Broadcasting wheat into standing soybeans is fraught with issues, but there has been some success in the past. Slugs, wind injury and frost heave can all damage the crop. This year, wet cool conditions have given rise to very high slug populations. Slugs can decimate broadcast wheat, by “popping” the germ end out of the kernel as it germinates. Look for slug feeding injury on the soybeans: slime trails on the leaves. If broadcast seeding is undertaken, seed 2.0 to 2.5 million seeds per acre just as leaf drop begins. Agricorp must see the field this fall and evaluate if the stand is acceptable for these acres to be eligible for crop insurance.
Corn: Greg Stewart
Corn crop development in some parts of the province or in early planted corn arrived at the half milk line stage this week and is on track for black layer by the end of September. However, in many areas the crop is in the early dent stage and still needs three more weeks of frost free weather. There were only a few isolated reports of frost this past week and virtually no crop damage.
A killing frost (stems and leaves) that occurs at the one-half milk line will reduce yields by about 10%, alternatively a killing frost at the early dent stage will reduce yields by approximately 25%.
Silage harvest has started in some areas over the past week. Be sure to monitor whole plant moistures. Milk line targets (i.e. one-half to two-thirds) are reasonable tools to estimate silage moisture; however data over many years show a range in whole plant moisture at one-half milk line of 52%-72%, with an average of 63%.
The recommendation is to determine whole plant moisture shortly after denting when the milk line is about 20%. Experience shows that in a typical year, corn silage at this stage dries approximately 0.5% per day. Therefore, if the sample was 70% moisture, and 65% moisture is the target, harvest should be done about 10 days after the corn was sampled.
Pastures: Jack Kyle
Fall pasture growth has remained reasonable with adequate moisture but cool temperatures. During the fall period both the legume and grass plants need the opportunity to increase root reserves of energy to prepare for the winter dormant period. Do not graze pastures short during this fall period, leaving a significant amount of green leaf material will allow the plants to properly prepare for the coming winter.
The one exception would be on fields that you want to frost seed next spring, these fields should be grazed short this fall to weaken the established plants so that they are slower to start growing next spring. This will give the seedlings from the broadcast seeds a fighting chance against the competition. The highest success rate with frost seeding comes with the clovers and trefoil; alfalfa and the grass species are generally not very successful at getting establishing this way.
Consider grazing corn stover and or cover crops this fall. These are excellent low cost sources of feed and the grazing animals leave all the nutrients in the field for the next crop.
Weather Summary: (source: http://www.weatherinnovations.com/weather.cfm)
Source: OMAFRA