harvested first.
Mould: yes there is mould showing up on the cobs. Since the crop was under stress, the mould is taking advantage of it. The good news is that not all mould raises VOM levels. OMAFRA took 171 samples from across Ontario and only 6 showed VOM over 2ppm and none over 3ppm. 23 were between 1/2 and 2ppm. The full report can be found here: http://fieldcropnews.com/2012/10/2012-grain-corn-ear-mould-and-vomitoxin-survey/corndonlevels_20121001_2/
If you are concerned about VOM please let me know and I can arrange to have your corn tested.
If you have any concerns about your corn fields, please let me know.
And finally - It's early into the area corn harvest but so far we are seeing respectable corn yields!!!!
There are area fields of P0216 that were lucky to get a good rain in early July running over 220bus/ac. Even fields that may have not received as much moisture are looking ok with yields over 180bus/ac.
Cobs on the Ground: yes in some areas there is some cobs dropping. It is not as much variety specific as it is area specific. It seems to be much more prevalent in areas that were very drought stressed. If you are seeing some, as a rule of thumb on a 150bus crop at 30,000 pop with 200 cobs/ac on the ground would be a loss of a bushel of corn.
Another aspect of cob drop is weak shanks. Due to the draught and cannibalization, the shanks were weakened and the cobs prematurely dropped down. This pinched the shank and cut off the nutrient flow to the kernels. This could result in lower test weight.
Weak stalks: Some early samples of silage are coming back low on fibre. This correlates to the weak stalks that I am seeing in the fields. Since the plant was under stress it cannibalized the fibre in the stalk to feed the cob. Some very stressed fields are starting to break down. It would be a good idea to go thru your fields and do the push test to evaluate which fields should be harvested first.
Mould: yes there is mould showing up on the cobs. Since the crop was under stress, the mould is taking advantage of it. The good news is that not all mould raises VOM levels. OMAFRA took 171 samples from across Ontario and only 6 showed VOM over 2ppm and none over 3ppm. 23 were between 1/2 and 2ppm. The full report can be found here: http://fieldcropnews.com/2012/10/2012-grain-corn-ear-mould-and-vomitoxin-survey/corndonlevels_20121001_2/
If you are concerned about VOM please let me know and I can arrange to have your corn tested.
If you have any concerns about your corn fields, please let me know.
And finally - It's early into the area corn harvest but so far we are seeing respectable corn yields!!!!
There are area fields of P0216 that were lucky to get a good rain in early July running over 220bus/ac. Even fields that may have not received as much moisture are looking ok with yields over 180bus/ac.
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