|
Ag Report: Washington County Ag
Report June 10, 2003 Washington County Ag Report
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Argyle | Easton | Whitehall | Jackson | ||||
| 2003 | Average | 2003 | Average | 2003 | Average | 2003 | |
| Rain Past Week | 0.27 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 2.01 | 0.3 | 0.94 | 0.23 |
| So far this month | 0.32 | 1.42 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 0.82 | 1.52 | 6.37 |
| Total since April 1st | 6.04 | 7.22 | 5.48 | 8.78 | 7.71 | 7.69 | 6.37 |
| GDD Base 41 Growing Degree Days = [hi temp + low temp]/2 – 41 | |||||||
| Past Week | 144 | 156 | 149 | 160 | 167 | 170 | 155 |
| Since April 1st | 763 | 888 | 833 | 963 | 968 | 1047 | 889 |
| GDD 86/50 [hi temp + low temp]/2 - 50 High’s >86oF are set to 86oF, low’s <50oF are set to 50oF | |||||||
| Past Week | 83 | 101 | 88 | 107 | 106 | 111 | 95 |
| Since April 1st | 487 | 595 | 546 | 683 | 616 | 697 | 625 |
Soil temperature, 6/10, late morning, sunny, was 65 - 70F.
FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: Farm Service Agency (FSA) is taking
sign-ups for the new Crop Disaster program (they started 6/6/03). Crop
losses in 2001 or 2002 due to damaging weather can be used. Also acreage
reports are due July 15 for corn, hay and other crops (for programs).
For more info call FSA 692-9940.
Youth employment is always a hot topic this time of year. For more detailed
info please contact me at the office, but here are some of the general
rules. 12 and 13 year olds may work with a work-permit for a non-relative
(no work permit required for family operation) performing hand harvest
of fruits and vegetables. No more than 4 hours a day between 7 a.m. and
7 p.m. from 6/20 to 9/1 (Labor Day). 14 and 15 year olds need a work permit,
and are permitted to do more on the farm. They are still prohibited from
working at a retail establishment unless it is owned by a relative. And
they can only perform any type of equipment operation if they have a Tractor
Safety certificate for a 14-hour course. Minimum wage is $5.15/hour with
required Youth wages ranging from $3.60-5.15/hour.
LIVESTOCK PEST MANAGEMENT: Flies are starting to increase around calf hutches. Calf hutches are a fly management dilemma. You need to clean up all manure and bedding materials weekly to eliminate places for flies to develop. However, hutches are typically cleaned with each new calf. See the "Fly Management Sanitation Survey" in this issue, to evaluate your farm for its "fly producing potential". AG
CROPS
Soil Quality: Equipment: Radial Tire Pressure Correction
- I've been informed by a grower that if you or your equipment dealer
set your tire pressures lower than recommended by Firestone and Goodyear
you void your warranty on your tires. The tire companies informed the
grower that on muck soils especially lowering tire pressures may result
in more rapid breakdown of the tread. (OWYS Veg. Update)
Beneficial Insects: I noticed some syrphid flies this past week. They are also called sweat bees or hover flies. They are really flies (two wings rather than four) and not bees. They only feed on flower nectar and do not sting. You may see the adults hovering (something that bee do not do). The immature stage is a maggot that feeds on aphids. Aphids feed on plant sap and can transmit plant viruses. The images below are from Oregon State Univ. (AG)
Alfalfa: We are at the end of the window for harvesting alfalfa.
The alfalfa stick is predicting neutral detergent fiber to be 43%. Alfalfa
is only budding out. Cool weather has given us a nice harvest window -
too bad the rain was not more cooperative. If you delay taking first cutting,
you will have less second cutting! So, somehow, get that first cutting
off the field, so that we can hope for better harvest weather with second
cutting. Alfalfa weevils are doing their damage. One field I saw had considerable
damage. Harvesting is the proper management tool now, but check regrowth
for feeding damage. Treat fields if >40% of stems tips have feeding
damage. If you spread manure on alfalfa after it is cut, do it before
any regrowth begins to avoid plant damage by machinery traffic.
Check new seedings for potato leafhopper. At left, is an adult (3/8")
PLH and a nymph (from the Iowa State Entomology Image Gallery, Marlin
Rice)
Field Corn: Corn is looking decent thanks to some sun. I saw no cutworm damage today, but check your fields that have a good chance of being infested (weedy fields). Some corn is still being planted. Switch to short season hybrids. See the "Weed" section below for comments.
Grasses: All grasses are all heading out, even timothy. Orchardgrass is pollinating.
Pasture: Be sure to clean out water tubs for livestock on pasture. Use chlorine or some other disinfectant along with soap. Algae and other microbes can make cattle sick. Soap alone is not good enough. A 10% solution of chlorox can be used as a disinfectant. Let it work for a few minutes. The more dirt and organic debris in the water, the less effective the chlorine will be.
Crucifers: Flea beetle control from edited from the UMASS Vegetable
Notes
Row covers Tips:
* The best seal is a solid line of soil along the edge of the cover. If
you are sealing the cover with soil-filled black plastic bags placed at
intervals along the edges, be sure to place them close enough so the row
cover is taut and can keep flea beetles out even when the wind is blowing.
* Many farms grade their row covers for tears, which develop during use.
Choose your best quality cover for flea beetle barrier. Beetles are persistent
and small and they seem to be able to detect the presence of a host crop
under the cover so they will penetrate any holes.
* Be sure to put the cover on and seal the edges down AS SOON AS YOU SEED.
Do not wait for the crop to emerge beetles will find the first cotyledons.
* When you remove the cover replace it as soon as possible. DO NOT leave
it uncovered overnight, as beetles are actively feeding during the night
if temperatures are adequate.
* Pay attention to the ends of the rows. Often there is a small, uncovered
section at the end of the row that attracts flea beetles. If the end of
the cover is not well sealed, flea beetles will move under the cover and
work their way down the row.
Insecticide applications. The list of broad-spectrum synthetic pyrethroids
that are available to control this pest keeps growing and now includes
Capture, Warrior, Asana XL, Mustang, Ammo, Mustang. In addition,
carbamates Larvin and Sevin are labeled. Be sure to observe
REI and days to harvest intervals. The actual amount used per acre can
be reduced by using banded sprays on young seedlings at the standard rate
on the treated band. The search for reduced-risk or organic options has
been yielding some promising alternatives finally. These include
spinosad (Spintor 2SC or Entrust , which is approved for organic crops)
and Pyganic Crop Protectant. The latter has a new 5.0 EC formulation,
which is more concentrated than the previous 1.4 formulation and therefore
used a lower rate per acre. Both of these are showing efficacy in the
field. A spreader-sticker is recommended for foliar applications on brassicas.
For organic prorducers, NuFilm 17 is a readily available sticker, derived
from a natural source that is approved. This adds only a small cost per
acre and may increase efficacy significantly.
Cucurbits: Cucumber Beetles are out. Begin scouting your crops
as soon as they are transplanted or emerge.
In recent years, bacterial wilt on pumpkin has increased greatly in NY.
On pumpkins, we used to not worry about the beetles at this stage. Now
we need to worry until the plants have 4-6 leaves, as they are extremely
susceptible to bacterial wilt. Fortunately, not all farms have serious
bacterial wilt problems. If you had this problem last year, or, bacterial
wilt has been a serious problem in your area, it may be wise to control
the beetle at a one beetle per plant threshold. If you have not had a
problem with wilt, than you may want to hold off spraying the beetles.
(John Mishanec Veg IPM News)
Solanaceae: Learning from last year, potato growers have not been
in a rush to get their crop planted. It is better to wait till the ground
warms up a little and is dry than plant early and risk a lot of bacterial
rot problems. Besides the soil condition problems which a cool wet spring
gives, insect problems will be greater because Colorado Potato Beetle
(CPB) will have a longer emergence time. CPB over winter as adults and
emerge in the spring when the ground gets warm. Once the beetles emerge,
they mate and then start laying eggs. Do not bother controlling the emerging
adults because they do not want to feed and only want to mate. Scout your
fields
looking for the bright orange egg masses on the undersides of leaves.
Flag 10 egg masses and watch those eggs to see when they start hatching.
I have seen some eggs but no larvae. When we have a nice, warm May, all
the CPB emerge at once, lay their eggs at once and are easier to control.
Expect to see CPB adults emerging and laying eggs over a long period.
This makes control difficult and expensive. If you have rotated fields,
expect to find adults at the edge of the field nearest to last years potatoes
or eggplant (John Mishanec Veg IPM News)
Sweet Corn: We are not catching European corn borer (ECB) in traps located throughout eastern NY. Cool weather may be keeping them from flying. Cool conditions are also slowing down earlier planted fields so later fields will probably mature about the same time. Row cover and plastic fields are the most advanced with corn twelve inches tall. Bare ground plantings are mostly in the three to four-inch range. Growers using row cover can generally keep the cover on the crop longer than plastic corn. Check under your cover for weed levels. If you have a heavy weed population under the cover, it may be wise to remove the cover a little earlier so you can control the weeds. If left too long, the weeds will compete with the corn and reduce yield and disrupt harvest. (John Mishanec Veg IPM News)
Weeds: Excess Rainfall Can Cause Loss of Soil-Applied Herbicides
- M. VanGessel, Univ. Delaware - The excess rainfall we have been getting
can cause some of the herbicides to dissipate and lose their effectiveness
sooner than we see in drier years. It's a double-edged sword, you need
rainfall (or irrigation) to activate the soil-applied herbicides, but
then too much will cause them to not work as long as needed. How much
rain is too much? It will depend on the herbicides you used. Those herbicides
that are highly water soluble are more likely to be lost than those with
less solubility. The other way to think about it, is those herbicides
that need more rain to activate them are more likely to last longer in
a wet year. Fields will need to be scouted more intensively if using a
product that is more likely to lose activity. Often times you cannot tell
if weeds have started to emerge unless you walk the field.
| Herbicide | Solubility (ppm) | Likelihood of Losing Activity* |
| Atrazine | 33 | + |
| Dual II Magnum | 530 | +++ |
| Frontier | 1,174 | ++++ |
| Lasso (Micro-Tech, Partner) | 242 | ++ |
| Outlook | 1,174 | ++++ |
| Prowl | 1 | + |
*NOTE: "++++" does lose activity 4 times faster than "+";
it is used to demonstrate herbicides with more +'s are more likely to
lose activity with excess rainfall.
Yellow Nutsedge is propogated by root tubers("nuts"). These
tubers start to form on the end of the roots in late-June. You can now
see some root tips just starting to swell. For field corn, apply Permit
(1 oz./acre) when yellow nutsedge is 2 - 4 inches tall. AG
Sincerely,
Aaron D. Gabriel
Extension Resource Educator
Crops and Soils
 |
||
 |
||
|
||
| ©2001-2004 Cornell Cooperative Extension. Updated:
4/13/04
|
|
|