Extension Update from Jenny Rees

UPCOMING EVENTS:  

June 19:  Field Pea, Forage, and Cover Trop Tour, 9:30 a.m. – UNL WCREC at North Platte, RSVP: sstepanovic2@unl.edu or (308) 352-4340
June 19:  Winter Wheat Field Day-UNL Research Farm North Platte, 3 p.m., RSVP Rodrigo Werle (308) 696-6712
June 20:  Winter Wheat Field Day-Henry J. Stumpf Wheat Center Perkins Co, 9am, RSVP Rodrigo Werle (308) 696-6712
June 20:  Field Pea, Forage, and Cover Crop Tour, 8 a.m. – Perkins County (near Grant):  RSVP: sstepanovic2@unl.edu or (308) 352-4340
June 22:  Cover Crop Conference, 2 p.m., Holthus Convention Center York.  Polansky Seed is the sponsor and organizer.
June 28:  South Central Ag Lab Weed Science and Cover Crop Field Day, SCAL near Clay Center, registration 8am, Weed Program 8:30-Noon, Free lunch, Cover Crop Program 1-3pm, Register:  http://agronomy.unl.edu/fieldday
June 29:  Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center Open House, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., former ARDC near Mead.  RSVP:  http://enrec.unl.edu.
June 29:  Cover Crop and Annual Forage Field Day, High Plains Ag Lab near Sidney, RSVP:  kjenkins2@unl.edu.
July 6-9:  Clay County Fair
July 6-10:  Nuckolls County Fair
July 10-11:  Youth Tractor Safety Class, 8am, Grand Island College Park (308) 385-5088.
July 10-15:  Fillmore County Fair
July 12:  Turf Field Day, 8 a.m., UNL East Campus, http://turf.unl.edu
July 18:  Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic:  Soil Health, ARDC (now ENREC) near Mead
July 26-30:  Polk County Fair
July 27-30:  Hamilton County Fair
Aug. 2:  Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic:  Precision Ag Training, ARDC (now ENREC) near Mead
Aug. 3-6:  York County Fair
Aug. 8:  Soybean Management Field Days, North Platte
Aug. 8-9:  Nebraska Grazing Conference, Kearney
Aug. 9:  Soybean Management Field Days, Ord
Aug. 9:  Nebraska Cover Crop Conference, during Lancaster Co. Fair at Fairgrounds
Aug. 10:  Soybean Management Field Days, Auburn
Aug. 10-13:  Seward County Fair
Aug. 10-13:  Thayer County Fair
Aug. 11:  Soybean Management Field Days, Tekamah
Aug. 23:  Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic:  Soybean Production Training, ARDC (now ENREC) near Mead
Aug. 24:  Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic:  Corn Production Training, ARDC (now ENREC) near Mead
Aug. 24:  York County Corn Grower Plot Tailgate, 5-7pm, 1416 Road I, York County.

Farm Finance Clinic Sites and Dates To sign up for a clinic or to get more information, call Michelle at the Nebraska Farm Hotline at 1-800-464-0258.

Hail Damage to Crops:  Hail and wind damage occurred throughout the area I serve last week.  Overall, I’ve been encouraged by the regrowth observed on corn and soybean plants affected by the June 14^th storm.  We were blessed with warmer weather and sunshine that allowed for regrowth to occur in many situations other than some fields around the Deweese area.  You can look for regrowth on leaves within the whorl of corn plants and on the axillary buds of soybeans.  Even what appeared to be soybean ‘sticks’ may show regrowth by now.  The concerns I have for plants affected by these storms is all the stem bruising on both corn and soybeans and the potential for bacterial diseases to affect corn.

For those of you affected by June 16^th storms, we recommend to wait a week to assess damage and any decisions.  I realize we’re also at a critical stage for replant decisions as we continue later in the season.  Ultimately, decisions need to be made on a field by field basis.  Resources:  CropWatch Hail Damage Resources:  http://cropwatch.unl.edu/2017/crop-hail-damage-resources in addition to numerous resources published from storms this time of year in 2014:  http://cropwatch.unl.edu/2014-storm-recovery-information.

Questions I’ve been receiving include the benefit of fungicide application, herbicide application, and replant considerations.  Regarding fungicide application, there’s no good research to Dr. Tamra Jackson-Ziems or my knowledge to support this.  Previous CropWatch article from Tamra:  http://cropwatch.unl.edu/fungicide-use-corn-after-hail-or-wind-damage.  Fungicides only control fungal diseases.  Bacterial diseases are favored after hail events and we have already seen bacterial leaf streak in the area prior to the storm.  From past-years’ experience of prior wind/rain events, we can expect to see more of it in about a week.  Fungicides won’t help that disease nor Goss’s wilt which is another we often see come in after hail events. 

However, if you’re considering this, I’d like to have several farmers prove it to yourselves with on-farm research this year so we do have data for the future.  It’s this simple.  All you do is spray fungicide in enough width to complete 2 combine passes.  Then skip an area for 2 combine passes.  Then treat again and repeat across the field.  Plot protocol is available on my blog at http://jenreesources.com.  Please let me know if you’re interested in this! 

Timing of fungicide app:  ISU did a study to simulate hail damaged corn at tassel stage within an average of 3 or 8 days post-hail.  They didn’t find the timing to provide any yield effects.  They also didn’t find a statistical yield increase (90% confidence level) in fungicide application to hail damaged plants vs those which weren’t hailed although they also reported a numerical increase in 12 of the 20 fields.  http://crops.extension.iastate.edu/cropnews/2015/06/hail-and-fungicide-use-corn

Herbicide application:  I spoke with Dr. Amit Jhala, Extension Weed Specialist for his thoughts regarding this.  He said ultimately herbicides shouldn’t be applied to stressed weeds in order to achieve greatest efficacy.  The concern for many including me right now is how well the weeds survived the hail and how quickly they are regrowing compared to the damaged corn and soybeans.  This again is a field by field assessment regarding how well your corn and soybean regrowth is occurring and how rapidly your weeds are.  I watched one palmer plant in one field after June 14 storm:  1 day post hail and 2 days post hail put on two sets of leaves in that time period.  I also took pictures of soybeans reduced to sticks while waterhemp in that field was virtually untouched.  I think many are trying to wait 5-7 days post-hail to apply herbicides but there were some fields I was suggesting to apply over the weekend with the recovery already occurring and less damage.   

Corn replant:  The biggest concerns with corn would be stands, eventual stalk rot/downed corn due to stalk bruising, and bacterial diseases.  I’ve essentially watched stands reduced over the course of the growing season after early-season hail storms mostly due to bacterial diseases like Goss’ wilt.  It will be important to have your crop insurance adjuster look at the field again prior to harvest.  Splitting the stems of damaged plants across the field can help you assess any damage to growing points; they should be white/yellow and firm not brown and soft.  Tattered leaves that are wrapped around the whorl should eventually turn brown and break off with the wind.  They can sometimes impede new growth from the whorl as well though. 

Soybean replant:  Soybeans can compensate so greatly for reduced stands.  From hail at this stage in the past, we’ve said to leave stands of non-irrigated at 60,000 plants per acre and irrigated at 75,000 plants per acre.  Some soybeans reduced to sticks are shooting axillary buds.  My biggest concern on soybeans is the stem bruising which isn’t accounted for in hail adjustments.  If you want to prove replanting or not to yourself, consider slicing in soybeans next to the old row in strips across your field.  Be sure to inoculate the soybeans and be sure to take prior stand counts.  Soybean protocol also at http://jenreesources.com.

There’s nothing like doing these studies and seeing the results on your own ground or from your peers’ farms.  In 2006, I worked with a grower in the Lawrence, NE area on a non-irrigated soybean plant population study where he tested seeding rates of 100K, 130K, and 160K seeds/acre.  He received hail at the cotyledon stage and because he was non-irrigated, chose to leave the stand.  His actual stand counts were 74.4K, 89.4K, and 97.9K plants/acre respectively for the previous mentioned seeding rates which resulted in yields of 38.6, 40.6, 42.7 bu/ac respectively.  Another soybean replant study occurred near Columbus, NE where the grower had an average plant stand of 75,000 plants per acre on June 11^th.  He chose to replant five strips across the field at a diagonal to the existing rows.  The replanted soybeans ended up yielding 1 bu/ac less than the original plant stand.  I realize it’s hard to want to do these extra steps for on-farm research, but this is why it’s important; it’s the way to answer these questions for yourself!  Please contact me if you’re interested in any on-farm research studies.