From Field Crop News.com
By the OMAFRA Field Crop Team
Corn
Early planted corn reached the ‘knee-high by the 1st of July’. Crop stages range from 12 leaf stage to still a few acres being planted. More so on the heavier soils, some unseeded corn acres remain. Corn planted this late will have high harvest moisture and could be difficult to combine pending fall conditions. For the most part, plant stands look good on lighter and medium textured soils. Stands planted in less than ideal conditions continue to show plant stress, particularly on heavier soils. Some stands are showing the planting side-wall compaction, and with drier weather, the seed trench has opened up. A lot of the intended side-dressing nitrogen has been applied in the past week. With the warmer temperatures, the corn colour has improved significantly. In areas where planting conditions were delayed, nitrogen side-dressing still needs to be done.
There are still a few fields where the weeds have emerged and are competing with the corn. Lots of slugs in no-till corn stands, less in the strip-till planted corn.
Soybeans
Overall, soybean stands look good and are changing to a darker green as the nodules kick-in. Still, a few acres were replanted this past week due to seed corn maggot or poor emergence due to soil crusting. Symptoms of early season diseases like Phytophthora root rot are also starting to show in some fields that will require replanting. The soybean and edible planting date deadlines were extended to July 5th. With respect to the unseeded acreage benefit (USAB), a grower may now change their dominant crop up to July 5th. Please contact Agricorp to discuss coverage. More information on Cover Crop Options for Unseeded Fields is available on OMAFRA’s website and fieldcropnews.com.
Pre-emergent herbicides have been doing an excellent job this year resulting from adequate activating rainfall. Weeds are quite large in a considerable number of fields that did not get a burndown application. Lots of volunteer corn is growing in soybean fields. Read herbicide labels to understand timing and performance. It is important to follow good herbicide stewardship practices like considering the wind speed, application volume, ground speed and neighbouring crops.
Cereals
Fusarium is starting to show up in winter wheat fields. Growers should begin scouting their fields to identify those with Fusarium head blight and target those fields first for harvest. Even fields that have been sprayed with a T3 fungicide should be scouted as applications may have gone on in less than ideal conditions in some cases, or there is variation in stands resulting in less than adequate protection of tillers.
For those planning to use a pre-harvest desiccant, they should be applied at the hard dough stage when the grain is less than 30% moisture. An easy way to scout for the correct staging is to look for a change in the colour of the peduncle. When 95% of the peduncles have changed from green to tan/brown, the crop is physiologically mature and ready for a pre-harvest desiccant.
Spring cereals are progressing with the early planted cereals now headed. Some disease is starting to show up, so continue to scout. Also, continue to monitor for cereal leaf beetle infestations as they move from winter wheat fields into spring cereals stands. Thresholds for aphids are up to the boot stage. If the crop is beyond this stage, treatment has no merit. Populations may begin to increase in spring cereals. However, natural enemies will hopefully build up before that. If young plants have 12-15 aphids per stem up to boot stage and natural enemies are not present, control may be warranted.
Growers should be ready to harvest wheat at higher grain moisture and plan to dry it to maintain quality.
Canola
May planted canola is in mid-bloom, and many fields have had a fungicide applied or will shortly. Early June planted canola is now bolting. Some areas are beginning to show moisture stress.
Swede midge is present, but much of the crop that is flowering now has low to very low levels of damage so far, with many getting through bolting without an insecticide application.
Dry Beans
Still some white and other edible beans being planted yet. Some fields of shorter season beans such as cranberry beans left to plant. There are reports of white beans having poor emergence and emerging ” bald-headed”, without cotyledons. There are many reports of slow emergence on a variety of bean classes. There are also several fields with low populations, leaving tough decisions about replanting. Lots of volunteer corn in the edible beans also. Leafhoppers will likely be moving into dry beans as alfalfa stands are being cut. Scout for adults and nymphs. The threshold for adults or nymphs per leaf is 0.2 for unifoliate beans, 0.5 for second trifoliate, 1.0 for fourth trifoliate and 2.0 for flower stage. More information on potato leafhoppers is available at Field Crop News.com.
Forages
Still lots of reports that forage inventory is low. More demand for oat seed for cover crops for unseeded acres. Forage stands that were going to be ripped up like the winter wheat ended up being kept. Some interseeded with Italian ryegrass was drilled into thickening stands. Lots of 1st cut hay being harvested. Still reports of yields only 60% to 70% of normal.
Spring grains up high for forage, mostly nurse crop, harvest before the nurse heads out. Lots of emergency forages out there, and they need different management to be fertilized, harvested and ensile properly. Forage oats and peas still being planted. Others have planted sorghum or sorghum sudan grass planning on two cuts. Producers who have established alternative forage crops are reminded that it is generally 45-60 days from planting to harvest, depending on the crop. More information on alternate forage options is available at Field Crop News.com.
Several growers have applied liquid manure after the 1st cut on forage stands. There’s some wheel damage from hay harvest and manure application equipment. Second cut yields look good.
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