Ag Report : Washington County Ag Report April 29, 2003

Washington County Ag Report
April 29, 2003

This weekly report is provided free of charge to Washington county farmers and agribusinesses. Contributors are Sandy Buxton, Colleen Converse, Aaron Gabriel, Laura McDermott, and Mandy Hulett. If you would like to be removed from the mailing list or know of someone that should receive it, please let us know.

"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which
men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Sebastian Agar

Announcements
DO YOU NEED PESTICIDE RECERTIFICATION CREDITS? Scout field crops with me for one hour and earn one credit. Currently I am scouting each Monday afternoon. Call me. AG

Monday, May 12, 1 pm - Field Crop Scouting at Goodmanor Farm - earn one pesticide credit. On Goodman Rd. in Ft. Ann.

Thursday, May 15, 1-3 PM, Greening the Farm: Renewable Energy Tour. Caretaker Farm, Williamstown, MA. Learn about solar energy on the farm for hot water, to pump water and fencing. (413) 445-4556 or ruthd@cetonline.org

Saturday, May 17, 1-4 PM, Growing Greens Intensively and Profitably. Sheffield, MA. Ted Dobson teaching the fundamental techniques of mesclun cultivation and discussing his successes and failures over the last 20 years. (413)528-4387 or mfaber5@yahoo.com

Late May, 11:30-1:00p.m., On-Farm Ventilation Meeting with Curt Gooch. Kings Ransom Farm in Bacon Hill. Cornell Pro-Dairy's Curt Gooch will analyze ventilation techniques for modern dairy barns. Contact Jen Siira at 885--8995. (will have definite date in next Ag Report).

*Some of Jackson's weather data is estimated for the month of April.

SOIL TEMPERATURES: On Monday, 80OF air temperature, unplowed corn field of gravelly loam was 60 - 62 OF, planted but not yet emerged oat field in clay was 63 OF, unplowed clay field of '02 soybeans was 65 OF, and a new alfalfa seeding in sand was 72 OF. On Tuesday at 8 am, with a nighttime low of about 50 OF, the same alfalfa seeding on sand was 54 OF. Temperature will cool a bit this week. AG

These prices are provided only to show where the general market trends are moving and to help you determine appropriate ration ingredients. Local prices will vary due to shipping, processing, and discounts.

DAIRY NOTES: At the Ruminant Health-Nutrition Conference in Syracuse, Dr. Richard Grant from the Miner Institute gave an excellent presentation on cow behavior. The following is a simplified time budget for a cow:
Activity Hours/Day
Eating 3-5 hours (9-14 meals/day)
Ruminating 7-10 hours
Drinking 0.5 hours
Lying/resting 10-12 hours
Milking parlor 2-3 hours

Obviously, there are only 24 hours in a day. There are a number of activities that could impact the time a cow devotes to each activity. However, the one in the list with the most flexibility is probably the lying/resting time. What happens if a cow is forced to reduce her resting time per day due to a lack of stalls, overcrowding, standing too long in the holding area, etc.? How much might this impact milk production? A cow makes her milk lying down. We need to provide our cows with the most comfortable stalls and allow them the option to lie down when they want to, not when we think they should.

FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: Just finished with a crop of kids for Tractor Safety (the next class is July 2 & 3 in Greenwich) and it reminds me that there are a couple of issues that need to be in the forefront of everyone's mind to insure a safe season. Reaction time is affected by age, stress, drugs, and tiredness. Try to be aware of what is going on and don't push your limits too far - it is too high a price for everyone. Also remember that equipment operators are in charge of being aware of what is happening in the area that you are operating machinery. Because you are accountable for incidents that might change what is going on - a kid or animal darts into the area, tools or machinery that move unexpectedly - all things that can result in an accident. Stay alert, be aware, and keep everyone educated to be safety smart!!

CROPS
Soil Quality: As you spread manure take into consideration the compaction factor. Compaction increases erosion of soil and nutrients into lakes and streams. It also causes about a 25% yield loss. That is 5 tons of a 20-ton/acre corn silage crop, or about $125/acre. Fuel use may increase as much as 90% on compacted soils. Weed control is worse on compacted soils and plant diseases increase. A penetrometer (a metal rod with a handle) is one tool used to detect compacted soils. Push it into native soil along the field edge, then compare how hard it is to push into the soil within your field. A shovel also works. Just dig a hole and look for compacted layers of soil. The cheapest best way to prevent compaction is to wait for soils to dry out properly. Call me if you want to use our penetrometer. Taken from Shawn Bossar, "Profit Manager Report, March 3.02)
Look at the soil as you plow or chisel. Is the soil crumbling apart, or are there clouds and blocks of compacted soil? I noticed some hard chunks of compacted soil in a chiseled field of sand. I dug with a shovel, and found that the chisel was properly set because it had broken through the compacted layer. Before tillage operations, get a shovel find the compacted layers and the soil moisture content at your tillage depth. AG
Cover Crops: Cover crops should be killed 2 weeks before planting the main crop. This will allow time for the plant material to break down and not rob the crop of oxygen in the soil needed for seed germination and for the roots of transplants.

Alfalfa: Alfalfa is growing well. There are always some crinkled leaflets. This may be due to cold temperatures damaging buds or from the tarnished plant bug, which feeds on leaf buds. New seedings are just emerging. Apply potassium (K) fertilizer early in the spring, only if your soil tests low for K. Otherwise, apply it after first or second cutting. Moist soils in the spring have more potassium available than when the soil is dry during the summer. Excess potassium will be taken up as "luxury consumption" and not increase yield.

Field Corn: One difference in the new herbicide Callisto, is that it is more water-soluble than some other preemergent herbicides. It takes about ¼ inch rain to activate Callisto when applied preemergence, while it takes 1 inch for Prowl (less water-soluble). Read labels carefully. Callisto and some corn rootworm (CRW) insecticides can cause crop injury. Be sure to use a seed box treatment for seed maggots, wireworms and white grubs. A separate insecticide is needed to control corn rootworms. In Cornell trials the new seed-treatment Gaucho has been effective for low CRW infestations, and Prescribe has been effective in moderate CRW infestations.

Grasses: All seems to be growing well in the grasses. Remember the order of grass maturity: 1st bluegrass (early May), orchardgrass (mid-May), reed canarygrass/brome grass (late-May), timothy (early June), quackgrass (mid June). Harvest grasses while in the boot stage (when the seed head is covered by the last leaf at the top). First harvest grasses, which mature in May, followed by alfalfa/grass mixes, followed by pure alfalfa stands, then pure timothy and quackgrass fields. Use a 30-day cutting interval for subsequent harvests.

Pasture: Pastures should be grazed lightly and animals moved quickly from paddock to paddock. Keep grasses grazed down to 3 inches (2 inches for bluegrass) then move animals to the next paddock. Provide large paddocks for animals to graze off the top couple of inches without clipping the grasses too close. Sun that hits the base of grasses, stimulates them to produce side shoots or "tillers" which increases plant density.

Vegetables: Boy spring sprang then retreated then sprang again! In the last two weeks we have gone from all greenhouse work because of snow to a flurry of activity. Around the county there is a lot of ground prep and fieldwork going on. Growers are laying down raised black plastic beds while the soil has good moisture content for later crops. Potato seed is being planted. Mulched crops like strawberries and garlic had the mulch raked off. Sweet Corn is in the ground under clear plastic and row cover weighted down with sandbags. Some direct seed crops are beginning to be planted (peas, spinach, carrots, lettuce, beans, other greens) with some under row cover and some not. Greenhouses are full of transplants. Hardening off has been tricky with the extreme temperature fluctuations. Depending on the age of the plants (or if flower buds are present), how much cold exposure they received, and the variety, problems may appear later in the field including bolting (cabbage, kale, chard) or fruit deformity (catfacing in tomato).
Vern Grubinger of the University of Vermont has a nice bi-weekly vegetable newsletter with grower reports from the field. Check it out on-line or you can subscribe by e-mail. Go to www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/ and click under "Newsletter".

Cucurbits: SUMMARY OF MAINE MELON TRIALS (adapted by Vern Grubinger, UVM, from an article by David Handley and Mark Hutton, UMaine Extension) Ten melon varieties were evaluated in 2002. Transplants were set out June 10 into black plastic on raised beds with drip. It was a hot and dry year and all varieties did well except Minerva which had very low yield. The varieties (with comments) are listed in order here from highest to lowest total yield. Starsweet (attractive shape, deep suture, course netting, soft flesh, bland). Athena (slightly oblong, green tint to rind, medium netting, little suture, bland flavor). Eclipse (variable netting, no suture, great interior color, poor flavor). Starfire (fair suture, course netting, soft flesh, musky, good flavor). Starship (similar to Starfire, not as sutured, good flesh and flavor). Fastbreak (round to oval, similar to Earliqueen, soft flesh, good flavor). RML 8793 (large fruit, medium course netting, light suture, large cavity, pale flesh). Earliqueen (oval, deep suture, small cavity, good flavor). Sugar Bowl (slightly oblong, deep suture, great flavor and flesh color, small cavity). Minerva (large and late). Earliqueen and Fastbreak were the earliest and are good choices for the early market but they pick out early. Starfire was the next earliest. Starsweet was one of the most attractive melons but with soft flesh and bland flavor. SugarBowl had the highest brix reading.

Pesticide Updates:
Tony Shelton of Cornell reports that Baythroid is now available for cole crops and lettuce.

From Daniel Gilrein at Cornell - Larvin has the full label for sweet corn, approved for use in NY. It has a 'Bayer' label, but with the older EPA number (264-379). you can get a copy from the www.cdms.net website. The label also includes certain cole crops and leafy vegetables.

Ornamentals:
Greenhouse: ALERT!! Southern Bacterial Wilt on Geraniums - especially American rooted cultivars. A few major U.S. propagators received infected cuttings from Kenya so there is a risk that rooted cuttings were shipped with Southern wilt. The strain Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2, is capable of overwintering in soil and poses a risk to other ornamentals and field grown solonaceous crops. Be especially aware if you have Americana cultivars 'Dark Red', 'Pink II', 'Violet' and 'Bright Red'. Monitor the plants for wilting at the bottom, but no leaf spots.

Be on the lookout for thrips on double impatiens or bacopa with blue/purple flowers. For some reason these cultivars will be the first place in the greenhouse that thrips infest. Thrips are the vector for INSV which can completely ruin an impatiens crop. Sweet Potato vines remain one of the most popular and challenging crop in the greenhouse. This week I saw oedema symptoms for the first time on the purple cultivar 'Blackie'. Unlike oedema on ivy geraniums which is evenly distributed across the leaf surface, 'Blackie' experiences lesions down the mid-rib of the leaf. The plant exudate turns amber colored and hard. The only other major pest remains aphids (lots of different plants have problems) and two spotted spider mites (again sweet potato vine).

Keep your eyes open for Bacterial blight of zinnia. This disease is seed-borne, and then spreads rapidly through seedlings in splashing water. The causal agent is the bacterium Xanthomonas nigromaculans. The symptoms are dark, greasy spots usually with a yellow halo. In seedlings, dark sunken spots may be noticed on cotyledons and first true leaves. Spots enlarge to blight the leaf. Flower petals may also be infected and blighted. This disease can be confused with Alternaria leaf spot, a fungal disease. Microscopic examination readily distinguishes between the two diseases. Fungicides can control Alternaria, but with difficulty under wet conditions. When seen in seedlings, the symptomatic plants should be discarded, as they will be a maintenance nightmare.

Landscape: Pests that should be treated now include Juniper scale, Juniper webworm and Taxus mealybug. Look for juniper webworm on junipers, Leyland cypress and arborvitae. Spray with dormant oil until mid-May. Juniper webworm larvae are 3/4 inch long, tan with brown stripes, black heads and black legs. Infested branches are webbed together and the needles are brown. Prune out infected area or spray* by the 1st week in May. Pftizer and Savin junipers are immune so they might be better choices for new plantings. Severe infestations of Taxus mealybug result in sparse foliage that may be caked with honeydew and sooty mold. A dormant oil spray would have been a good idea in March, but now a spray* can not be made until the middle of June.

Start looking for Honeylocust plant bug and both types of tent caterpillars. The eastern tent caterpillar prefers crabapple, and wild cherry. Destroy the tents and spray Bt Kurstaki and aizawai through the middle of May. Forest tent caterpillar usually has not been enough of a problem for homeowners to treat, but they will attack oak, birch, maple and elm.
* For specific spray information check your 2003 Pest Control Recommendations or call the office.

Marketing Survey and Farm Guide
We are excited to announce the Agricultural Economic Development Program of Washington and Saratoga Counties has been awarded a Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) Partnership Grant. The grant has three goals: 1) to identify all farms in Washington County, 2) continue to offer direct marketing programs, and 3) to develop the second edition of the Washington County Farm Guide.

To meet the grant goals, a survey will be sent to Washington County producers to complete for your agricultural enterprise. The survey will identify farms in the county and offer the opportunity to be listed in the farm guide and on the website. Through various questions, the survey will be able to measure farmer's current direct marketing strategies. A follow up survey will be sent before the conclusion of the grant process to measure any change in your marketing efforts.

The farm guide's purpose is to educate local consumers and visitors who have a growing interest about the diversity of farm enterprises and resources in our county. For you the farmer, it is intended to increase your visibility and offer a way to market your products. All farm enterprises will be represented. A map will be included to guide consumers directly to the farm and market operations which welcome the public. We plan to distribute 20,000 copies of the farm guide free of charge throughout the county and the region. The farm guide will also be posted on Cornell Cooperative Extension's website. The guide plans to be unveiled at this year's Washington County Fair in August.

There is no charge to be listed in the guide. If you would like to participate in the survey and would like to be listed in the farm guide please complete the survey arriving in your mail next week. If you do not receive a survey, please call us to have one sent to you. Deadline to return the survey is May 23.

Don't pass up this opportunity to promote your business and be recognized as part of Washington County's great agricultural industry. If you have any questions or need additional surveys, please call Paula Schafer at 1-800-548-0881.

Email List Serve for Washington County Producers
Do you use email? If so, plan to join the Agricultural Economic Development program's email list serve. The list serve, only open to Washington and Saratoga County producers, is a way to gain the most recent agricultural information on grants, programs, various opportunities, and much more. A newsletter is emailed to all the members every Friday and list serve members are encouraged to have discussions, share ideas, and ask questions pertaining to agricultural issues of interest. If interested in signing up for the list serve, please email Paula Schafer at pjb11@cornell.edu to have your name and email address added.

Sincerely,

Aaron Gabriel
Extension Resource Educator
Crops and Soils