Spring 2021 Agronomy Update
- shenke3
- Apr 19, 2022
- 2 min read
Adam Johnson, Crop Advisor at Centra Sota’s Santiago location shares some thoughts
on the season so far:
Now that the spring rush is starting to slow down, this is the perfect time to be out walking and scouting your fields. When evaluating corn fields check planting depth and how your hybrids handled the cold soils this spring (cold germ score). If you would like row units gone through by Centra Sota, schedule that now before you put the planter in the back of the shed for the year.
If you have recently harvested alfalfa, give your Crop Advisor at Centra Sota a call to sweep the fields for leafhoppers and alfalfa weevils. This can be done as soon as you have 4-6 inches of regrowth.
Many areas of the state have been dry this spring which can lead to reduced effectiveness of pre-emerge herbicides. Evaluate corn and soybean fields for weed pressure. Most of the area has received some rain which will activate the herbicides that were applied. Time (early post) herbicide sprays to kill small weeds (2-4inches). Remember we have a lot of growing season remaining; so, you will need an additional residual product to keep grasses and small seeded broadleaves (waterhemp) controlled until crop canopy is achieved.
Schedule grid sampling with your Crop Advisor now. We can get quality cores pulled in crop, and you will have results back before the combines roll so fertilizer and lime can be planned for.
Consider pulling 12inch soil nitrate samples when corn is in the V4-V5 growth stage. This is most beneficial on lighter soils where nitrogen is a planned side dress, or on manured fields if you have any doubt about the amount of nitrogen available this season. With high input prices and high commodity prices it is better to use data than guess about potential nutrient availability.
If you do your own crop protection spraying pay attention to the details that will help make your investment do the most for you. Most herbicides preform best when sprayed on actively growing weeds that are not under stress. Use the recommended water volumes and adjuvants for the product you are applying. With post emerge products, adjuvants help get the herbicide into the weed and to the site of action in the weed. Remember to use multiple effective modes of action to control weeds and slow the spread of resistant weed biotypes. Ideally, we should be done making herbicide applications to corn by the V7-V8 growth stage and be done spraying beans before they are in full flower.
Utilize your Crop Advisor to determine which corn hybrids you planted are most likely to respond to a foliar fungicide or additional nitrogen. Invite them to walk your fields with you or go on a private Answer Plot tour. On the acres where you have good yield potential consider tank mixing a foliar feed product. See chart below. The economics are very favorable this year for Max-In Products. Don’t forget to look at any trials you have done (in furrow treatments, seed treatments or biological products). Lastly have a safe and enjoyable summer.
