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Ready, Set, Grow

Getting ready for the upcoming planting season can be stressful.  Not knowing what ground conditions you might encounter in the field, what will the weather be like, what insect and early disease pressures will be present?  While you can’t set yourself up for adverse weather conditions at this point you can however set up your equipment for the best possible results for the most likely conditions.  The biggest potential for loss within our complete control is in the planter.  We have the ability to avoid nearly any loss due to improper setup by simply running completely through the planter from row cleaner to closing wheel.

You can start by 1.)leveling the planter frame and replacing any damaged or worn parallel linkages and bushings which will keep the disc opener from running too deep causing a false bottom to the seed trench.  2.)The drive system, whether you have ground drives with chains or cables, make sure all chains are free of rust and kinks.  Cables should be removed and turned by hand to unsure they turn freely and are not frayed in any way.  If any chains or cables are damaged this could cause serious spacing issues robbing potential yield.  3.)Seed meters, even vacuum meters, need taken in to be run on a Meter max machine to ensure they are delivering seeds properly according to the seed sizes you will be planting.  4.)The disc openers should be set to prepare a “V” not a “W” in the bottom of the trench.  If a “W” is how your trench looks then adjustments or replacing parts is essential.  5.)Make sure seed tubes can deliver that seed to the trench in a uniform manner, they should be free of any internal defects and the tip should not have any excessive wear that would cause a seed to land where it’s not intended.

We also know that seed depth is so important for a uniform stand establishment so making sure your gauge wheels are not excessively worn and there is no space between the disc opener and gauge wheel ensures when you do set your depth it will be correct.  Lastly, alignment of the closing wheels, regardless of what type you run they should be centered over where the disc opener runs.  You can run the planter on a concrete surface for just a few feet then get out and simply adjust the eccentric bushings to realign the closing wheels.  This ensures the seed trench is closed properly giving the seed the best chance of making the most it can.  With seed costs at the highest they have ever been, it is imperative that the seed be delivered to the ground so it still has 100% of it’s original potential.  We all pray that this 2010 season will be a prosperous one, so lets start it off right by getting the first step right.

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Have a keen eye.

With the weather conditions being hot, humid, and heavy dews in the morning many diseases get their start and can wreak havoc on corn fields.  Gray leaf spot is one of them we have been seeing lately out in the field.  The disease overwinters on corn residue on or near the soil surface.  Lesions are usually found on lower leaves first then they travel up the plant into the ear leaf zone.  The lesions are long, narrow and rectangular.  They generally do not cross the veins of the leaf although lesions on both sides of the vein may look like one.  If the ear leaf, 2 leaves above and 2 leaves below are infected before to 2 weeks after tasseling treatment is necessary.  The weather conditions we have been experiencing and will continue to have in the near future are nearly perfect for this disease to thrive.  If you have any questions or doubt contact your local crop specialist.

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Pesky critters.

Well they are back and of course uninvited, Japanese beetles.  These little guys start out feeding on the root systems of corn and soybeans as a grub.  Many times the Japanese beetle grub gets confused by the True white grub.  The only way to tell them apart is by inspecting the hairs on the last segment of their body.  They generally pupae into the beetle and emerge late June to July.  This is when they will begin to feed on the above ground plant.  They will feed on the leaf tips of corn and once the silks emerge they quickly move to them and begin feeding there.  When this happens you need to determine the percentage of plants silked, condition of them and how many beetles per plant are feeding.  If 3 or more per plant are feeding and the plant is 50% or less pollinated then treatment may be necessary.  In soybeans they will generally eat out small holes in the leaves and “skeletonize” the leaf.  If this type of feeding is noticed you need to estimate the percentage defoliation, get a count of how many beetles per foot of row and determine if any blooms are being damaged.  If 30% defoliation has been reached before bloom or 20% between bloom and pod fill then treatment is warranted.  If you have any questions contact your local crop specialist.

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One chance to get it right

Does this picture look familiar?  If you said sidewall compaction, you are correct.  With the pressure of getting fields planted, we can make a decision to plant a field when it just isn’t ready underneath.  Many fields look like they are fit to be planted, on top.  But after further inspection of where the seed is placed, we find, after the planter has gone through, the sidewalls of the seed furrow have been compacted causing the malformed root system you see here in this picture.  The affects of sidewall compaction, at planting, last all season long.  The early development of a corn plant is highly dependent on this early root system to feed the tender plant and will greatly affect the yield potential during the 4-6 leaf stage when the plants are determining their potential.  Also, if insects, diseases, and/or extreme soil conditions occur, this limited early root growth has just that much less of a chance of providing the plant the nutrients, water and energy needed to produce 200+ bushels corn.  Think of it like this, if you have a glass of water and are using 1 straw you can get a good drink through that 1 straw.  But if you were designed to use 5 straws and were limited to just that 1, you would suffer the consequences.  So in short we really only have one shot to get it right.  So don’t waste good plans and intentions by trying to plant when it’s not really fit.  The possible losses from planting when it’s not fit are much greater than just waiting 2-3 more days when it will be fit.   We all work to hard to have to redo our work.

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For those acres planted

Well if you are one of those fortunate or maybe unfortunate ones who have acres planted so far, have your watchful eyes pealed.  The seemingly never ending rains we have received bring many difficulties to our corn plants early life especially when ground and air temperatures stay low like they have been.  Seedling diseases such as pythium, fusarium, and rhizoctonia will get their start in conditions much like we are having now.  These all can be difficult to separate from one another but in general they all, at on time or another, will cause lesions or rots on the mesocotyl and/or primary roots system of the very young and tender corn plants.  Blights can kill the seedlings or at best affect them until the secondary root system starts to take over. Continue Reading

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Nitrogen Losses Causes and Concerns

There are many ways that nitrogen can be lost after fertilizer has been applied.  Nitrates can be leached into the soil, gases lost into the atmosphere due to volatilization, and through denitrification in wet and/or compacted soils.  Do any of these cases seem familiar?  Well don’t get to alarmed just yet.

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Welcome to Xylem Data Management

We would like to welcome you to Xylem Data Management.  You have come to know this site as the Illinois Valley Mapping Center over the past few years.  We have changed the mission of the IVMC and therefore have changed the name to further reflect those changes.

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Leaf Diseases: Infection is On the Increase

If you haven’t considered treating your fields with a fungicide application this year now is the time to get serious about treatment considerations.  The environment has been perfect to promote disease issues this year as continuous rains and heavy dews saturate crop leaves with infectious spores.  The questions not going to be is disease going to be a problem, but rather what disease is out there and when is the best time to consider treating that disease.   There are 3 main corn diseases that continue to show there presence in 2008: Common Rust, Gray Leaf Spot, and Eyespot.  Each disease alone can cause significant reduction in leaf surface which can cause valuable bushels to be lost come mid August.

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Herbicide Injury: Beware of Thinner Cuticles

Herbicide injury has started to show up in many fields that have recently been sprayed with their first post application.  The importance of herbicide rates and height of the crop is becoming even more important this year with delayed application timing due to moisture.  I have yet to see a post application kill corn plants completely, however, severe herbicide burn has been seen even with a straight application of roundup and crop oil.

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Early Season Corn Issues: Why It’s Important to Use an Insecticide

So far this growing season, excessive moisture has been the major factor causing a number of problems in many fields. In most cases the crop has made it into the ground for the first time, however, there are select fields that still haven’t been planted. State highlights show that only 48% of the Illinois corn crop and 45% of the bean crop is in good to excellent condition at this time. While excessive moisture is the biggest cause of poor crop appearances, early season pests have done their part to insure tougher growing conditions as well. Continue Reading