Ridgetown Ag Breakfast Meeting Minutes – April 24, 2018

Breakfast Sponsor: Thanks from the group to “Stephanie Divitaris – Syngenta”

Synopsis: Compared to two weeks ago, it was nice not to arrive to freshly fallen snow! The winter wheat crop continues to look good.   The warm temperatures on the weekend helped and the majority of the winter wheat crop ranges from tillering to stem elongation but some fields at first node have been observed in Essex County. For the most part, growers have switched from a split to a one pass Nitrogen application in wheat to avoid having to stop planting corn and soybeans to put on the second split N application. Corn planting intentions are expected to be up for the area while soybeans appear to be the same as last year which is slightly different than what was conveyed two weeks ago. Weather conditions over the next month of course will determine final acreages. Seed corn acreage will be down as much as 20% due to excellent production levels last year plus seed company production amalgamations. Refer to 2018 Agricorp insurance spring-seeded grains and oilseeds planting deadlines. Link it

Weed resistance continues to be a concern and it is imperative everyone continue to scout for resistant weeds and manage accordingly. The acreage of Xtend soybeans will be up this year so careful application of dicamba will be critical especially with the potential for a condensed spring. Call Centres have been established by crop protection companies with dicamba products if issues occur.

Winter Wheat: Winter wheat acreage is estimated at 930,000 acres this year which is comparable to the 940,000 in 2017. As stated earlier, the for the most part the winter wheat crop looks pretty good with some Septoria on new growth and ranges from tillering to first node stage. Still some comments of frost heaving but primarily in shallow, late planted wheat especially in other areas such as Niagara. Split N applications are mostly abandoned at this point for a one pass N application.

Over the past two weeks, stipe rust in winter wheat was observed in Western Tennessee, Western Kentucky and South/South Eastern Illinois although in most cases at low levels but the field in Illinois had sufficient levels on a very susceptible variety that it and other fields in the area had a fungicide application (first node stage). We have not had any reports or observed any stripe rust in Ontario to date. These cooler, wet conditions are favourable for stripe rust and scouting will continue.

The cold spring temperatures will have slowed the mineralization of sulphur in the soil. It is being recommended to increase sulphur an extra 5 lbs on winter wheat to a total of 15 lbs/ac this spring. There still remains the question as to whether there was a difference in the effectiveness of the different sources of sulphur.

If anyone is interested in doing on farm-strip trials with sulphur in corn, soybeans or wheat to let Joanna Follings know Joanna.Follings@ontario.ca. She has a protocol she will share so that there will be some consistency across sites.

Corn: One corn field planted in the Blenheim area 10 days ago with some planters out on Monday (April 23) on the lighter ground but very little planting. Seed corn acreage will be down 15 to 20% this year as there was a big seed crop last year. Seed corn being delivered to growers. Corteva (Pioneer Band) Chatham plant looking for 50 acres for non-GMO seed soybean production. Non Class 12 insecticides such as Lumivia and Fortenza use appear to be up this year.

Soybean: No reports of soybeans planted to date. Lumiderm insecticide seed treatment from Corteva has received registration approval from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) in soybeans for control of bean leaf beetle and soybean aphid. Lumiderm will be commercially available for 2019 soybean planting. Fortenza seed treatment (Syngenta) is in soybean trials this year.

Weed Control: Chickweed continues to grow and effective herbicides should be applied sooner than later. Canada fleabane is growing so get out and scout those fields. The acreage of RdUp Xtend soybeans will be up this year and it is important to take the necessary precautions to minimize off-site movement to sensitive crops in adjacent fields.. Remember you don’t have to apply dicamba to Xtend soys unless needed. As was stated in the last meeting and discussed again this week, the companies did lots of training of farmers on the proper application of dicamba. Their messages are to apply early and use it when appropriate. They also stressed using the right nozzles for application. If there is a delayed spring growers need to use the right rate. A higher rate may be needed and add second mode of action for control. Remember dicamba rainfast is 4 hours while Eugenia, Xtendimax and RU Xtend are one hour so plan ahead. Next weed of concern is annual bluegrass – Zidua and Focus herbicides (pyroxasulfone) appear to be the most active at inhibiting seed germination while other group 15 herbicides are less effective.