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Double-Barreled Rootworm Control Won't Pay In Most
Cases
Applying a soil insecticide while also planting a Bt
corn rootworm-resistant hybrid may prove profitable in the short-term
for some farmers, but it's unlikely to prove profitable for the majority
of corn growers, report entomologists from around the Corn Belt.
"For farmers in Minnesota, layering another level of protection on top
of what is generally excellent control from Bt corn rootworm hybrids
would be redundant and probably uneconomical," says Ken Ostlie,
University of Minnesota Extension entomologist. "We don't have the
western corn rootworm variant to any extent here and in general all the
transgenic corn rootworm hybrids are working fine to control northern
corn rootworms."
Ostlie reminds farmers that one of the advantages of using a transgenic
corn hybrid is to cut down on insecticide use. He says that in
Minnesota, this layering approach to corn rootworm control amounts to
taking out an expensive insurance policy to protect against lodging,
which may still prove ineffective and also double the costs to protect
roots from rootworm feeding.
Redundant and unnecessary is also the way Marlin Rice, Iowa State
University Extension entomologist characterizes this two-pronged corn
rootworm control approach. "Occasionally a Bt corn rootworm hybrid will
stumble and we will be at a loss as to why that happens, but it is an
extremely unlikely event," says Rice. "I would question spending an
additional $12-15/acre on a soil insecticide when you probably have
spent that much on a Bt corn rootworm-resistant hybrid for root
protection."
Better to pick a very good Bt corn rootworm-resistant hybrid to begin
with than to double up on your protection and cost with a soil
insecticide at planting, recommends Rice. "There are three different
transgenic traits you can buy for corn rootworm protection: YieldGard,
Herculex and AgriSure. So far In Iowa we've found that two of them,
YieldGard and Herculex, for the most part provide outstanding root
protection."
Corn rootworm populations in Ohio aren't generally high enough to
warrant using two methods to control corn rootworm feeding, points out
Ron Hammond, Ohio State University Extension entomologist. "We've seen
pretty good control from either the Bt corn rootworm resistant hybrids
or soil insecticides, so we wouldn't typically recommend using both."
In Indiana, using a soil insecticide at planting with a Bt corn rootworm
hybrid "is probably a little bit of overkill and I would suspect it
would be cost prohibitive for most growers," agrees Christian Krupke,
Purdue University Extension entomologist. "However, from a resistance
management standpoint, it's always good to have more modes of action."
Resistance management is a potential benefit from this
two-pronged approach to corn rootworm control, agrees Mike Catangui,
South Dakota State University Extension entomologist. Yet, he adds that
there are already situations where using a soil insecticide at planting
and a Bt corn rootworm resistant hybrid is likely to prove both
profitable and advisable.
"To see if a control tactic is worthwhile, you first need to find out if
you can recoup the cost," points out Catangui. "Where corn fields have a
history of problems with white grubs, wireworms or corn root aphids, in
addition to heavy corn rootworm pressure, then it's more likely that
you'll recoup the cost from using both types of control products than if
your fields don't have that kind of history. The bottom line is that
some of these secondary pests, like corn root aphids or corn nematodes,
are gradually sneaking up on us in areas where continuous corn
production is becoming more common, and Bt corn rootworm resistant
hybrids don't yet control them."
To read last week's Corn E-Digest article about control
strategies for the western corn rootworm variant in Illinois, click
here: enews.penton.com/enews/.
By John Pocock
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Soybean
Rust Found In Iowa and Southern Illinois Fields
Iowa State University (ISU) has confirmed the presence
of soybean rust infection from plant samples taken last week from a
field in Dallas County (west of Des Moines).
This is the first confirmed case of the disease found during the growing
season in Iowa. But Iowa State plant pathologists stressed that the
discovery coming so late in the growing season is fortunate timing for
soybean growers.
Asian soybean rust has also been detected for the first time in Illinois
during the 2007 growing season from a field in the southern part of the
state, according to experts from University of Illinois (U of I)
Extension.
"The arrival of rust so late in the year will have no impact on the 2007
soybean crop," says Extension plant pathologist Carl Bradley. "The
soybean harvest is already well underway across much of the state. No
management actions should be undertaken by growers or commercial
applicators at this time as the soybeans are at a growth stage in which
they will not incur yield losses."
For more information about Asian soybean rust management in Iowa, click
here: www.plantpath.iastate.edu/soybeanrust/.
For more information about Asian soybean rust in Illinois, click here:
cornandsoybeandigest.com/soybeans/soybean-rust-confirmed-kansas/index1.html.
Source: ISU and U of I Extension
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Crop Insurance Program Could Help To Lower
Risk Premiums Up To 24%
A new pilot program recently approved by the Federal
Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) will provide farmers an opportunity to
pay lower premiums if they plant a majority of their corn acres using
hybrid seeds that feature YieldGard Plus with Roundup Ready Corn 2 or
YieldGard VT Triple technology from Monsanto Company.
The insurance product will be offered as a pilot program in cooperation
with Western Agriculture Insurance Company and will be called the
Biotech Yield Endorsement (BYE). Western Agriculture Insurance will make
the program available to all other approved insurance providers to offer
to their farmer customers.
The pilot program will be initially available in four states: Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota. Implementation of BYE has yet to be
determined pending available resources and priorities for the deployment
and administration of the program by the Risk Management Agency (RMA).
To be eligible for the program, a farmer must plant 75-80% of their corn
acres with seeds featuring YieldGard Plus with Roundup Ready Corn 2 or
YieldGard VT Triple technology. Refuge requirements must also be
respected. Depending on the grower's production history, amount of
coverage purchased and other criteria, the farmer may be able to reduce
the yield component of their premium up to 24%.
For more information on Monsanto's corn technology, see www.monsanto.com/.
Source: Monsanto
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Corn Stocks Down 34% From September
2006
Corn stocks in all positions on September 1, 2007
totaled 1.30 billion bushels, down 34% from September 1, 2006. Of the
total stocks, 460 million bushels are stored on farms, down 39% from a
year earlier. Off-farm stocks, at 844 million bushels, are down 31% from
a year ago. The indicated disappearance from June - August 2007 is 2.23
billion bushels, compared with 2.39 billion bushels during the same
period last year.
To read the entire USDA Grain Stocks report, click here: www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/grst0907.txt.
To read an analysis on the situation from Brock Associates, click here:
www.brockreport.com/brockreport/news.asp?article=8077.
Source: USDA and Brock Associates
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La Niña May Bring Warmer-Than-Normal
Fall Temperatures
The last days of summer this year were marked by
warmer-than-usual temperatures across much of Kansas, and that trend may
continue another few months, predicts State of Kansas Climatologist Mary
Knapp.
"According to the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, oceanic and
atmospheric conditions now reflect La Niña conditions," says Knapp,
who directs the Kansas Weather Data Library, based at Kansas State
University Research and Extension. "These conditions will probably be
weak during October and are not expected to exert much influence over
the U.S. climate patterns."
Given the weak state of the La Niña, Knapp says, the current
outlook calls for warmer-than-normal temperatures in Kansas during the
Oct-Dec timeframe. For more information on this fall's weather forecast
for your area, visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Web site at www.noaa.gov/ .
Information about Kansas weather is available on the Kansas Weather Data
Library site: www.oznet.ksu.edu/wdl/.
K-State Research and Extension
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Recommendations For Farmers Considering Early
Seed Selection
Farmers face pressure from sales representatives to
place their seed orders earlier each year, even when the current year's
yield trial information is still unavailable, says a Purdue University
expert.
"Ten to 15 years ago, it was common for seed orders to be placed in
January or February," says Bob Nielsen, Purdue Extension corn
specialist. "Now orders are being placed in August and September."
Many new hybrids come out each year, but growers should be cautious
about planting a large amount of acreage to a new hybrid unless they can
document its superior performance with data from multiple locations,
Nielsen says. "Growers really need to look at yield performance and
identify hybrids that perform well across a broad range of conditions,
primarily weather conditions," he says. "It's differences in weather
that really impact a hybrid performance."
Hybrids that yield consistently in the upper 10-15% across
numerous variety trials are indicative of consistent performers, Nielsen
says. "When selecting next year's seed, you need trial information from
many locations to represent the different weather patterns," he says.
"If you find hybrids that perform well across the majority of those
locations, it will probably perform well for you next year."
Nielsen warns growers choosing a new hybrid to tread cautiously. "It's
important to find summaries that are complete and give a wide range of
testing locations to look at performance," he says. Nielsen realizes
data are not always presented in a way that makes it easy to determine
hybrid consistency, but emphasizes the need to go through and critically
read the information.
Growers can obtain information about hybrid performance from land-grant
universities, which can be found on the Web or by contacting a local
Extension office. Purdue's Crop Performance Program information is
available at www.agry.purdue.edu/pcpp/.
Variety trials also are run by seed companies as well as by third-party
testing services.
Source: Purdue University
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GAO: Farm Payments, Crop Insurance Lead To
'Sodbusting'
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) study
says farm program payments and federal crop insurance have played a
major role in the opening up of new farm land in the upper Midwest.
Prohibitions on the plowing up of more grassland are already the subject
of the new "sodsaver" language in the House-passed farm bill, but the
study could lead to even more far-reaching legislation in the Senate
version of the law, activists say.
To read the rest of this article about potential conservation provisions
in the next farm bill as it relates to sodbusting, click here: deltafarmpress.com/news/070926-GAO-Study/.
To read a summary of the GAO study, click here: www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-07-1054.
By Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial
Staff
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Continuous Corn: Macromanaging
Micronutrients
While more bushels of corn may be a boon to the
pocketbook, are they harming the soil? Not really, according to Emerson
Nafziger, Extension agronomist and professor at University of Illinois.
"The removal of micronutrients is very small in any crop," he says. "In
my experience we don't see nutrient deficiencies any more often in corn
following corn than in corn following soybeans, with the possible
exception of nitrogen (N). Reduction of micronutrients in corn following
corn has been speculation, but there hasn't been good proof."
The amount of phosphorus (P) in corn stalks is small to begin with, as
well as the amount of potassium (K). Reapplication of those nutrients
isn't necessary every year, even with a corn-soybean rotation.
To read the rest of this article about managing nutrients with
continuous corn, click here: cornandsoybeandigest.com/corn/macromanaging-micronutrients/.
By Jen Bennett
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Anhydrous Questions
Answered
A Corn E-Digest reader from southeast Michigan
recently wrote in with several questions about anhydrous ammonia. He is
trying to decide whether to convert his anhydrous toolbar into a 28%
liquid nitrogen (N) applicator or not. Here are his questions and some
answers from Bob Hoeft, University of Illinois Extension soil fertility
specialist.
Question 1. I'm curious as to the long term effects of NH3 on our
ground. Some people say that in the long run it will harden your ground
and that it kills the worms so that you also hurt your soil tilth.
Answer: We have no evidence that ammonia is any more
detrimental to soil properties than any other form of N. At high enough
concentrations, all N fertilizers will kill earthworms, but in reality,
there are few earthworms killed by any source of N fertilizer. In fact,
earthworms like the high N zones associated with fertilizer application
and appear to move into them after the ammonia has been converted to
ammonium.
Question 2. I've also heard that back in Vietnam, after clearing
the trees in the jungles, they used to put NH3 on the ground to harden
it for landing strips for airplanes. I'm not sure if that is true, but
if it is, I'm really going to take a look at setting up my toolbar for
28%.
Answer: In World War II, our armed forces did do something
like that in Europe. Under certain conditions, a high enough rate would
make the ground hard enough for aircraft to land. However, no farmer
could afford to apply that much anhydrous in a corn field. They must
have been putting on a tremendously high rate or it wouldn't have
worked.
For more information on whether anhydrous ammonia can hurt soils or not,
click on this pdf Web link: www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/crpsl2/c625.pdf.
For more information on anhydrous vs. 28% applications, click here: ohioline.osu.edu/b760/b760_3.html.
By John Pocock
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Used Cooking Oil Could Power Your Farm
Equipment
Want to make your own biodiesel right on your farm?
Learn how to do it when Ohio State University's Sustainable Agriculture
Team leads a tour of the Mike and Dawn Roberts farm in Carroll County
Ohio, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 10.
The free public program, co-sponsored by the Ohio Ecological Food and
Farm Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, also will feature
organic livestock production.
The Robertses recently received a SARE Farmer and Rancher Grant to
develop an on-farm biodiesel system to use and refine used cooking oil
to provide power for their farm equipment. Find the farm at 7203
Waynesburg Rd. NW, two miles south of Waynesburg. No registration is
necessary. For more information, contact Mike Hogan, OSU Extension,
Carroll County office, (330) 627-4310, hogan.1@osu.edu, or visit this Web
link: sustainableag.osu.edu/.
Source: Ohio State University
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Nominate Your
Mentor For Recognition
The editors of The Corn And Soybean Digest
(CSD) would like to know who you rely upon for trustworthy
farming advice. Do you call on an independent crop consultant, a
university expert, another farmer or a farm management consultant to
improve your bottom line?
If you have relied on someone consistently as a mentor to help you be
more profitable or to help provide clarity in making farm management
decisions, please tell CSD their name, how they've helped you and
how CSD can contact them (and you). Who knows, they could end up
being recognized in a future issue of the magazine.
Please send your nominations via email to csd@csdigest.com or mail to Editor,
The Corn And Soybean Digest, 7900 International Drive, Ste. 300,
Minneapolis, MN 55425.
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Note From The Corn E-Digest
Editor
I recently received a question from one Corn
E-Digest reader about what has been done recently to bring the
old-style 50-50 crop share lease up-to-date. Look for advice on that
question in the next Corn E-Digest. If you have any other ideas
on what you'd like to see covered in a future issue of the Corn
E-Digest, or if you have concerns or questions about this issue,
please write me (John Pocock) at: jpocock@csdigest.com.
As always, thanks for your readership.
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