Corn Updates
Yesterday, despite the rainy weather, the NY Corn and Soybean Growers Association Corn Yield Tour happened across ten counties in the NWNY region. Yield potential looked good across the region though maturity seems to be about 7 to 10 days behind last year. Ten teams took yield checks in 100 fields across the NWNY region. The county yield results will be presented tomorrow at the NYC&SGA Summer Crop Tour at Rodman Lott and Son Farm in Waterloo. Click here to see the agenda, https://na.eventscloud.com/website/58342/.
Teams reported a lot of variability in stand counts and pollination. Comments included: early diseases on lower leaves, bird damage, nitrogen deficiency, nitrogen burning, slug and Japanese beetle damage. I even saw silk clipping by corn rootworm adults. The USDA NASS Crop Progress and Condition report for NY on August 6 had 56% of the corn silking. This is up 14% from last week and down from last year’s 72%. It also has corn conditions at 6% very poor, 9% poor, 25% fair, 36% good and 24% excellent. Slightly better than last week.
Soybean Updates
Soybean growth was very variable across the region this week. I saw both extremes yesterday. The USDA NASS Crop Progress and Condition report for NY on August 6 had 50% of the soybeans blooming. This is up 7% from last week and down tremendously from last year’s 84%. Soybeans setting pods this week was at 25%. This is up 6% but way below last year’s 51%. The weekly report has soybeans conditions at 13% very poor, 16% poor, 38% fair, 17% good and 16% excellent.
You always hear that soybeans are made in August. This is usually referring to adequate rainfall. Many of you have plenty of rain but what we really need is some sunshine! Current weather conditions with extended periods of leaf wetness have been perfect for leaf diseases such as downy mildew, brown spot, frog eye and Cercospora to become prominent. I know of many growers out spraying fungicides on R3 soybeans. Now is when we usually see the first signs of white mold. Upper leaves will begin to wilt and turn brown. If you dig down into the canopy, you can confirm white mold by a white fluffy material on the stem. You can actually see what node (flower) the disease infected the plant. There is nothing you can really do at this point but keep record of its occurrence and plan for future soybean rotations.
Considerations for Marestail Control in Wheat Stubble
Riding around the region this week I am seeing a lot of marestail coming up through the wheat stubble. What are you going to do to manage it before it sets seeds? Mowing, tillage, and herbicides alone and in combination are options. Mark Loux of Ohio State has a great article on how to best utilize each of these options (https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/controlling-marestail-wheat-stubble).
Goal: control marestail and other weeds, then plant a cover crop. Many growers utilize a cover crop following wheat and other small grains. The major problem with utilizing herbicides prior to cover crop establishment is that 2,4-D, dicamba and Sharpen all have some residual activity and that means delayed planting of cover crops particularly broadleaves (clover, radish, turnip) for 30 days or more. Planting annual ryegrass, oats or cereal rye would be a safer bet with these products. We like to get our cover crops planted during the first two weeks of August. That’s right now! Products such as Gramoxone and Glufosinate have no soil activity and so no waiting period to plant any cover crop and could be options for immediately planting broadleaves. However, there is no silver bullet here. Mark Loux has a Part 2 article that further explains the pros and cons of each of these burndown options (https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/marestail-control-wheat-stubble-part-2-cover-crop-considerations).
Only 21 Days Left to Enter the NY Corn and Soybean Yield Contests.
Deadline is August 30! Click here to get the entry form on our webpage,
Next report will be August 16.
