Coming Events
July 12, 2012 – 9:30 a.m. – Herbicide Resistant Weed Management Field Day, David City
July 23, 2012 – 7:00 p.m. – Extension Board Meeting, Extension Office, York
Cropping Update
Not much rain this week, I received .15â€, but our humidity levels have been up averaging near 75% for the week! The ETgages that I’ve been monitoring dropped 1.60″ for the week. The early planted corn fields I’m monitoring just started to tassel this week! The crop coefficient for that stage of corn is 1.1, so we multiply 1.6 times 1.1 for a total crop ET of 1.76†or .25â€/day! What a difference a year makes! Last year on the 4th of July the early planted corn was just about my height or a little shorter! This year we are nearly three weeks ahead of last year! Last year we were tasseling on July 18th compared to July 1st in 2012!
It’s been a few years since we’ve had to irrigate as early as we have this season. It’s more important than ever to maximize your pivots efficiency. To do that, it starts with limiting runoff and ensuring uniform water application and infiltration. If the water you apply does not soak in uniformly, you’re wasting the water. The only real way to know that is to get out in the field and look. The place to do that is out at the last two spans and on the steepest part of the field where the application rate is the highest! If after checking for runoff, take steps to eliminate it. In the short-term, reduce application amounts or move the sprinklers out of the canopy to get a larger wetted diameter and decrease the application rate. Also check for plugged or damaged sprinklers and pressure regulators and buy a pressure gauge and make sure your system is operating at the designated pressure.
Chuck Burr, Extension Educator and Bill Kranz, Extension Irrigation Specialist shared tips on maximizing pivot efficiency in this week’s CropWatch article! Check out on the complete article on the web at: http://cropwatch.unl.edu.
I also have a few copies of our Center Pivot Irrigation Management Handbook left over from our February meetings, if you are interested and would like a copy, stop by and pick one up! The final page of the handbook is a checklist of Pivot Maintenance and Management Activities that can serve as a great check list for your systems. The seven things to check out are:
___ 1. Obtain the sprinkler chart for your center pivot and ensure that the package was installed properly. Check with your dealer for a replacement copy if the sprinkler chart has been lost.
___ 2. Determine if system capacity is adequate for your location, check NEbGuide G1854 at http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=1005.
___ 3. Ensure that pump and pivot are properly matched. Make sure that the engine and pump speeds are correct for needed voltage or hydraulic pressure and for pressure at the pivot inlet, as well as for engine performance.
___ 4. Buy a good pressure gage and operate the center pivot system at the design pressure. It is also a good idea to install a pressure gage at the distal end of the pivot. Periodically check the pressure at the far end of the pivot at its highest elevation. Pressure should be at least 5 psi above pressure regulator rating.
___ 5. Operate the system when crops are small and look for broken or plugged sprinklers or pressure regulators and leaks. If you have questions about the suitability of the existing sprinkler/regulator package, you can install a new regulator and sprinkler (with the proper nozzle) in the middle of each span and observe any differences between performance of new components and existing devices.
___ 6. Observe water application in the outermost span on the steepest portion of the field and the soils with the lowest infiltration rate to see if you have runoff problems. If problems exist:
• Reduce the application depth.
• Use reduced tillage to enhance surface storage and infiltration.
• Eventually evaluate if a different sprinkler package is necessary. Select sprinkler devices that provide at least as much wetted diameter as required in selection procedure.
• Select devices with large droplet sizes when renozzling. If you irrigate a significant portion of the year on soils (especially fine sandy loam and silt loam soils) without residue cover, you may want to choose devices that provide medium diameter droplets.
___ 7. Routinely maintain mechanical/electrical/hydraulic components
Limiting the development and Spread of Herbicide-Resistant Weeds Field Day
Just a reminder to mark July 12, 2012 on your calendar for this Field Day! It will be held in the David City area. The program will begin with registration at 9 a.m., a welcome, and tours beginning at 9:30 a.m. The keynote speaker will be during the noon hour, with the program expected to end by 1:30 p.m. The event is free but preregistration is required by July 6 so plans can be made for the complimentary meal, teaching resources, and tour logistics. Register online at http://agronomy.unl.edu/weedresistmgt
Topics include:
Glyphosate Dose ResponseÂ
Management Systems
Liberty Link Soybean
Dicamba-Resistant Soybean
Carrier Rate
Directions to the David City location: From Hwy 15 in David City, turn west on East A St., then continue west for 2 blocks and look for the UNL field signs. It should be a great session; I hope you’ll plan to attend!
Custom Rates
A common question I receive relates to field operations or custom rates. The 2012 Custom Rates Parts I and Parts II are now available on line at on the CropWatch Website at:  http://cropwatch.unl.edu/web/economics/customrates.
Certifying Planted CropsÂ
I received an email for Leann that now that planting is done, it’s time to call the York County FSA Office at 402-362-5700 and schedule an appointment to report your acres. You will need planting dates, accurate acres, and correct crop shares to certify. The final date to certify is July 15th.
She also indicated that enrollment in 2012 DCP/ACRE program is still available. If you have not enrolled your farm(s) into the 2012 annual DCP/ACRE program, there is a late-file enrollment period until August 1, 2012 for any farm(s) that did not meet the June 1st deadline.
Yard & Garden
The ETgage in front of our office with a #30 grass cover dropped 1.4″ this past week! So for the week, we averaged .20″ per day! It looks more like August than the beginning of July, so hopefully we’ll get a break from the heat and some rain as well, but only time will tell. It’s more important than ever to raise that mower height so that the soil surface remains cooler. You can mow less often when you raise the mowing height. Also keep that mower blade sharp and mow in the early morning or late evenings. It’s easier on the grass as well as the operator.
Just like the corn crop, gardens are well ahead of normal years. I’ve harvested some of my first tomatoes and have already harvested my first crop of snap beans, cucumbers, summer squash, peppers and eggplants!
As a result of the less than normal rainfall, I’m not seeing as many tomato leaf spot diseases but have seen some! In my garden I’ve been pruning the tomato suckers that come at each leaf joint so that I can get a little more air movement and I’ve been making fungicide applications as a preventatively. Fungicide applications should be made as soon as the symptoms appear on the lower leaves of the plant to slow the spread of the leaf spot diseases and repeated regularly, every 7 to 10 days, or whatever is recommended by the label.
I’ve already received several questions about blossom end rot. This condition causes sunken brown or black lesions on the blossom end of developing tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, or peppers. It is caused by a calcium deficiency in the fruit even though there is plenty of calcium in the soil. What happened is the plants grow so fast that it had to take the calcium that it was going to use in the fruit and use it in the foliage. Over-fertilization and hot, windy weather are also causes of blossom end rot. Preventing moisture stress is important to control blossom end rot, especially during fruit set and when the fruits are enlarging. Mulching around tomato plants will help regulate the soil moisture throughout the season. Remove infected fruits and the good news is that it usually only affect the first fruit to ripen and then the problem usually disappears.
I’ve also received a few calls about tomatoes that have leaf roll and I’m not sure what the cause is? It may be some herbicide drift, but I’ve also seen it occur as a result of too much or too little water? Tomato leaf roll is caused when tomato plants grow vigorously during mild, moist weather. This causes the top to grow faster than the roots. When the first hot days of summer arrive, the roots can’t keep up, and the leaves roll upward. Tomato leaf roll can also occur after a heavy cultivation, a hard rain, or any sudden weather change. Too much rain or irrigation can saturate the soil and suffocate roots. Plant roots need oxygen and do not do well in heavily saturated soils. Some ways to avoid this problem are to avoid deep hoeing too close to plants, mulch around plants to moderate soil moisture extremes, and water enough to keep the soil moist, but not water logged. The good news is that leaf roll is temporary and the plant will usually grow out of it.
Finally, it’s plenty early to be thinking fall, but it won’t be long and it will be time start planting that fall garden! If you’d like some help as to what and when to plant, go to our webpage: http://york.unl.edu/water-environment and click on the York Vegetable Planting Guide link.
