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| Prairie View MFA Agri Services - CLICK - MFA CUSTOMER PORTAL |
Video Time Lapse Check out the progress on the demolition and building of new storage at our Vandalia location. Manager Doug Wood had a little fun with the intro to the timelapse. No, our guys didn't actually tear down the old bins. We'll keep you posted Here with the progress. “Treat” your seed right The ability to protect your seed from soil borne pathogens is something that has become the norm in the seed industry. Diseases like Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, and Phytophthora can steal yield from corn and soybean alike when they attack vulnerable seeds early in the planting season. In addition to disease, treatments also help protect against soil borne insects such as wireworms and white grubs. In today’s marketplace the options that are available for corn are the rate of treatment and the treatment product. However beans are a different story; since beans can be treated on site dealers can inventory untreated beans and treat them as growers pick them up. This allows a retailer to dump unneeded and untreated beans as grain at the end of the season…something not allowed with treated seed. This also gives the grower more flexibility in choosing the products that best fit their operation as a treatment product. Options such as Cruiser Maxx, Acceleron and Innovate can be used to treat beans within our group and allow the grower to get the product that they need on their acre. In addition to insecticide and fungicides, inoculants can be applied to increase nodule growth on beans that have been planted in low Rhizobia count areas. The large input costs in today’s farming operations require the best products to be on each and every acre. The days of untreated beans are behind us; today we need that protection on every acre. Commodity prices are at record levels and any yield that we neglect to capture is an error that will eventually hurt our bottom line. We all know that knowledge is power, so use the knowledge that you have to treat yourself to profitable growing seasons in the years ahead. -Clay Koenig “Dress for success” Years past have shown us that we can improve plant health with nitrogen applied in season to corn plants up till the R1 stage. Even though it has been hot and dry here in the Laddonia Group we still may have had some nitrogen loss due to early season heavy rains and many replants. There are a couple options when you look at the products that are currently available in the marketplace. Historically the most efficient application method was anhydrous ammonia that was side dressed during early stages of plant growth. While this method was less expensive than some other options it was very limited by the equipment that is needed and the limited application window due to plant height. Side dress toolbars have fallen to the wayside with the narrow track tanks that are needed for the most part in favor of newer technology. There has been some use of side dressed liquid nitrogen allowing growers to apply this nitrogen in the same basic fashion of ammonia gas as well as an option to be sprayed from a self propelled sprayer with drops. Typically this is an option when the weather allows time in the field while corn is still in the early stages of development. The speed at which a sprayer can apply liquid is a great option but is limited by the amount of product that can be held between fill-ups. Rates that may take 15 or more gallons of product per acre are effective but can be time consuming or present logistical issues. Probably the best option would be top dressed granular nitrogen products like urea and SuperU. These products can be dressed with spinner trucks like the new RoGator that had been added to the group this year. Other options include the ability to be flown on by airplane as well in wet conditions that do not allow ground travel. There are many options when it comes to nitrogen application for non legume crops. When you are planning for the year ahead keep in mind that nitrogen is most likely the second most important factor affecting corn, weather is considered number one. Clay K. Every year beef producers have the same question for us –will creep feeding pay? Yes it will! Creep feeding can add significant revenue to the cow calf operatio. Next to calving percentage weight has the greatest economic impact in a cow –calf operation. As genetics have changed, the impact of creep feeding has improved dramtically.Calves today not only have the genetic ability to gain more on creep feed but they can also convert creep feed more efficiently which lowers the cost of gain. Benefits of creep feeding Heavier calves at weaning, will improve the dollars received per calf. With this years calf this could add $45.00 to $50.00 per calf after the cost of creep feed. Replacement heifers will benefit from higher fiber creep with better breeding weights and etter weaning weights on their calves. Creep feeding helps bunk break calves, so they start on feed easier. Creep feeding reduces stress at weaning which improves health status. Some research shows better marbling on finished cattle that were fed creep feed. Calves that are heavier at an earlier date will have a higher market value as a feeder. One thing that has improved performance is the use of complete pelleted high fiber creep feeds such as MFA Cattle Charge or Stock Grower 14%.these creeps allows more growth, reduced risk of digestive upsets, and better conversion as a result of better digestibility YES I do believe creep feed pays and it pays well. Remember you cant starve a profit out of a calf. Rick R Here is a link with information on twisted corn syndrome http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/TwistedWhorls.html …I also believe that it has been called rapid growth syndrome. We saw this several years ago…I think ’04…I believe it showed up in NK67-T4 as well as some competitor numbers that year. There are several thoughts as to what causes this but I believe that it is because of the sudden changes in temperature…basically going from poor growing conditions to good growing conditions. Attached are some pictures that have been taken over the past few days in some local fields. Few quick thoughts on this…the knee jerk reaction by many will be to associate this with chemical…I can’t say that chemistry may not exasperate this problem but I do not think that it is the main factor…if it is a factor at all. I’ve seen corn with these symptoms this year that have had Lexar, Degree, and Corvis so there is not just one chemistry that the symptoms are following. Also, variety definitely is a factor…I looked at a field this morning that had four varieties in it…to the line one variety was affected while the others showed no symptoms...as you walked across the field you could see the twisted corn every time you reentered that variety. You can also see many plants with crinkled leaves that you can tell were rolled but have since released. Some of these plants will have yellow leaves that were rolled up tight…the yellow leaves are what caused people to call several years back…you could see them from the road. I wanted everyone to be aware of this and to know that it is more than likely not a chemical issue. The field with the multiple varieties is north of Mexico if anyone would like to see it. Also, here is a link on Silver Leaf… http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/articles.03/SilverLeaf-0529.html. I’d never heard of this one till yesterday but it is showing up too…more of an oddity than a problem but this link will give you info on it in case anyone asks. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Scott Wilburn Agronomist-CCA/Laddonia Group Pink eye it’s not pretty! Ways to help prevent pink eye is number I early fly control number 2 clip the pastures if grass is long and headed out. Clipping pastures will decrease much irritation to the eyes of cattle. The irritation of dust, plant pollen or weed seeds will promote the shedding of the pink eye bacteria by a few carrier cows. These cows spread the organism by contact and face flies. If vaccines are a part of your prevention plan, vaccinate ahead of pink eye season and give the second dose 30 days before fly season. If the vaccine is a two dose product, give two doses. Be sure to vaccinate any calves as well. If pink eye dose occur what’s the best treatment? Pink eye is a bacterium so antibiotics will help. Long acting tetracycline as LA-200 or LA-300 and Biomycin work very well. They can be given intramuscular or sub Q but these products are irritating to tissues so no more than 10cc per injection site if intramuscular Give sub Q when possible. There are other vaccines available like Nu Fluor but you would need a prescription from you vet. Remember the earlier you can catch the problem and treat it the quicker the recovery is for your animals. Check with your Vet or your local MFA for products to help control and treat pinkeye . Don’t let pink eye put a black eye on your herd this year. Rick R Note on Kinze Bean Meters I know that since we have gone to 140k units of beans a lot of the seed size issues have been eliminated, but there are still problems that you may face when delivering wide ranges of seed sizes to a customer. I encountered one such problem last week, I delivered 8 MB to a customer of three different seed sizes ranging from 2900 seeds per pound to 3850 seeds per pound. The customer said that he did not want the 3850 seed count beans because of the small size. He stated that he had to switch to “specialty” (larger) bean plates in his Kinze planter because the 3200 count beans that he had from another retailer were sticking in his normal disks. Eventually we determined that the seeds that he already had were over treated and they were leaving large amounts of residue on the normal bean plates. This means that he needed to be using normal size disks for all of the previously mentioned beans anyway. Just a note to keep at hand for you if this problem arises, Kinze bean plates are as follows for seed size. This dark blue disc has 48 cells and plants soybeans in sizes ranging from 1,400 to 2,200 seeds per pound. This black disc has 60 cells and plants soybeans in sizes ranging from 2,200 to 4,000 seeds per pound. Clay Koenig Fly control this season. Flies are a nuisance for humans but even greater one for livestock. Flies spread disease from anaplasmosis to pinkeye. They are responsible for lost production in the form of decreased weight gains or lower milk yields. As few as 100 to 200 flies per side can impact gains by 50 pounds. If you can see a hand size patch of flies on each side of your cattle there is enough to be a problem. Rubs and dusters are an effective method of control. Place them near mineral feeders, water source or where cattle are forced to rub against them. Recharge them about once a week or after a rain. Ear tags are a very effective season long treatment but remember to cut them out at the end of fly season. Leaving tags in could build up chemical resistance. Check with your vet or MFA for your livestock fly control. We can even help wit fly control around your house or shop areas. Remember don’t swallow seeds on your watermelon that move could be a fly. Rick R Power in the Plant The introduction of Roundup Ready (RR) Soybeans in the spring of 1996 revolutionized the crop industry forever. Glyphosate changed farming practices that had been used for hundreds of years. The old plan of working ground then planting was thrown to the wayside for a majority of the growers across the world. Many growers adopted no-till or reduced tillage practices in an attempt to reduce erosion in their fields. This reduced tillage allowed growers to cover vast acres in short amounts of time as well as lower input costs with a reduction of heavy tillage. According to Colorado State University it takes about 1/24th as much fuel to spray as it does to pull a plow, and about 1/6th as much fuel to spray as it does to cultivate crops. [i] In the years following the release of RR soybeans other crops followed suit; in 1997 RR Cotton and Canola were introduced and the following year RR Corn. Roundup Ready started a trend in the industry that that is still evolving today. 1998 also was the introduction of the first trait stack; Roundup Ready Corn was stacked with YieldGuard Corn Borer bringing the industry toward the trait stacks that we use today. Today there is a wide range of trait stacks allowing the grower to choose the package, modes of action, as well as the refuge requirement that best fits their operation. The option to choose from more than 7 stack options allows up to three modes of action for pests such as Corn Borer, Rootworm, Corn Earworm, Fall Armyworm, and Cutworms. Refuge requirements range from 50% in the cotton belt to 0% Refuge in a Bag (RIB) products here in the Midwest. Options in the seed world continue to change year after year with more accurate and advanced gene insertion into the DNA of our corn and soybean plants. In the future we can expect to see traits such as Drought Tolerant, Grey Leaf Spot resistance, Dicamba Tolerance, as well as Nitrogen Utilization genes stacked into our seed Corn. In soybeans be looking for Dicamba Resistance, Phytophthora Root Rot Resistance genes, and insect resistance to armyworms and aphids. All of these advancements allow growers to expand their operations as well as grow the healthiest and most productive plants possible. In the year 2050 we will be feeding more than 9,000,000,000 people across the globe, the amount of land that can be cropped has always been about the same we need to increase efficiency on what we have to cover the worlds demand. Clay Koenig
[i] Downs, H. W., and R. W. Hansen. "Estimating Farm Fuel Requirements." Colorado State University Extension. Downs and Hanson, Sept. 1998. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/FARMMGT/05006.html>.
Beyond the Basics About 10 years ago my wife and I were able to take a quick trip to Europe...my sister was living in Geneva and 9/11 had made airfares dirt cheap so it was a good time to visit. One afternoon we were doing some shopping when I came across a music store. I play guitar about everyday but had not touched one since we’d left for our trip so I ended up spending about an hour in this little store playing. I remember thinking at the time how it was interesting that I was able to walk into a store in a foreign country ran by guys I could barely communicate with and pick up a guitar and start playing. The reason I could do this is because they tuned their instruments the same way I tune mine. Starting with the thickest string on top standard guitar tuning is E, A, D, G, B, E. There are other ways to tune a guitar but this is the most common and is the one that you will always find in a store. It is also the tuning that most people learn to play on…not just here but around the world. Once a musician becomes proficient with the basics they may begin to experiment with different tunings, picking methods, and even different types of wood to make their instruments. Like music, there are agricultural principles that transcend language and culture. For example, if I had been able to get out in the country on that trip and talk to the farmers I’m sure that we could have had a conversation about nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and pH. These are foundational to any form of agriculture…from small gardeners who know the value of a 13-13-13 to a several thousand acre grower raising corn and soybeans. There are many other nutrients and amendments that can be added to a crop but in most cases these will be of less value to a crop growing on a soil that is unable to provide the basic fertility of N-P-K versus one growing on a soil that has been well maintained. Having said this, I believe most of you reading this are doing a good job managing these basics. We have a record number of acres that are being grid sampled. P and K fertilizers are being distributed only where they are needed through our variable rate machines. N-Serve has become table stakes for many corn growers not only in the fall but also in the spring and we’ve stayed very busy the past two years applying lime. So what is next? There are several things that you can look at and experiment with to take your management and production to new levels. One of these is fungicides. An application on your corn crop at tasseling or on your beans at early pod formation can help control disease and encourage plant health. Healthy plants utilize nutrients and solar energy more effectively and are able to withstand adverse weather condition for longer periods of time. You may also want to look at nutrients in addition to N-P-K. Many of you are using sulfur and zinc but there are still acres that are not getting these nutrients. Whether you apply these through flat rate or through a variable rate program, 10-20 pounds of sulfur and 1-3 pounds of zinc (depending on soil test) is something you should look at. Another way to do this is with our MicroEssentials SZ…every pellet contains 10-40-0-10S-1Zn. In addition to S and Zn, there are other nutrients that can benefit our crops when applied as a foliar application…these include manganese, iron and boron. We have several products that contain these as well as additional P, K, S and Zn. You have to take care of the basics but after you’ve done that take a look at some of these other strategies on a few acres…they may be just the thing to take your production to the next level. Thanks for reading. Scott Wilburn CAN I GET BY WITHOUT USING FULL RATES ON SOYBEAN PRE-EMERGENT HERBICIDES. This question has been around forever but probably has never been so critical, My answer is NO, We should not raise less bushels per acre (about 2 even when glyphosate worked) with grain prices and resistance issues what they are. Then run the real risk of producing far less when weeds take the field. Resistance is unfortunately here and a whole new era in agriculture is upon us. We need to quickly adapt and win this battle we are faced with. Kerry Sullivan Its green out! Looks like the month of May across the pastures and fields. Plant growth ground temperatures insects and mushrooms are early this year. The pastures are exploding out there. It looks a month earlier because of the warmer winter and spring. This has had an impact on pastures. Most pastures have good residual left over from the mild winter. With good fertility it has rebound very well and will let the livestock people start some early grazing. You don’t want to over graze early growth. Gaze it quickly and move to the next allotment to leave sufficient new growth behind. Over grazing early will often reduce density and let the increase of potential weed pressure in. Remember the warmer temperatures are also pushing some forage to mature earlier. Gaze in short duration period. This will keep pastures a little more under control. With more forage present the livestock will eat the best and leave the rest. You always manage for the animals performance first and if you do you will simultaneously mange the forage too. You can’t starve profit out of an animal and you can’t bale off bare ground. Nutrition and fertility pays. Rick R. FROST CONCERNS - Health of the Growing Point Attached is a picture of corn that has NOT had any chemical applied to it…if you get any questions about chemical injury to early corn (and I’ve not received any yet…always seems like you get some though) you might refer to this picture as an example of what the cold weather did to corn without any chemical. Also, after last night we will probably get a few questions on frost damage. This is an older article that was written after a specific frost event but it is one of the better ones that I found: http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/articles.98/p&c9818.html ...here are the highlights if you don’t want to read the whole thing... Assessing the effects of late spring frost damage to young corn can be easy or difficult depending on subsequent weather conditions and the emotions of the involved players. The damaged corn plants will tell you by the extent of their recovery how severe the frost damage actually was. The bottom line on frost damage assessment is PATIENCE. Patience is required because plant recovery from frost damage may not be visible for several days or longer after the incidence of the frost event. Given the cool weather that has prevailed in the region, evidence of recovery will occur more slowly than desired because plant development naturally occurs more slowly when temperatures are cool. As with most early-season injuries to corn, the recovery of frosted corn depends greatly on whether the internal growing point region was damaged. Fortunately, the growing point region of corn remains below ground from planting to about 6-leaf collars (about 12 inches tall). While below-ground, the growing point region is relatively protected from direct frost injury. Beginning at about 6-leaf collars, the stalk begins to elongate and the growing point region (located at the upper end of the stalk tissue) soon elevates above-ground and becomes more susceptible to frost injury. You can split corn plants vertically and inspect the growing point region for damage. The growing point region is located near the top of the pyramid-shaped stalk tissue below the rolled up leaves of the split stem. Healthy stalk tissue will be yellowish-white and firm, while damaged tissue will be discolored and soft or "water-soaked". Healthy leaf tissue rolled up in the whorl will be yellowish-green to green, while damaged tissue will be more gray (initially) and/or decomposing. Scott Wilburn JUST A TIP ON SPRAYING Wow we’ve had some wonderful weather. Corn is up and so are the weeds which mean its time to spray. As we get those sprayers out and head to the field we need to be aware of the ever growing problem of off target movement. Drift can occur after application but most often occurs during the application itself. One of the easiest ways to help reduce drift is to use a drift reducing agent such as ams-dep or air link. While these won’t eliminate drift they do tend to help keep the smaller particles from moving away from the pattern. The best way to reduce drift is with the use of drift reducing nozzles such as turbo tee jet or turbo drop tips. Not only do these nozzles reduce drift but they also have a wider pressure range than flat fan tips which gives you a greater range of gallons per acre without having to change tips. Put these two together and we can greatly reduce the problem of drift and the negative image it can have on agriculture Thanks and be safe Billy B. Thin Alfalfa Stands I had a customer come in the other day wanting some alfalfa seed to try and thicken up their alfalfa stand. Very seldom will you have any success in interseeding alfalfa into an established stand. New seedlings have a lot of things working against them when planted in established stands. Old plants actually put out toxins that are harmful to germination and new alfalfa seedlings. If you happen to get the seeds germinated they will find themselves in an environment that more than likely is already a host for insects and disease that attack alfalfa. These make easy prey of a new seedling trying to get started and you will often see the new seedlings seem to fade away within a couple of months. The best advice is to destroy the stand and rotate to a different crop for at least one year. This allows time to eliminate toxins and pest pressures before trying to establish new seedlings. Thickening up stands may appear to have been successful short term, but they will quickly return to the thin stand you had to start with. by Doug Wood Should I use N-Serve in the spring? This is a very common question we get every spring but especially since the spring of 2010. That year most farms were water logged and experienced measurable amounts of nitrogen loss. I believe the measure was yield and we could find the evidence in both the plant’s symptoms and in the yields from fields that got side dressed versus those that didn’t. Research has shown up to 20% loss with the first one or two rainfalls. N-Serve will protect your nitrogen so it can withstand these spring rainfalls by staying attached to the soil and organic matter in the right form and keeps in the root zone. It will also keep more available to the plant farther out into the growing season. N-Serve has been researched for over 30 years, in more than 180 studies N-Serve applied in the spring will increase yield an average of 5%. With nitrogen prices high as they are and corn price high, why risk any of your input dollars to loss or any of your potential bushels to loss? For less than $11/A you can sleep easier that your nitrogen will stay with you longer and be their more at the time the corn needs it. By Ryan Bailey Do we need more N for our corn? The last three years excessive spring rainfall has created concerns about N loss in corn fields. It looks like we are having another wet spring this year. What can we do about this? Corn uses over have of its N after tasseling. Research has shown that we can achieve full yield if rescue N is applied by the time corn tassels. We now have a way to apply urea in tall corn It is a new high clearance Ro-Gator with a New Leader dry spinner box. This spreader will do a great job while knocking down very little corn. Give us a call to line up your acres. Dave Bertels With the mild winter bugs are everywhere this spring. You cant walk out in the woods without you or the dog getting covered in ticks, and its not just the ticks that are bad. With that being said the question still comes up, should I be using an insecticide with my residual? To me the math is pretty simple, you have a couple hundred dollars out there putting your crop in, why try to save $4 bucks here. Everyone knows cutworms will destroy a corn crop in a matter of days, if its wet like it is right now they may get the whole field before you have a chance to come back with ground rigs. Cut worms wont just go after corn either, your bean acres are vulnerable if there is a high enough population. In the end an insecticide is one of the cheapest forms of insurance you can buy for your young crop, your best bet is to not cut this corner so early in the race. Dustin Zumbehl Short Informational Video by Dr. Jason Weirich- Director of Agronomy (Dont hold the shirt against him) http://youtu.be/F2B6QCt6xho |
