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Ag Report : Washington County Ag Report August 12, 2003 Washington County Ag Report
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| Argyle | Easton | Whitehall | Jackson | ||||
| 2003 | Average | 2003 | Average | 2003 | Average | 2003 | |
| Rain Past Week | 2.49 | 1.02 | 1.7 | 1.18 | 2.04 | 0.28 | 1.09 |
| So far this month | 4.04 | 1.64 | 4 | 1.64 | 3.22 | 1.12 | 4.69 |
| Total since April 1st | 17.48 | 15.82 | 14.21 | 17.01 | 19.1 | 16.41 | 16.61 |
| GDD Base 41 Growing Degree Days = [hi temp + low temp]/2 - 41 | |||||||
| Past Week | 254 | 216 | 261 | 217 | 259 | 226 | 245 |
| Since April 1st | 2684 | 2771 | 2756 | 2852 | 2998 | 3025 | 2829 |
| 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 | 191 | 151 | 191 | 149 | 195 | 159 | 177 |
| Since April 1st | 1821 | 1899 | 1868 | 1968 | 2057 | 2076 | 1950 |
Midwest Commodity Prices - from the Wall Street Journal
Corn per bushel $2.04/bu
Cotton Seed Meal per ton $150/ton
Soybean per bushel 5.475/bu
Corn Gluten Feed 55/ton
Hominy Feed per ton 27/ton
Wheat, soft white 3.8/bu
48% Soybean meal per ton 173.5/ton
Tallow per pound .1725/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.
FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: Make sure that you take the time to visit the Ag Center at the Washington County Fair. Using the theme "Growing in Agriculture" the Ag Center Committee has worked with a number of groups to develop some effective educational material and displays to help show some points about agriculture's importance. There will be nightly demonstrations (7:00 p.m.) covering ultrasound pregnancy checks, flower arranging, Christmas tree shearing and more. Please feel free to provide insight into how to improve the area or tell us what you liked. SB
MANURE: (from the "DesMoines Register" via Lee Telega) "Ag Waste said early testing of its process at Iowa State University has shown that 97% of detectable odor, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are removed from waste solids that have undergone treatment. The technology uses 'high-powered ultrasonic waves to destroy the cell walls of bacteria and pathogens, rendering them inert and virtually odorless,' a company statement said."For those of you looking for odor control in manure, I urge you to look far and wide. This is a changing field and there are many technologies outside of agriculture that are being tested for agricultural issues like manure management. AG
CROPS
Soil Quality: Congratulations to the Chambers family in Salem for
winning the 2003 Environmental Stewardship Award. Working with the Washington
County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Natural Resource Conservation
Service, the Chambers were second in the County to complete tiers I and
II of the Agricultural Environmental Management assessments in 1997 as
part of their dairy expansion plan. Farming along the White Creek has
been a challenge because this stream is so unpredictable and can be a
real torrent. They have installed hundreds of feet of rock rip rap, willow
plantings along the stream, planted buffers along the stream and implemented
best management practices on 1,100 acres that they manage. For the story
see the August 2003 "American Agriculturist". AG
Alfalfa:
Many fields are ready for harvest. We just need a little dry weather.
Tom Kilcer's preliminary research results show that mowing into a wide
swath speeds up drying and increases forage quality. You may be forced
into trying this logical practice for the next harvest if we are short
on dry weather. Diseases are not as prevalent as I would expect with this
weather - leaf spots remaining on the lower leaves. But I imagine that
some fields have leaf spots moving to the upper half of the plants - harvesting
is the remedy. The alfalfa blotch leafminer is noticeable. This tiny fly
lays eggs between the upper and lower epidermal layers of alfalfa leaves.
The egg hatches and a tiny maggot eats the tissue between the epidermal
layers. The result is a "mine" - a meandering whitish tunnel.
Because we harvest alfalfa so often, these insects do not get to complete
their life cycle and their population kept low. This image is from the
Ohio State Image Gallery.
TREFOIL: Last summer Lloyd Thomas planted two trefoil varieties (Pardee and Exact) and red clover to compare the new Pardee variety. Last summer was very dry at planting, but everything came up, although the trefoil spotty in some areas. The red clover came up nice and thick. First and second cutting came off well this year. But when I saw it today, foxtails and crabgrass have really come in heavy - 50% or better of the stand. The trefoil is about 24 inches tall with an occasional flower. These weeds have even dominated the red clover stand, which was very thick. We will have to see how the field regrows after third cutting and comes up next spring. I also noticed deer feeding damage in the red clover but not in the trefoil.
Field Corn: Corn is doing well, for those fields that were planted by a reasonable date. Although, recent cloudiness has put us behind our 4-year average of growing degree-days by a couple of calendar days. I scouted one field above threshold for corn rootworm. If you have severe corn rootworm damage in this year's crop, you will notice the "goose-necking" of the plants. The plants fall over in a wind because the rootworms have pruned off some roots and the plant is not anchored well. Included in this issue is a summary of the New York State Starter Phosphorus Project (or go to http://nmsp.css.cornell.edu/projects/starterP/handout.pdf). We will be having a field day on September 3 (see the "Announcements") to discuss new corn starter recommendations and the plots that we planted with the Greenwich High School Ag class as part of this project.
Grasses:
Third cutting is really growing tall. There are lots of crickets and grasshoppers,
but most fields have insignificant feeding damage. I only noticed a few
leaves with slug feeding. They leave a shiny slime trail and ragged holes
in the leaves. This is prime slug weather (wet). This image from the ISU
Image Gallery shows slug damage on corn.
Pasture: Remember that pastures grow well in the fall, especially with abundant rain. However, days are shorter and less sun means that the plants produce less sugar. So balance your rations appropriately. It is not a bad idea to take a fresh pasture sample and send it in for a forage analysis. If you sample every couple of weeks through the year, for a few years, you can obtain a good baseline of pasture quality by season and paddock for your own farm.
Edited from John Mishanec's Vegetable Pest Update 8/8/03
General Conditions
Wet, wet, wet! Conditions couldn't get much wetter. There is standing
water everywhere and because of it, we are starting to see some serious
problems. Phytophthora is showing up in fields and causing fruit loss.
Growers are having a hard time getting out in the field to spray their
crops. Bacterial diseases, which showed up earlier in the season, are
spreading. I think things could be worse. Because the spring was wet,
growers, if they could, chose better drained fields to plant their vine
crops in. This may save some pumpkin and other vine crop fields.
Vine crops
With all the rain over the last week, fields are becoming saturated. Wet,
saturated conditions bring phytophthora. Fruit develop a white, water
soaked area and begin to melt away. Spores develop and spread quickly
throughout the field. Fruit that looks good when harvested can melt in
storage very quickly. The best recommendation is once you discover a field
with phytophthora in it you should abandon it. Your equipment that goes
into that field will become contaminated with spores and then you risk
spreading the problem to other fields. Pickers can spread the disease
with their boots to other fields. Peppers, tomatoes and all the vine crops
are especially susceptible.
Generally, most of the pumpkins are late. Vines are just starting to
touch in many fields. Hopefully we will get some heat to push the pumpkins
along. Powdery mildew (PM) is late in some fields and early in others.
We have seen a few fields where PM is well established but in most fields
PM cannot be found. If you have not seen PM yet, keep scouting and do
not start your spray program till you find mildew. It is very important
to get good coverage on both sides of the leaf with your protective fungicide
program. Again, lower pressure with a higher volume of water is what Prof.
Tom Zitter recommends. The systemic fungicides like Flint, Quadris and
Nova will slowly move throughout the plant but it is slow. Prof. Zitter
at Cornell suggests starting with Benomyl / Benlate if you still have
that product on hand. Follow this with Nova + Bravo or some other protectant.
To avoid resistance, it is recommended Quadris/Flint or Nova are used
only twice each season. Don't rotate between Quadris and Flint. Nova is
a different type of fungicide and it is what you should rotate with Quadris
or Flint. Applications of these products should be two weeks apart with
Bravo or copper applied in the between week. Go out and walk through your
pumpkin fields. Especially look on the undersides of the leaves. When
you find PM than it is time to start your fungicide program. Summer squash
is always the first vine crop to get PM. Check your summer squash plantings
for PM and you will have a good idea the disease will be following in
your pumpkins.
Lastly, in vine crops, the second generation of cucumber beetles is starting
up. Squash bugs are also building. In pumpkins, management of the insects
depends on what you are going to do with your pumpkins. If you are doing
u-pick, and leaving the ripe pumpkins in the field, you may want to control
the insects now. If you are harvesting the pumpkins and moving them out
of the field, than you can probably get away with not spraying the insects.
As the fruit gets mature, cucumber beetle and squash bugs will feed on
the ripe fruit. Also, it gets harder to control the insects as the season
progresses. The insects are better protected and there are many life stages
of the insects to make them difficult to eliminate.
Sweet Corn
Ear worms (CEW) are here to stay. I thought the populations might drop
off if the storms also stopped, but we have had a continuous chain of
storms from the south bringing with them CEW. Also, the second generation
of european corn borer (ECB) is here big time. ECB started with low numbers
being caught last week but this week, we are catching very high numbers
in some locations. This is not good as is leaves the grower with few management
options. Basically you need to spray from tassel, through dry silk because
we have the combination of CEW and ECB. Right now, CEW population are
moderate but steady. This calls for between a 4 and 6 day spray schedule.
Good coverage is important.
Aphids are also starting to build up in fields. Scout your fields and
if you see an aphid problem building than think about a control. Unfortunately,
there is no really good aphid control. Warrior used to do a good job against
aphids but not any more. Lannate will do an OK job against the worms but
it may be a good choice because it works pretty well against aphids. The
important thing to remember with Lannate is it needs acidic water. If
the water is alkaline, the half-life of the insecticide is about 20 minutes.
Use a buffering compound if you use Lannate.
Potatoes
Wet ground is a problem for potatoes. Do not harvest potatoes when the
ground is too wet. Bacterial soft rot will be a problem. Also, keep looking
for late blight. . There is a confirmed report of late blight NJ. For
eastern NY, the late blight in New Jersey is serious. Given that all our
storms are coming up from the south, late blight spores could be coming
up along with the rain. Check in low spots, along tree lines and anywhere
the field stays wet for long periods of time. Spots will be about the
size of a half dollar and black with a white ring of spores on the edge
of the spot. If you think you have found late blight, call your local
Cooperative Extension office or the Regional Office at 518-462-2553.
Tomatoes and Peppers
Earlier in the season, western NY had a serious problem with bacterial
canker in tomatoes. The symptoms are darkening around the edges of lower
leaves. As the disease progresses, you will get "birds eye"
spots on the fruit. It is a small white spot with a black speck in the
middle. Brown spots will also appear on the stems. Stems will eventually
turn brown and if you cut across a stem with a knife, the inside of the
stem will be completely brown. This is a bacterial disease and spreads
with water. The heavy rains we have had lately are perfect for spreading
the problem throughout the field. The problem can be kept in check with
repeated copper sprays. Check your plants and maybe what you thought was
early blight on lower leaves is really bacterial canker.
There are a lot of weather related problems on tomato fruit. Checking
(little brown specks) on the tops of the fruit, blossom end rot, green
shoulders and zippering (a crease) are being found on fruit. Not much
to do now.
With the flight of european corn borer (ECB), it is time to protect your peppers from damage. The ECB lay their eggs on the fruit and then the larvae make a small hole where the cap meets the fruit. Water then collects in the whole and the fruit rots. From Ruth Hazzard, UMass Cooperative Extension - Insecticides for ECB should be applied at regular intervals during the second-generation flight period, especially in the next 3-4 weeks during peak flight when flights are well above the 7 moth/week threshold. The recommended interval depends on the material used. Acephate (Orthene , 7dh), methoxyfenozide (Intrepid 2F, 1 dh). Or tebufenozid (Confirm 2F,7dh) can be applied at 10-14 day intervals; spinosad (SpinTor,1 dh) or permethrin (Pounce, Ambush, 3 dh), at weekly intervals, 2nd-generation pyrethroids (Capture, Baythroid, Warrior, Mustang, 5-7 dh),) may work as a slightly longer interval (7-10 days) and Bt products (0 dh) should be sprayed twice weekly. Permethrin products will cause aphid outbreaks by destroying beneficials which keep aphids in check. Orthene provides good aphid control. Spinosad, while not having activity against aphids, has the advantage of conserving beneficial insects such as ladybeetles, which can reduce resurgence of aphids in crops such as peppers and sweet corn. The one-day pre-harvest interval and four-hour re-entry interval makes it particularly useful in peppers where harvest periods coincide with heavy pest pressure and the need for regular sprays.
Ornamentals: In the greenhouse, keep your eyes open for Pythium
root rot on the fall mums. Fortunately, we're almost done with this crop.
Pythium is a real problem in hot, continually moist conditions.
Landscape Plants - Loads of apple scab on crabapples; not much
can be done now, but try to only plant scab resistant cultivars in the
future. A few well-timed fungicide sprays at pink and petal fall will
help reduce the incidence of this disease. Clean up leaf litter in the
fall. Tar Spot on Norway maples is another problem that we are just starting
to see. This is not a huge problem especially in the middle of August.
Again, clean up leaf litter to reduce exposure next year. I talked about
azalea whitefly earlier this season and we are coming up to the last opportunity
to control this pest this season. If you still have large whitefly populations,
clean up leaf litter and use one of the following: horticultural oil,
insecticidal soap, malathion or permethrin, to control this pest. The
biggest problem seems to be conifer bark beetles on hemlocks. We've seen
several samples and had loads of calls from the east side of Lake George
re: declining hemlocks. The samples that have been brought in have lots
of bark beetle tunnels and exit holes, but I am not sure if they are the
entire story. Pine Sawyer beetles, because they are so large (sometimes
they can be almost 3" long!) are often brought into the office. These
insects can cause damage to pines, but they usually infest dead or dying
trees. Still, they are alarming to find!
Turf - The only lawn problem that we've seen has been brown patch,
caused by Rhizoctonia solani, and this was on a few lawns that had low
fertility. According to Dr. Frank Rossi at Cornell University, rust has
been a problem on newly seeded lawns.
Sincerely,
Aaron D. Gabriel
Extension Resource Educator
Crops and Soils
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| ©2001-2004 Cornell Cooperative Extension. Updated:
4/13/04
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