Exeter Ag Breakfast Meeting

Chair for this meeting was Joanna Wallace
Chair for the final meeting of this spring on June 23rd will be Aric Bos

Thanks to Syngenta for sponsoring lunch

Synopsis: Lots of rain reported in this region. Most areas received at least 2 inches while some reported up to 6.5 inches over a 3 day period. Hensall, Mitchell, and Stratford all reported 2.5 inches. Ailsa Craig received 3 inches, Brucefield 4.5 inches, and there was one report of 6.5 inches at Seaforth. Significant ponding in fields is evident. About ½ of the edible bean crop was planted just before the big rains. There is concern over this seeded acreage since edibles are prone to root rots and crusting especially if hit with a heavy rain right after seeding. Experience has shown that these crops will need to be monitored closely since replanting is likely. Seed treatment trials on edible beans show a huge difference in favour of treated seed this year. Seed supply is a real problem and essentially non-existent for some market classes. If rotary hoeing is being considered it’s important to go as soon as possible. East of Toronto received more moderate rainfalls of 1 to 2 inches. There was much less rainfall south of the 401. Parts of Essex County have not been able to finish seeding due to excess rainfall. 5% to 10% of the soybean crop was replanted or “thickened” due to the frost on May 23rd. This approach has worked well as the new seedlings have already emerged and are only one growth stage behind the established crop. Many more fields should have been thickened up but were not. Some of the corn that was hit by a frost has been very slow to recover and a few fields were actually replanted due to poor growth. The first cut of hay yielded about 2/3 of normal, especially those stands with a lot of grasses.

Cereals: The winter wheat is very short in many fields but not all. It can still grow a lot even after heading. About ½ of the winter wheat has been sprayed with a fungicide depending on the region. Fields are very uneven for heading so spray timing is a challenge. Many fields in this region were just at the right staging for application as the rains started. 90% of the yield gain from foliar fungicides comes from leaf disease control, not fusarium control. Even if products are sprayed 7 days later than the ideal window up to 2/3 of the level of control can still be expected compared to the ideal window. The consensus of the meeting was that aerial application is a good option now considering the wet conditions. The fusarium control will not be nearly as high but the level of leaf disease control will be close to 100%. Do not mix anti drift products with aerial applications. There was leaf burn last year when these products were mixed with the fungicide. Don’t tank mix anything with fungicides. Winter wheat is just coming into head in Wellington County. When assessing leaf diseases keep in mind that most leaf diseases move from the bottom of the canopy to the top. Rust moves from the top down. There is a lot of physiological fleck out there. It usually has relatively little impact on yield.

Corn: The corn crop is variable and frost damaged plants are taking longer to recover than expected. In some cases the affected plants are more than 3 leaves behind the unaffected plants. This large variability will likely impact yields. In a few cases these fields were so slow in growth that the decision was made to replant the whole field. There was some discussion that deeper planted corn was less impacted, but this is hard to verify and not everyone is seeing the same affect. OMAFRA has conducted its annual survey of soil nitrate levels across the province. See article below for results. Does the PSNT test pick up the N credit available from red clover? Yes, it will pick up a large portion of the credit by mid-June.

Soybeans: Soybean growth has been relatively slow over the last week. Cooler temperatures and the present growth stage of the plants are to blame. Soybeans often go through a lag phase before nitrogen fixation occurs. Beans will jump when the heat arrives. No-till stands look much better after the rains. Soybean aphids have been found in Perth County on untreated soybean fields. So far numbers remain low and with all the moisture will not be impacting plants to any measurable amount. Winter barely is progressing rapidly and should mature early this year. This could be an opportunity for double cropping especially with the amount of soil moisture now present. Aggressive growers have been able to make double cropping work the last few years.

Crop Insurance:
Please consider signing up for direct deposit with Agricorp and sign up for on-line services.

May 1: New applications and coverage changes
June 15: Last day to report unseeded acreage.
June 30: Spring seeded final acreage reports due.
July 10: Premiums

CropLine – 1-888-449-0937
Field Crop News Website – http://fieldcropnews.com/

Stratford Crop Technology Contacts:
Horst Bohner, 519-271-5858 or horst.bohner@ontario.ca
Brian Hall, 519-271-0083 or brian.hall@ontario.ca

Source: Fieldcropnews