Ag Report: Washington County Ag Report May 20, 2003

Washington County Ag Report
May 20, 2003

Contributors are Sandy Buxton, Colleen Converse, Aaron Gabriel, Mandy Hulett, and Laura McDermott.

Quote
"The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or evil." -- Pythagoras

Announcements
FIELD CROP SCOUTING, COME EARN A PESTICIDE RECERTIFICATION CREDIT
Tuesday, May 27 at 10 am, Kevin Eastman Farm, rte 40 in Hartford.
Tuesday, June 3 at 10 am, Earl Horton farm, Horton Rd. in Cambridge.

Wednesday, May 28- 3-5pm- NY State Regional Farm-School Meetings at Cohoes High School. Meeting to connect local growers with school foodservice. Contact Glenda Neff at glenda_neff@juno.com or (315)255-6958.

Thursday, May 29 - CWT Info mtg at the Elks Lodge, Route 40, Greenwich, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 5 at 10 am - noon - Cornell Small Grains Field Day - Robert Maugrave Research Farm, Poplar Ridge Rd, Aurora, NY. RSVP 607-255.3284. Call me for an agenda & directions. AG

June 13- deadline to apply for cost sharing program for Vegetable IPM with NRCS (see info and contact information inside this Ag Report)

NEWA's website will again be free in 2003 thanks to IPM funding. The site provides a network of weather stations across the state and pest forecasting in those areas. Contact them if you'd be interested in becoming one of the linked weather stations (you have to purchase equipment) and have pests forecasted for you. http://newa.nysaes.cornell.edu/

Free horse manure and bedding for composting. Contact Len Wachel 677-5346.

Weather Data - 2003 and average of 1999 - 2002

Midwest Commodity Prices - from the Wall Street Journal

Corn per bushel $2.39/bu
Cotton Seed Meal per ton $132/ton
Soybean per bushel 6.24/bu
Corn Gluten Feed 62/ton
Hominy Feed per ton 51/ton
Wheat, soft white 3.44/bu
48% Soybean meal per ton 193/ton
Tallow per pound .165/lb

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: If your heifers have been turned out to pasture recently, keep an eye on them for signs of worms and lice. Clinical signs of parasitism, which means a high number of worms, are diarrhea, anemia, poor appearance, rough hair coat, and swelling of the lower jaw.

FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: The info meetings have started but don't appear to be passing on any earth shattering news about CWT and the assessment program. However, It is important to know everything that you can. There will be some worksheets coming to help work through the decision process but they are not done yet because the rules are still pretty vague. However, having a good grip on your operating and fixed expenses is going to be crucial if you are thinking about looking at any of this.
Many thanks to all who ate or helped out at the spaghetti dinner fundraiser for Aaron and Jaci Stewart Van Namee on Friday night in Hartford. We fed better than 180 people, got lots of signatures on our card and continue to send them lots of positive thoughts.

LIVESTOCK PEST MANAGEMENT: So how bad is bad? House flies can be monitored with 3 X 5 index cards or baited traps placed around your barn. Use a close pin and place at least five cards in obvious fly resting areas. You can also use baited traps. Cut two 4-inch holes in a milk jug, place bait in the bottom. Trap catches of >250/week or >100 spots/week on index cards are considered high levels. "Stable flies can be monitored by counting flies on all four legs of about 15 animals in the herd. An average of 10 flies per animal is considered high."

CROPS
Beneficial Insects: "Damsel Bugs I found several damsel bugs while looking for alfalfa weevil this week (June 20). Damsel bugs eat small eggs of insects as well as aphids and mites in many crops. This insect uses a needle like mouth-part to insert into its prey and suck out the insides. They are slender, often yellowish-brown and about 3/8 to 1/2 inch long. The abdomen is slightly swollen and the body tapers toward a narrow, elongated head. Damsel Bug nymphs resemble wingless adults in shape and color. Be a little careful with damsel bugs because they are predators and can give a painful bite to big and small alike." (from Ken Wise, Eastern NY Field Crop IPM Specialist) (Image from: Berry, R. E. and L. B. Coop (2000) Integrated Pest Management on Peppermint - IPMP3.0 [online]. Publication No. IPPC E.01-01-1. Oregon State University, Department of Entomology and Integrated Plant Protection Center, Corvallis, OR. Available from Internet: <http://mint.ippc.orst.edu>.

Alfalfa and Grasses: In the fields that I have checked, alfalfa weevils have been very sparse. Adults and young larvae (1/8") are present. Check droughty fields which will be most affected. Heat will speed up AW development, but alfalfa development will lag behind on droughty fields, so damage is more severe. Common and Lefto leaf spots and have increased, but are not critical.

Alfalfa Weevil life stages
Adult is 3/16 inch long.
photo from USDA

I took forage samples on May 14 to compare forage quality. All samples were taken from fields of a Hudson silt loam, within 2/10 mile of each other. The vegetative and boot-stage orchardgrass were from the same field. Some the boot-stage plants are probably native plants among a commercial variety. ALSO, we had 3 days of cloudy weather before 5/14. Tom Kilcer reminded me that the plants have used up their sugars without the sun, which makes NDF a larger proportion of the plant. Two sunny days will increase sugars and reduce the % of NDF. Here are the results. Remember that this is just one sample.

So, how can we predict forage quality for proper harvest? I still think that it is tricky. Alfalfa development follows heat unit accumulation fairly closely. Heading in grasses however, is affected by daylength (date) and to some extent heat unit accumulation. That makes predictions difficult. In the past the "alfalfa stick" (based on PEAQ equations) has done a pretty good job. In this instance, it under estimated alfalfa NDF by 5 percentage points. Plant height, one of the factors for estimating NDF by PEAQ, can be affected by many things. As you can see grass NDF is "all over the board". It seems that to predict grass NDF, we need to specify species and growth stage. I am surprised by bromegrass with high protein and high NDF. The fiber takes a big jump once orchardgrass reaches the boot stage. Reed canary grass had excellent quality, but if you cut it on 5/14, you would have a field of seed heads on 6/1. What will timothy NDF be when it reaches the boot stage in June??
What should we do? We can analyze until the cows come home or until the scientists have no more questions to ask. In practice, forage quality and weather for grasses "come together" in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of May. In cool years alfalfa quality may hold on until the end of May. So, during that May window, go out and harvest like crazy, because you do not know when another window will open up. If you harvest reed canarygrass or timothy too early, expect lots of seed heads in 2nd cutting.

Field Corn: If you have hay to harvest, then stop planting corn and harvest hay at the next weather opportunity.

Pasture: Even though we graze plants in the vegetative stage, they still need to send up a seed head to make their life worth living. This causes a palatability problem however. So, clipping off seed heads is a good practice. Bluegrass has headed out and orchardgrass is in the process. Clipping seed heads will make the grazing environment more pleasant and reduce eye irritations, which may reduce face flies problems.

Vegetable IPM: Opportunities for Reimbursement for IPM from NRCS
Vegetable farmers in New York are eligible to apply to the Natural Resources Conservation Service branch of USDA for reimbursement for the practice of IPM. An IPM Standard (595) has been developed for the US and adapted for New York. IPM Elements are available for 19 vegetable crops at: http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/elements/index.html. IPM Elements for potatoes are in draft form and will be posted by May 31. Farmers should visit their local NRCS office by the June 13, 2003 deadline to begin to apply for the reimbursement process. Depending on whether a farm is a standard, limited resource, or a beginning farm, reimbursements vary from 75/25 to 90/10 cost sharing. It is a competitive application process. Most funding for IPM practices can occur under the EQIP or Environmental Quality Improvement Program. However, New York NRCS has indicated that IPM reimbursement could also be available under CRP (Conservation Reserve Program), WRP (Wetlands Reserve Program), and AMA (Agricultural Management Assistance Program). In addition there is funding under these programs for reimbursement of Technical Service Providers (beginning in 2004) for those who provide IPM services for farmers such as private consultants and extension personnel. To learn more about the technical service categories and Technical Service Providers see http://techreg.usda.gov/. The New York NRCS website is: http://www.ny.nrcs.usda.gov/. Please contact Scott Fitscher at NRCS in Greenwich at 692-9940 with any questions.

Asparagus: Asparagus beetles are out in full force. Natural enemies can help control beetles so try to use pesticides less harmful to them.

Crucifers: Flea beetles are also out in full force. I have seen some cabbage moths flying.

Sweet Corn: Don't forget to put up your ECB traps next week for plastic and rowcover corn (see May 6 ag Report for details)

Cucurbits: TABLE 1
Soil temp. requirements for direct-seeded squash from Knott's Handbook for Vegetable Growers

Species	Min. Temp.(°F)	Max Temp.(°F)	Optimum Temp.(°F)
Cucumber	60	105	60 - 95
Muskmelon	60	100	75 - 95
Pumpkin	60	100	70 - 90
Squash	60	100	70 - 95
Watermelon	60	105	70 ­ 95

Consider transplants this year. Studies at Cornell and other universities have confirmed yield increases that potentially compensate for any increased production costs and you will likely increase crop consistency, stand, and can reduce disease instances such as phytophthora and damping off. The turn over in the greenhouse is also very quick since transplants are usually ready in less than 3 weeks (transplant by less than 4 true leaves).

Weeds: Frequent rains have activated most herbicides that have already been applied. If rains become more infrequent, irrigation may be required to activate any herbicides that are not incorporated. This may seem odd since most soils are wet; however, additional moisture will still be needed to move the herbicides off the soil surface. Soil temperatures have been cool and weeds are not germinating as quickly this spring. This may allow herbicide applications, especially in corn, to be delayed a bit to coincide with additional rainfall. For anyone using stale beds, weed germination will be slow and extra time (or extra efforts such as row cover) will likely be required to get good weed emergence.--Rich Bonanno, Vegetable Extension Weed Specialist, Dept of Plant and Soil Sciences, UMass Amherst

Ornamentals:
Greenhouse: Perennial growers and many gardeners are reporting that some perennials have been very slow to come back and may actually have been winter killed. This is somewhat surprising to me given our consistent and deep snow cover. Rudbeckia, shasta daisy and even coneflower have been slow, fitful starters this spring. Many reports of borderline plants like lavender, buddleia and baptisia not making it, but they are less surprising because they are listed as Zones 4B or 5.
Four-lined plant bug is the first major problem with perennials of the season. I haven't seen this insect or even its damage yet, but you should familiarize yourself with the damage - it usually appears in the center of the plant, a number of circular feeding lesions that coalesce into an eyesore. There are a number of effective chemical controls available.
The last thing is creeping phlox. I think I saw this last year, and thought is was some type of crown rot, but the Maryland Greenhouse/Nursery IPM report had photos of downy mildew on pot grown creeping phlox. It does make the entire plant kind of "melt out". If you look closely you may be able to see fungal growth. Cull out badly infected plants and then use copper with mancozeb on the rest.

Landscape:
Phenology - Crabapples in full, gorgeous bloom this year - a delight after last years freeze really reduced the bloom. Lilacs, poplar, flowering quince are also in bloom. This warm weather and sun (finally!) will condense bloom times, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Tent caterpillars are all over the place now. If you can, remove and destroy tents during the day. The egg masses for these pests should have been scouted for last fall after leaf drop and removed by pruning. Sevin is labeled for crabapples, but Bt subsp. Kurstaki and aizawai can be used on all plants that host this pest.
The other woody plant problem I saw this week was canker on willow. Both of the common cankers, black canker and Cytospora canker are usually problems for stressed plants, drought being the most common stress. Cytospora canker should be pruned out during dry weather. Black canker should be removed at the first sign of the disease. Junction, sprayed at 7-10 day intervals will help control black canker.

Sincerely,

Aaron Gabriel, Extension Educator, Crops and Soils