Ag Report : Washington County Ag Report May 27, 2003

Washington County Ag Report
May 27, 2003

Contributors are Sandy Buxton, Colleen Converse, Aaron Gabriel, Mandy Hulett, and Laura McDermott. If you would like to be removed from the mailing list or know of someone that should receive it, please let us know.

Quote
"Every farm is an experiment station, and every farmer the director."
-- Liberty Hyde Bailey (from Don Specker, Pioneer)

Announcements

FIELD CROP SCOUTING, COME EARN A PESTICIDE RECERTIFICATION CREDIT
Tuesday, June 3 at 10 am, Earl Horton Farm, Horton Rd., Cambridge
Tuesday, June 10 at 10 am, Gary Fullerton Farm, Co. Rte. 44, Argyle

Organic Price Index (updated weekly) and Online farm publication from Rodale Institute is located at http://www.newfarm.org/ .This month's cover includes a story on a NJ dairy producing cheese and on farm creameries.

June 7, 10am-5pm & June 8, 12-5pm. Ninth Annual Rensselaer County Alternative Ag 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.

Weather Data - 2003 and average of 1999 - 2002

Soil Temperature 5/27 @ 11 am, cloudy skies, was 62OF at 4 inches.

Midwest Commodity Prices - from the Wall Street Journal
Corn per bushel $2.36/bu
Cotton Seed Meal per ton $132/ton
Soybean per bushel 6.175/bu
Corn Gluten Feed 65/ton
Hominy Feed per ton 49/ton
Wheat, soft white 3.48/bu
48% Soybean meal per ton 193.5/ton
Tallow per pound .19/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: As we start first cutting this season, keep in mind the 5 major factors that affect silage quality: Oxygen (air), correct moisture content, buffering capacity, adequate fermentable substrate (sugars) and adequate number and correct type of microorganisms. If the silage dry matter is too wet (<30%), run off occurs along with clostridial growth, protein degradation, excessive fermentation, as well as DM and energy losses. If the silage is too dry (>55%), packing is poor allowing too much air to circulate, fermentation is slow causing molding and heating, protein is damaged by heat and there is DM and energy loss. DM should run between 35 and 45%.

FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: The sign up for the Crop Disaster Program of USDA called the Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003 is now set to begin on June 6th. To sign up farmers need to go to their local FSA office. There are two components to the program.
1. Crop Disaster Program - provides payments to producers for qualifying losses to agricultural commodities due to damaging weather or related conditions. The damages must be in excess of 35 % for either the 2001 and 2002 crops. Specialty crop growers are also eligible for this program who meet the disaster requirements.
2. Livestock Assistance Program - reimburses producers for grazing losses. The producer has a choice of receiving payments for 2001 or 2002 losses. Details on the program can be found at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov/agas03.htm
The website includes spreadsheets to calculate payments.

CROPS
Alfalfa: Alfalfa is still vegetative. We are at about 600 growing degree days GDD) for alfalfa - about 3 or 4 days behind our average of the past four years. One guide for harvesting alfalfa is 700 GDD. Today, the alfalfa stick predicted NDF of 35 - 38%. By the time you get this, it will be a perfect time to harvest alfalfa to average 40% NDF. However, the weatherman says that these upper level low pressure systems that are bringing us this cool and wet weather, move very slowly. So, this weather pattern may not change until early June. Also in the balance is a low insect pest population (at least the fields I have scouted) and growing disease pressure. Our weather pattern is favoring the latter. Diseases are killing leaves in the lower ¼ of the stem and progressing upward. Harvest when you can without rutting up the fields. Spread windrows into wide swaths to speed drying. Then merge several windrows into one to speed up chopping. See Tom Kilcer's cover story in the May "Ag News". Still I am finding few alfalfa weevils and several clover root curculios. The CRC grubs feed on alfalfa roots, which causes feeding wounds where disease organisms enter the roots and shorten the plants life. This is one reason why stands die out.

Field Corn: I have seen my first black cutworm (BCW) damage for this season. The photos below are from Marlin Rice at the website for the ISU Entomology Image Gallery. It is difficult to find the worms, since they hide in the soil during the day and feed at night. BCW are most prevalent in weedy fields, low spots, plowed sods, and late-planted fields. Scout these areas. If 5% or more of the plants are cut, then treat the infested areas and a 20-foot border with an insecticide. Warrior T, Lorsban 4E, Pounce and Permethrin are listed in the Cornell Guide. (I can not say "recommended" anymore - it is a lawyer thing.) For organic production, nematodes can be effective against cutworms. Remember, that you must treat the worms while they are small, <1/2" long.

Corn is more susceptible to seed corn maggots with our moist cool weather conditions. The adults, which look like small house flies, like to lay their eggs in fields high in organic matter. Manure, cover crops, crop residue, and compost will attract egg laying.

Grasses: Grasses are ready to harvest, but the weather is not cooperating. Form wide windrows when mowing (see the comment under alfalfa). If you grow reed canarygrass on wet ground, it seems that you must decide ahead of time, that one in three years or so, you will have to let it grow by and harvest it for bedding. We may not at that stage yet, but we will be after another week, depending on temperatures. Follow up with 50 - 75 lbs/ac of nitrogen after cutting grasses for top yields. Remember that nitrogen fertilizers acidify the soil. So, keep tract of soil pH on fields that get lots of nitrogen, and apply lime as needed.

Pasture: This is good pasture weather - ample rain, but not a deluge. We are at a critical stage of pasture management. Grasses are heading out and the dry season is approaching (maybe). Keep paddocks growing evenly and vigorously. Develop a plan to supply paddocks through a dry July. I think that fertilizer is best used on pastures in June to promote growth when heat and dryness act to reduce growth.

Vegetables:
Crucifers: Flea beetles are present in high numbers in attractive crops. Reports from both the southern and central parts of the county are some growers are finding row cover is not as effective as you would like because the beetles are sitting on the cover and moving quickly into the crop when harvesting occurs or finding any holes or gaps in the cover.

Cucurbits: Following is part of a 4 page article on Striped Cucumber Beetle Control by Ruth Hazzard, Umass. The complete article can be found at http://www.umassvegetable.org/newsletters/vegetable_ipm_message_archive/may_22_03.pdf Striped cucumber beetle is our most serious early-season pest in vine crops. These beetles spend the winter in plant debris in field edges. Crop rotation -- to a field at a distance from last year's cucurbits -- reduces beetle numbers significantly and may eliminate the need for controls. Beetle numbers tend to build up when vine crops are planted in the same or nearby fields year after year. Adult feeding on cotyledons and young leaves can cause stand reduction, delayed plant growth, and transmission of bacterial wilt. This disease overwinters within the beetle and is transmitted by contact of beetle feces with the open wounds in leaf tissue caused by beetle feeding. Bacteria multiply and block the vascular system of the plant, causing vines to wilt. This disease can be effectively managed only by preventing feeding by the beetle.

Vine crops vary greatly in their susceptibility to wilt. Pumpkin plants at the cotyledon and first 1-2 leaf stage are more susceptible to infection with bacterial wilt than older plants, and disease transmission is low after about the 4-leaf stage (note-another incentive to transplant). Beetle numbers should be kept low, especially before the 5-leaf stage. Conventional IPM systems have relied on scouting frequently (at least twice per week) and treating after beetles colonize the field. To prevent bacterial wilt, we recommend that beetles should not be allowed to exceed one beetle for every 2 plants in susceptible crops. This is a lower threshold than is needed to prevent significant foliar damage. Less wilt-susceptible crops will tolerate 1 or two beetles per plant without yield losses. (See the online article for more info on Admire application rates and strategies for direct seeding and transplants)

Vine Crops: Admire provides excellent control of cucumber beetles. Calibrate equipment to deliver 1.1 fl oz/1000 feet of row, which is about 17 fl oz/acre at 34" row spacing. Adjust the per acre rate to the row spacing. For best results, apply a band 2 - 4" wide in the seed furrow. For transplants Dr. Shelby Fleischer, Penn State, explains: Use Admire at a very low rate (0.02 ml/plant) about 1 day prior to transplanting. To treat a flat of 200 transplants, dilute 4 ml (0.135 fl oz) of Admire in a volume of water sufficient to soak the soil mix evenly. This treatment will protect the plants for about 2 weeks, after which foliar insecticides will be needed. Water flats lightly after application to avoid leaching insecticide out of the media. This rate is just a little higher than suggested for tomato transplants for Colorado potato beetle control, which is 15 ml [or 0.5 fl oz] per 1000 transplants. Convert ml to fl oz by dividing ml by 29.6. Phytotoxicity may occur if you use higher rates. (From OWYS Weekly Vegetable Update)

Legumes: Seed Corn Maggot - This pest is a possible problem at this time of year, particularly in soils with high organic matter and when conditions are cool and wet. Tilling in a heavy cover crop or manure, and planting immediately afterwards, increases the risk of damage. Shallow planting to favor rapid emergence reduces the risk of damage. Maggots usually feed on organic matter but will also attack seeds or seedlings. Germinating peas and beans are most favored, followed by corn and many other large-seeded crops. Plants that do emerge may be weak or spindly with few or tattered leaves. Seed pre-treated with an insecticide may be the most practical control. (D. Gilrein, CCE, Suffolk Co.)

Sincerely,

Aaron D. Gabriel
Extension Resource Educator
Crops and Soils