No-Till Farmer Blog

It’s almost September — where did the summer go?

How do your crops look?  Ours look good, but have had plenty of stress of planting in near mud, then record heat and rapid growth. I’ve never seen corn grow that fast in my 61 years.

Look at your fields and find out what is really going on inside them. Here, the corn is not so good 20 rows in.

The ProFarmer Crop Tour, and all the pictures on Crop Talk, has spurred a lot of farmers to look at their crops. I’ve been studying them again all summer and I really wonder about Goss’s Wilt.

Some good friends did their own crop tour and they think ProFarmer is even high on their yield estimates. They think Goss’s Wilt has really wrecked the U.S. corn crop and will again.

Look up Goss’s Wilt. It’s a bacterial blight that was first found in Nebraska in 1969. There is concern our plant genome and farmer practices have led to the outbreak of this disease in the last few years.

I would like to hear a good pathologist who can communicate to farmers speak on the disease followed up by a farmer who understands it from his fields and has taken action against it.  I think that is something we could all learn from.

On soybeans, it’s weed resistance that is the rage again this year. The Roundup Ready program is failing in more and more states as resistance builds up and resistant weeds spread. It “looks pretty good” in so many places, but there is a false sense of security.

I just looked at a “clean field” of RR soybeans that looked really good and were well-podded.  I found 3 patches of resistant weeds in it that glyphosate didn’t control.

Here in southwest Ohio, the main weed culprits are marestail at No. 1, closely followed by giant ragweed and common ragweed, lambsquarter and pigweed. Redroot pigweed, and its cousins Palmer amaranth and tall waterhemp, have wrecked a lot of soybean acres in the U.S. this year.

That’s why I’m on a mission to learn about sprayer-tank chemistry, glyphosate soil residual and glyphosate resistance. Learning never stops and this is especially true of no-till and how we farm today.

Hope this finds you all well, some of our good no-till friends are ill and we pray for them all.  A lot of us older no-tillers are starting suffer from our age, and this crazy spring didn’t do one bit of good for us on that issue!
 
I’ve been bugging Darrell for a good tank-chemistry classroom for us no-tillers who spray. We’re finally getting our own sprayer and commercial pesticide license, which has brought back all the memories of trying to kill weeds before RR.

Farming was too easy for us no-tillers and all farmers when that stuff came out, and now we have so many resistant weeds we have to go do what we should have done in the first place: Read labels, follow them and learn about adjuvants and tankmix partners.
 
Ignite or Gramoxone are contact killers, so they require more water and different droplet size than glyphosate.  Marestail, tall waterhemp and resistant pigweed or palmer amaranth has made us all re-think this spray-issue deal.
 
The crop in Ohio has really caught up, with fields tasseling now or wanting too, but it’s all confused. I wrote a blog on that issue this morning at www.hymark.blogspot.com.  I hope it makes you think about your no-till cornfields because ours are confused!
 
Spraying is job one this week in Ohio, so farmers have all kinds of questions about adjuvants, glyphosate tie-up of manganese and other nutrients, how to kill tall weeds, how to kill weeds that didn’t die the first trip, and so forth and so on.  Tons of questions, few answers!
 
We’re thankful though for the heat and moisture, and for places like the NNTC, where we can all go learn and talk about these things this winter.  I have spent all my life killing weeds and learning how to build and save soil instead of tearing it down. 

Life and Mother Nature hit me hard this spring! Hope to talk to you in January if not before.

We finally finished barley harvest last night and took our first sample of soft red winter wheat.  It rained every day but one the last ten days, not much, just enough to keep you from working full days.

The barley ranged from 30 to 90 bushels and the drowned out areas really pulled down yields.  We have had a year’s rainfall in southwest Ohio in half a year.  The test weight was down to 42-44 lbs.

The wheat sample showed 58 pounds at 15% moisture. Yields will be all over the board on it, too.  The more nitrogen and fungicide you got on, the better the yield.  Some got neither in this area this year.

An important management factor for me was the use of trychaderma again on my seed.  I used the Gaucho insecticide fungicide package with Sabrex Root trychaderma root fungicide. Both contain trychaderma I find profitable in my corn, soybeans, and cereal grains.

They both made over 10 bushels more grain and up to near 20 bushels over the insecticide/fungicide.  Another thing I do is add 2 lbs of Tillage Radish to my wheat seeding and that added near 10 bushels this year.  I had 90 bushels with both, 80 bushels with either trychaderma or radish and 70 without either.  I did not test non treated seed.

Some of my corn strips are visually different with trychaderma today and I have heard the same across the country.  I really feel any good seed company ought to just add that to all their seed, it’s well worth the dollar or so extra cost for them.  Some of the seed companies I deal with do that but none of the mainstream companies do yet.

Some fields are a wooly mess around here with so few days without rain.  Weed control is job one again this year but the biggest impact is our late crop as some corn won’t be knee high by the fourth of July next week.  We need a really good summer to make something of this crop.

Resistant weeds are worse this year as expected.  Sharpen and Ignite are becoming popular words in weed control here and more Gramoxone was used this year than any I have seen.

It’s a mixed bag in Ohio but it’s all behind maturity wise except for weeds.  The bugs really haven’t had a chance yet with all the rain.

Most of the corn got planted here with hopes of $6 per bushel but some preventive planting was taken.  I can’t imgaine what an early frost or cool summer would do to prices.

I have heard a lot of positive comments about the condition of crops planted into cover crops around here.  They are some of the better looking fields around.

There will be lots to talk about at St. Louis in January and it will be here before you know it!

Ed Winkle

Planters are rolling in parts of southwest Ohio. It’s still very heavy here after 2-4 inches of rain last week, and only certain fields in certain areas are fit to plant. Most of us have had 20 to 25 inches of water since April 1.

June 5 is a big day for us. Should we take prevented planting, or take partial prevented planting and plant beans, or what?  Each farm is different. I have a farm that needs fencerow and drainage work that might be a good candidate, but it grows really good crops, too. I’ll know by Sunday and will have to make a decision by then. It’s covered in headed-out rye, which is another problem to manage.

I enjoyed the last blog on the subject by Dan Gillespie. He did a better job than I did. Maybe I could have done what he did if I had pushed a little harder, but we just haven’t had many days to do anything right in Ohio.

After we plant, I’m toying with the idea to roll the rye flat and level the field for the combine header. I’ve questioned why so many farmers are rolling fields, and this might be a good chance to make my own conclusions.

There are a few fields of corn up, and I saw my first sidedressing done today.  There are a handful of soybean fields up — all no-till — and they have a big jump on these later-planted fields that are coming.

I have one farm of wheat that is about the farthest along of any I have seen, and I have another that is one of the latest. What a world of difference 2 weeks in planting dates made on final maturity.

We are in for another crazy year of weather in Ohio, and we envy all of you who have everything planted and are off to a good start to a profitable year.

Ours is yet to be planted.

A year ago, I had corn out of the ground. This year, I don’t have a seed planted. What a difference a year makes!

If it ever gets fit, we are ready to go. We have added a sprayer to our operation, which we have not been able to use yet, either.

The planter is ready to go and we are going over the drill again, adding some parts we did not get installed the first go round a month ago. Funny when you have time to do the same job twice.

We have needed a sprayer for years, but limped by in our expansion with custom application. This will really add to our efficiency and pay for itself quickly. We are blessed to have good help to operate the new spray rig and a trailer to nurse it.

The Martin setup on the planter and drill is going to reward us once more in cool, damp no-till soils. That system alone has allowed us to do more and better than any one thing we have changed in the last 15 years.

I got everything fertilized last fall before the price went up and now I don’t have to worry about it when the weather does break. Some nitrogen before and after planting and we are ready to go.

You can tell this is going to be another crazy year. Last year, we had near-ideal growing conditions through the month of June, when the rain shut off. We had no rain after July 12 until way after harvest. The fall-seeded crops and covers had a hard time getting established until we got some rains in November.

Last year, it rained all May and this year, it rained all April and has so far in May. We may not get in until the end of the month. Such is farming.

I am really happy we got as much planted as we did last fall, but the rye is getting out of hand. We had little erosion with the 15 inches of rain so far since the first of April, thanks to green fields.

I have one farm of wheat that is wet and the water was too much for it. It will go to soybeans. My other wheat looks good.

Marketing is where it’s at and it’s been a wild ride. I have no doubt that ride will continue.

Good luck to us all. It looks like we are going to need it.

We enjoyed another excellent National No-Tillage Conference in Cincinnati last week with a record crowd for our location. The No-Till Farmer staff did another bang-up job putting on this conference for standing-room-only crowds.

From the opening talk from my friend Tom Oswald, to the last talk by my friend Jack Maloney, every speaking slot was full of good information. I can’t say there was any breaking news this year, but there was more information and evidence on the things we have been talking about from seed treatments to cover crops.

I explained how I treat my treated seed and use soil amendments and micronutrients. Fertilizing is one thing, but every decision we make impacts how our crops take up available nutrients. With rising fertilizer costs, there is much interest in releasing more nutrients from our soils.

I raised some eyebrows when I said that I think every seed company needs to be prepared to put whatever treatment we want right on the seed, because of these new polymers available.  I shouldn’t have to treat my treated seed; it should all be sealed on pristine seed for the price we’re paying. The industry IS coming around to this notion as it outperforms other seed.

One question that came up was all about glyphosate. How much is it limiting nutrient uptake and increasing disease pressure and how do we handle or prevent resistant weeds?

Resistant weeds are becoming a larger problem each year as most farmers overuse this effective herbicide. Lots of discussion was shared on these topics.

I found three farmers who’ve forgotten more about the air drills than I understand. I see right now we need a full rebuild with some modifications, or we should replace the drill.

Robert Adamic in Michigan, Allen Dean in Ohio and Mel Gerber in Missouri understand the John Deere air drill better than I do. Here’s the value of the conference that can pay huge dividends, even above the other great topics and speakers.

Dr. Ray Weil of Maryland gave a real good primer on soil fauna and his student at Western Illinois Univ., Joel Gruver, put numbers and explanation to soil biology and nutrient release.

I never saw a talk I wasn’t interested in — some just more than others. Every speaker from presentation to classroom to roundtable explained their beliefs and raised good questions.

The woman’s program was excellent. I wish LuAnn could have been there for all of them. My tax accountant, Donna Dalton, and my old friend Chris Bruynis of Ohio State gave really informational talks, well worth the price of admission to the conference.

I  hope we can all meet again next year in St. Louis for the 20^th annual conference. Put it on your calendar now and just send in your payment so you won’t forget or put something less important in front of it.

This conference has answered more questions than any conference I have ever been part of.

It’s less than a month until the National No-Tillage Conference. Can you believe that?

I was given the chance to conduct two topics. I chose seed treatments for my general session and nutrient balance for my nitty-gritty, get-down-and-dirty classroom session.

My first thought is to explain why I inoculate my seed. Maybe it should be, “Why I Treat My Treated Seed?”

I inoculate all my seed. I inoculate every seed, even perennials transplanted in the landscape, with SabrEx Seed Treatment. It’s the latest trichadermal to come out of the labs of Dr. Gary Harmon at Cornell.

With trichaderma, I get healthy plants, less disease, more yield and fewer replants. It all adds up to money.

To me, in my little world, every seed should be treated with it. It doesn’t hurt yield; it makes the plant healthier. I was able to purchase Rupp Seed Wheat of Wauseon, Ohio, from my local dealer with it installed right on the seeds. That is a big plus for farmers.

I’m out there in the field, sprinkling the treatment in the seed boxes and hoppers, because it makes me money. It slows me down, but it makes me money.

The same company came up with the latest soybean inoculant dubbed R09 or Rhizobia 2009. This little bug added 7 bushels per acre to my soybean yields again this year.

I don’t see why any soybean farmer would not inoculate and I surely don’t see why they wouldn’t use R09. On your farm, Vault or Optimize or something else may be better, but at least try it and use it!

I got my first shot at the American Seed Trade meeting in Chicago last week. That conference has changed since Monsanto bought up so many little companies. I could see the change. The hotels were not as full. Yields continue to increase and traits continue to make many farmers money, so this progression is natural.

Weed resistance was a discussion point. The Mid-South has a huge problem with glyphosate-resistant pigweed and I even see it in the Ohio Valley. It ruined our garden right next to some excellent, weed-free LibertyLink soybeans. Those beans were the most profitable crop on our farm this year.

On the micronutrients, I find good yield response by applying them when my tissue test shows a deficiency. The grade-card idea for farmers rings a bell, as “D” on your tissue test is a “D” on your farm grade card and it pays to get it up into the Satisfactory range.

Those are some of the things that I’m thinking about sharing at the National No-Tillage Conference. See you in Cincinnati.

It’s really dry here. The neighbors well pump disappeared and there was a hole 20 feet wide and 20 feet deep!

We got an inch of rain November 17 and more than that Thanksgiving. The fall-seeded crops doubled in size overnight! I don’t ever remember that happening before.

This was another year for the record books. No-till saved my hide once more. The yields were very good for only a 1-inch rain June 12 and a few light showers after that. The 90 days of 90-degree heat took the top-third off our yields, but we still made a little money. I try not to think about the forward contracts that paid less than the grain from the combine or in the bins.

The new R09 inoculant from ABM made 7 bushels more soybeans. The SabrEx trichaderma seed treatment made 10 to 20 bushels more corn, 14 bushels more wheat and 3 bushels more soybeans. That was our bright spot for the year.

There is a new 115-day hybrid with big, pearly kernels that really held up and yielded well in this hot, dry summer. I am going with that hybrid on one-third of my corn acres next year.

I don’t remember so many piles of lime and gypsum remnants as seen this fall. Farmers had a little extra money and plenty of time to get it on. We also might have record acres of cover crops, although the acreage is still quite small and just catching on. The tillage radish is hot news across the continent — yes, even in Canada. Farmers are looking at every tool available to gain an edge in crop production.

It was a good but trying year, but demand has stripped our supplies. That means all our inputs went up, too, so the profit challenge remains. The markets are very volatile.

I hope you had a good year, and from here to 2011. It is right around the corner!

I just ordered 200 ton of agricultural lime for our new farm. The soil test calls for 1 to 2 tons of calcium, so I am putting 2 tons on all of it.

I use the old-fashioned ammonium acetate extraction from Midwest Laboratories or A&L Analytical Labs that costs $12 instead of $6 for the Mehlich III soil test N, which is the standard in the industry now.  The Mehlich doesn’t call for lime, but the ammonium acetate extraction calls for 1,800 to 3,000 pounds per acre on the same sampled soil.

How can that be?  The fudge factors used in the Mehlich III test are not accurate enough for CEC and pH, which calculates how much lime my soil needs. It’s close, but not quite close enough for me. My tissue tests came back “sufficient” to “low” on calcium and “sufficient” to “high” on magnesium.  That’s why I am applying 2 ton of high-calcium lime on this farm. Lord knows when or if I will ever have time like this to get in there and apply the lime.

In my 47 years of farming, my learned rule of thumb is a ton of high-calcium lime on my soils every 3 years and I don’t know of one farmer who gets that done.  That would mean 2 tons every 6 years. Most farms around here haven’t seen a lime truck in 10 years and many are 20 years or longer! We don’t apply lime like we do fertilizer, so we are losing some of those expensive fertilizer dollars!

This could vary from a half ton in Iowa to over 2 tons in Virginia! How do you know if you don’t sample and use the correct soil test?

When I get my soil to around 70% base saturation on the ammonium acetate extraction, the soil works easier and feels loamier to the touch. Fields with 30% magnesium around here, and there are many, feel like a brick many days. I have rarely ever had to replant and I think that is because of my higher calcium ratings, really good seed and seed treatments and that Martin-style no-till drill and planter that gently tucks the seed to the desired depth with good loamy soil on top of it.

The base saturation test is not over 60% calcium anywhere on the farm and some is 50%. The magnesium levels are all above 20% to 25%, so I want high-calcium ag lime. I found a source 30 miles away that is 31% calcium and 1% magnesium, so it is what we call high-cal lime. Funny thing, it isn’t far from the farm we were raised on near Sardinia, Ohio, and it costs some money to truck it up here, but Hanson closed the good Highland Quarry so it’s Eagle or waste lime like my neighbor put on a field next door a couple of years ago.

We applied 2 tons on a rundown farm south of here and it raised the best soybeans ever in its history. It usually made around 45 bushels, but this year it made 65! The plants were healthier, the fertilizer dollar was not wasted and the weeds were controlled easier getting the calcium and pH up on that old farm.

I hope we can do that on the new farm, too, and next April if it gets nice and dry like it did the last 2 years, we will go in there and drill the best soybean variety we can find, treat it with a good chemical treatment and inoculate it with the new RO9 or new strain of rhizobia and SabrEx, the latest trichaderma on the market. If we can control the weeds, we should raise 50 bushels of soybeans easily in a bad year and hopefully a whole lot more.

Then next fall, we will plant it back to wheat and keep it covered all winter so those hills don’t wash and plant it back to double-crop soybeans right behind the wheat-harvesting combine. In 2012, it should raise a good crop of corn or beans and I would like to go back to corn again as I know I can raise 200 bushels per acre on that farm.

Ag lime is the best thing a farmer can do if his soil test calls for it and this one does.

We have an unusual dry fall so it’s time to get this done. I have seen more lime piles or remains of them across my 35-mile hike between the western and eastern farm than I can remember.

Liming really pays if your soil needs it. Test it right now and find out. I probably could use a ton of high-calcium lime on every acre I farm! My pH’s are “OK,” but I am short on calcium on every acre I farm.

All the best to you this fall.