Ag Report : Washington County Ag Report May 13, 2003

Washington County Ag Report
May 13, 2003

Contributors to this newsletter are Sandy Buxton, Colleen Converse, Aaron Gabriel, Mandy Hulett, and Laura McDermott. If you would like to be removed from the mailing list please let us know.

"Management is nothing more than motivating other people." (in a positive way)
- Lee Iacocca

Announcements

FIELD CROP SCOUTING, COME EARN A PESTICIDE RECERTIFICATION CREDIT by scouting with me for 1 hour. (Call the office if the weather is bad. 800-548-0881.) Two stalwarts came out in the rain on 5/12 and earned a pesticide credit.
Monday, May 19 at 1 pm, Cleo Ford farm, Edie Rd. in Cambridge
Tuesday, May 27 at 10 am, Kevin Eastman farm, 7969 Rte 40 in Hartford

May 16, 2003 Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser to assist Aaron and Jaci Van Namee of Hartford., with medially related expenses. From 5-7 p.m. at the Hartford Central School cafeteria, come support Aaron and Jaci by eating Spaghetti, salad, ice cream and beverages. Cost is $8.00/person or $20/family of 4. Sponsored by Hartford FFA, Ag Advisory Committee, and Hartford Central School.

Thursday, May 22, 11:30-1:00p.m., On-Farm Ventilation Clinic with Curt Gooch. Kings Ransom Farm in Bacon Hill. Cornell Pro-Dairy's Curt Gooch will analyze tunnel ventilation and cooling techniques for modern dairy barns. Contact Jen Siira at 885-8995. (Lunch will be provided by Agway).

May 29, 2003 CWT Informational Meeting, Greenwich Elks Lodge, Route 40, Greenwich, 7:30 p.m. Info on dairy assessment program.

10 AM-5 PM, Sat., June 7 & noon-5 PM, Sun., June 8. Ninth Annual Rensselaer County Alternative Agriculture Farm Tour. Activities and open houses on five diverse small farms. Free and open to all. Call Harold or Liz, 518/753-4079 to receive a free brochure with map.

July 29, 2003 - CNCPS users workshop with Tom Tylutki of Cornell will meet at Farm Credit. Available to all Agri-business and dairy farmers interested in learning how the Cornell Model functions as well as the latest up-to-date Model information. Bring your laptops if you would like to follow along with Tom. Contact Jen Siira at 885-8995.

Midwest Commodity Prices - from the Wall Street Journal

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.

Weather Data - 2003 and average of 1999 - 2002

DAIRY NOTES: Once again, we are closing in on that busy time of the year when forage supplies are dwindling down and forage quality must continue to be a high priority. One way the cows will tell you if it is time to take a forage sample or make changes in the ration is by observing the manure consistency in the herd. Manure screening will tell you a lot about the health of the cow such as rumination, sorting at the bunk, feed efficiency, etc. For example, if the rumen is functioning well, meaning there is sufficient rumination with adequate effective fiber and "reasonable" retention, you shouldn't see a lot of course fiber (many particles >0.5 inches) or whole kernels of corn. About 5% of cows in a group will have manure different from their herdmates. Washing manure is quick and easy. One cup of undisturbed manure is all that is needed along with a screen (6 to 8 squares per sq. in.) and a stream of water. It will take approximately 30 seconds to screen the manure with warm water.

FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) formally approved moving forward with the Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) program on Friday, May 9th. The NMPF staffers are supposed to be preparing to implement the program in 30-60 days. However, other information shows that until 80% of US milk is committed the program will not actually start. Meetings have been scheduled around the area to provide information. On Thursday May 29th there will be a meeting in Greenwich at the Elks Lodge at 7:30 p.m. Other local locations include Oneonta, West Chazy, Morrisville, Middlebury, VT and Manchester Center, VT, call us for date, location and time. Mark Stephenson is putting together some work sheets to help interested parties in making a decision. I am sure that you will be getting info from your co-ops, but if you have any other questions, please call.

DRIVING MACHINERY DOWN THE ROAD: EXTRA Courtesy on the road will help relations between the farm community and others. As you drive machinery down the road, give cars behind you a chance to pass every few minutes by pulling off to the side in a safe spot. Legally you may not need to do this, but it is very appreciated by motorists. AG

THERE IS MONEY IN YOUR WOODS: I attended the forestry workshop, "Money on the Stump". Many important points were made. First, forest owners do have an important income resource. Second, get advice to develop a forestry management plan by hiring a professional forester or by joining the Tree Farm or Forestry Owners association. Third, have a forester help you arrange timber sales and act as an independent advocate for your interests. Fourth, the USDA office in Greenwich has a 5-minute and a 20-minute video on forestry management that you should see. AG

CROPS
Soil Quality: While the soil is moist (okay, down right wet) from our recent rains, we have a good opportunity to look for soil compaction with a penetrometer or some other fancy metal rod. The compacted layers are discernible while you push the penetrometer into the soil and feel at which depth it is easy or hard to push. Identify the areas of standing water in your fields. Is there some way to remedy these areas of poor drainage?

Alfalfa: We can use this moisture, but not the prolonged wet weather. Leaf spots are increasing. The darker dry-looking spots are from fungal pathogens. The wet mushy-looking spots are typically from bacteria. As of 5/12, disease incidence was low, but setting in. Alfalfa weevil (AW) adults are out in low to moderate numbers and 1st instars (larvae just hatched from eggs) are also present. Check droughty fields because AW populations are typically higher there. Alfalfa neutral detergent fiber (NDF) can be predicted by the "PEAQ" system which combines plant height and maturity (fashioned into the "alfalfa stick"). Currently NDF is in the high 20's. Call me if you would like an "alfalfa stick" and I will see if I can get some more. AG

Field Corn: Along with seedling diseases and insects, another pest we need to look for now is the black cutworm (BCW). BCW migrate up from the south each spring and lay eggs on grasses. When the grasses die from tillage or herbicides, they larvae crawl onto nearby corn. The larvae feed at night and hide during the day and can be a challenge to find. So, look for plant damage: eaten coleoptiles and leaves as they emerge from the soil. Only the medium and large larvae actually cut the plants by eating through the young stems. Only small larvae are controlled by insecticides, so scouting weedy fields is a criticial. Our recent storms may be bringing in cutworms. Don Specker (Pioneer) gives a simple way to analyze corn planter performance and seed placement. For optimum yields, plants should be evenly spaced and of uniform age. Select a row or two for each planter unit and measure the distance between consecutive plants. Measure 5 - 10 feet of row. Enter the measurements for each row in its own column of an Excell spreadsheet. Use the function keys to calculate the mean and standard deviation for each sample row. The standard deviation should be less than 3; zero is unattainable perfection, and 4-5 is common. Sloppy planters (or fast drivers) should be corrected.

Grasses: Tom Kilcer (CCE Rennselaer Co.) offers some guidelines for grass harvest: Optimum milk production from grass occurs when grass NDF is 50 - 55%. Predicting when grass reaches this quality has been illusive. Some preliminary work ( notice the bold type) by Jerry Cherney (Cornell) shows that grass NDF is usually about 25 percentage points ahead of alfalfa NDF. So, we should harvest pure grass stands when the alfalfa NDF is 25 - 30% (which is about now). This can be further simplified by waiting until alfalfa is 17 inches tall. Right now, native orchardgrass is heading out. Late-maturing commercial varieties have heads about halfway up the stem. Reed canarygrass heads are near the base of the stem still. Will this system work for all grass species, since some begin growth later than others?? Stay tuned. I will try to take some grass samples this week and have them analyzed.

Pasture: Pastures are growing now, but may not be in July. So, if you are interested in growing BMR sorghum-sudan for summer grazing, here are some details. BMR likes a warm soil, >= 60OF, around the end of May or June. Plant 60 lbs of seed/acre from ¼ to ½ inch deep with a culti-packer seeder or drill. If you air-seed, then roll the field before and after seeding with a roller that has corrugations less than 2 inches. Apply P & K according to a soil test and up to 75 lbs of N at planting and after each complete harvest. Graze when 36 - 48 inches tall, and down to a stubble of no less than 3 inches. It should be no less than 25 inches tall to avoid prussic acid poisoning and it should not be stressed from drought or frost. When you graze it, give the cows a break-wire, so that they eat the entire paddock to 3 inches. It may be hard to graze all of the BMR while it is at its optimum height, so size your planting accordingly and have a backup harvest plan. (adapted from Tom Kilcer and Paul Cerosaletti).

Transplants: Vegetable seedlings in the greenhouse sometimes "stretch" before they get to the field. This stretching is influenced by the difference between the day and night temperatures, referred to as DIF (Day Temp. minus Night Temp.). As DIF increases, so does internode length in most species. Control is primarily through increased night and reduced day temperature or low temperature pulses at the beginning of the day. For controlling tomato seedling height:
1. Open vents at sunrise and cool greenhouse to a minimum of 50 degrees but do not let drop below 50 degrees.
2. Maintain cool temperatures for as long as possible.
3. In most cases a morning temperature which is slightly lower than the night temperature will produce good quality plants.
Cabbage, cucumber, pepper and tomatoes are some of the vegetables reported to respond to DIF. Growers can create a low temperature period by placing an incandescent light bulb attached to a standard household appliance timer next to the thermostat that runs their greenhouse heaters. By setting the timer so that the bulb comes on an hour before sunrise and goes off two hours later, growers can fake the heaters into thinking the house is warmer than it is by using the heat from the light bulb. It is important to position the bulb properly in relation to the thermostat to achieve the desired temperature reduction without sending the greenhouse temperature so low (i.e. getting the thermostat so warm) as to damage the crop (including induction of bolting). The whole setup is usually placed in a tunnel box painted white. The cooling fan thermostat should be separate and away from the heater thermostat so the light bulb's heat does not cause the fans to come on and cool the house too much. (Source: Ohio State University VegNet, by R. Berghage)

Sweet Corn: From The Cornell Guidelines at http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ recommends/. Plastic mulches. Clear, perforated, plastic mulch will speed the maturity of early plantings. Seed two weeks earlier than usual in double rows spaced 14 to 16 inches apart on five to six foot centers. Apply herbicide and cover with clear plastic mulch (1 to 1-1/14 mil) four feet wide. Keep plastic over plants for approximately 30 days or until daytime temperatures consistently exceed 75°F. At that time, cut plastic and remove it from the field, usually when plants are six to 12 inches tall. Another approach is to apply a spun fiber (floating) row cover after planting. Although soil temperatures are not increased as quickly as with plastic, there are advantages. These include use of standard row spacing, less danger of plant injury due to high temperatures, ease of application, and the ability to reuse row covers for several seasons. Recommended spacing is 30-36" between rows and 8-12" in-row using closer in-row spacing for early plantings and wider in-row spacing for late plantings.

Weeds: Virginia Tech has a good weed identification guide at http://www.ppws.vt.edu/weedindex.htm with a grass weed identification key and other info.

Ornamentals:
Landscape: Plant phenology - Shad and forsythia bloom finishing; maple at mid-bloom; crabapple and magnolia are in first stages of bloom.

Samples of elongate hemlock scale were brought into the office this week. This small insect hides under a very tiny, brownish, translucent cover on the under side of the needle. Scale feeds on the leaf causing the needle to turn yellow and then drop prematurely sometimes resulting in tree death. The optimum time for spraying horticultural oil is mid to late-April, but an insecticide treatment may be warranted if the individual plant is heavily infested. Don't confuse the slightly yellowish look that some Hemlocks have now for infestation; turn the leaf over and use a hand lens if you are unsure.

Greenhouse: The current weather pattern of overcast skies interspersed with heavy rain makes for a really humid situation in the greenhouse. This is not what we would like to see since all the houses are chock full of plants leaving us with actually perfect conditions for Botrytis. Some advice would be to keep the fans running as much as possible. Make sure air is moving through the entire greenhouse and keep your eyes on the dead spots. Water plants early in the morning (never at night) and try to keep the plants a little on the dry side. And as soon as the weather breaks - start moving things outside!

On another disease note - although I haven't seen this problem in Washington County, in Maryland they are alerting growers of Proven Winner 'Neon Red' verbena that this plant seems much more susceptible to powdery mildew than other cultivars. If you are growing this variety - keep close watch for mildew in the center of the plant or lower leaves. The same Maryland newsletter mentions that upcupping leaves of Celosia may be caused by a calcium deficiency. We definitely see this odd leaf distortion here, so maybe it's something we could manage better with fertilizer. In most cases the plant grows out of it by the time it begins flowering.

Shore flies are rampant now! Try to prevent water from pooling with the resulting algae growth. There are several different materials that you can use for controlling algae, but preventing standing water is the first step.

Sincerely,
Aaron Gabriel
Extension Educator
Crops and Soils