Soybean Hype

Soybean Hype

Soybeans have been getting a lot of hype over the past couple months with acres in western Canada estimated to rise significantly for 2013. Soybeans are one of my favorite crops to deal with ever since I worked with some my first couple years of scouting. Soys do have significant upside for return, especially with the prices, but I want to talk about some things that seem to fly by the way side when I hear about soybeans lately.

Heat Units

We all know the benefits of soys in Saskatchewan for example, low disease pressure, lower input costs than canola, Roundup Ready trait, rotational benefits and the list goes on.

But we have to remember that breeding varieties suited to our Saskatchewan and Alberta areas is relatively new, and there still isn’t any really short season varieties. Our shortest varities are sitting in the 2325-2350 Heat Unit (CHU’s)  range. Generally speaking, there are some areas across Saskatchewan and Alberta that receive these sorts of numbers, but remember these aren’t CHU’s from May 1^st, they are from May 15-25, once soil temperatures are in that 12-18 degree Celsius range! Now there will be some variation in varieties due to day length and other specialized traits some varieties have, but overall you want to get as close to those CHU’s as possible to achieve maturity with a decent yield. You would still get some yield if you only got 2150CHU’s for example, but the yield would be reduced along with the quality.

Moisture

Soybeans will use a good amount of water under ideal conditions, and aren’t deep rooters so scavenging for water is limited. The other consideration is that their peak water use occurs at later flower-pod development sort of time frame, for Saskatchewan and Alberta growers this is going to fall in that late July-early August time frame, which happens to be a typical dry time for us. The negative if we do happen to get a rainier than normal July is that could mean cool, damp conditions which aren’t what we want for our soybeans to reach physiological maturity.

Market

Soybean price is influenced in part by the USA, as we all know. Their drought is the main contributor to the large price jump of soybeans that sparked the increased interest in non-typical growing areas such as Saskatchewan and Alberta. We can’t be sure that the prices for soybeans are going to be as strong as they are now. The first reason being the largest ever seeded soybean acerage in South America (Brazil) and the forecast for good growing conditions (it is still early and a couple more months will tell how the weather affects them). This could significantly affect the price and bring it back down well below $15/bu. The other thing often forgot about is that the Americans will still be putting in another soybean crop around the same time as ours will be going in. The size of their acerage as well as conditions are ultimately going to play a role in where the price goes. Not that it’s a surprise to be a slave to the markets, but in talking with guys one thing that sparked interest in soybeans was the price. If large crops come off in S. America and the USA in the next 12 months then soybeans may be closer to $10/bu than 20$bu, and all of a sudden that 25 bushel an acre bean crop (which would be a high end average for a 2100 CHU, average moisture year, growing area) isn’t as profitable as once thought. Plus the risk of that early frost taking out a large chunk of your yield is always there.

I do believe that once the breeding is farther along and we can knock another 100-200CHU’s (or more) off of the shortest season varieties without sacrificing much yield we can grow soybeans with a consistent profit. There are even some areas across Saskatchewan and Alberta that can grow soybeans right now on a consistent basis. I am not trying to scare anyone away from soybeans, just play devils advocate to all the hype. I do hope producers still try some soys, but on a 20, 40, maybe 80 acre basis to start vs. an entire section. Trying small acreage now can get you the experience with them and develop a comfort level with producing them that allows you to be successful soybean grower once some shorter season varieties, more suited to your area are released.

Dont Forget About Sulphur

When I first started working in the agriculture industry I spent my entire month of May blending fertilizer. At this point in time when a grower came in and asked for a “34-17-0” blend, I was a pretty happy guy. It meant effort and less chance of screwing up, win-win for me as an 18 year old trying to make a few bucks in my first summer job. Now a days when someone asks for that blend, I cringe.

 Plants need numerous nutrients for proper health and development, some being required, others being beneficial. All of these nutrients are important, but macro nutrients tend to be the ones needed in the largest quantity. These nutrients include nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and sulfur (and calcium and magnesium depending who you talk to). I want to focus on the importance of sulfur today.

Having a proper fertility package is one of the most important things when starting off your crop in the spring, but it is very often overlooked. I like to put it into terms of us as people, we have 3 essential macro nutrients being protein, carbohydrates and fat. If we were only to eat carbohydrates and proteins, we would begin to run into a whole world of problems due to malnutrition from lack of fat. This occurs with plants as well, even if we don’t see obvious deficiency symptoms, the plants are still weaker and losing yield because of it. Leipigs Law of the minimum shows us that a plant/crop can only produce as much its most limiting factor will allow it. If we only have sulfur in the soil for 30 bushels of wheat, you will be hard pressed to get any more out of that crop due to the lack of sulfur. Sulfur has some key benefits in plants, including being a component of amino acids and enzymes.

Canola is the first crop I would like to touch on why it is important. Many are aware of this due to its promotions by groups such as the Canola Council and many agronomists. What is often left out is why is canola such a heavy user of sulfur? Many growers never ask, and a lot of individuals that promote sulfur don’t really know the specifics behind why canola needs so much. This isnt going to get technical, just some basics and the basics come down to the plant family canola is a part of, Brassicaceae. This family of plant also includes mustards and even vegetables like cabbage and cauliflower. This family of plants has secondary metabolism compounds known as glucosinolates. These compounds are made up mainly of sulfur. The main reason these compounds are important is due to their ability to increase a plants defense system/stress tolerance against pathogens or insects. If we under fertilize sulfur on a canola crop, these compounds begin to be broken down by an enzyme so the plant can use the sulfur else where in the plant, meaning the plants defense system is taking a back seat to other basic physiological processes. This can open your crop up to increase disease or insect risk and increased susceptibility to stresses such as heat. Sulfur is also a component of phytoalexins which are part of the systemic acquired resistance of a plant, or part of its natural defense system There is more that sulfur does in canola as well, but this is the quick and dirty version. Remember, ratio’s of nitrogen to sulfur are important as well. 5:1 (N:S) being the range you want to be in simply because for every 5 lbs of N your crop is going to use 1 pound of S under ideal conditions to achieve the yield you want.

Wheat is often overlooked even more so than canola when it comes to sulfur fertilization. Again, understanding the importance of sulfur in wheat is important. I stated earlier that sulfur is important in amino acids within plants, amino acids are constitutes of proteins and usually a higher protein in wheat means a higher premium. The most common practice to increase protein in wheat is with a late N application, which is fine and consistently works. But since we know protein in a plant isnt made up of only nitrogen, but sulfur as well we can see that sulfur may be the magic trick to bumping yield a bit along with protein. Ratio’s for wheat of N:S are ideally in the 7:1 range.

Lastly, I want to note the importance of sulfur in pulses. All to often I run into growers who don’t fertilize their pulses at all, then there are a few that put down phosphorous, but consistently the few I deal with who put down a full, balanced nutrient package with their pulses have the highest pulse yields. Pulses are high in protein, and as just said with the cereal section, sulfur is a key component of proteins within the plant. The reason many individuals aren’t aware of is its role in activating enzymes that are important for nodulation and nitrogen fixation. Being able to more efficiently fix nitrogen, especially once plants get to flowering when pulses are really needing N and the plant isnt focusing as much on rooting or nodulation can be that extra few bushels of yield you are looking for.

To calculate a range of sulfur your crop will need here are some uptake numbers:

0.25lbs of sulfur/bushel of wheat

0.6lbs of sulfur/bushel of canola

0.25lbs of sulfur/bushel of peas

0.13lbs of sulfur/bushel of lentils

Simply put if you want a 100 bushel wheat crop, your crop is going to need about 25lbs of sulfur per acre (100 bushels * 0.25lbs/bushel/ac)

 Remember to keep sulfur in mind when doing your fertility planning for next year.

Going to try and focus a little more on some nutrient importance over the winter when writing as I feel this is the area where many growers could get major yield bumps from. Properly balancing your macro's and then going in and touching on your micro's is a tactic that I think has the most influence on yield, especially in comparison to some like which seed treatment to use. Nutrients each have many roles in the plant, but I want to try and focus on key factors that a nutrient might have in a specific crop.

Note: Try and do a soil test to see where sulfur levels are in your fields and remember sulfur is very mobile in the soil so you may have 7lbs in one spot and 32lbs in another. Also, I am sure you have heard that sulfur comes down with rain and irrigation water, but it is still great practice to monitor levels and try sulfur on your farm if you havent already.

Source: Marschners Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants

Fall Herbicide Applications

Post harvest glyphosate applications are a very effective method to gain control of perennials and winter annuals before heading into the winter. Controlling them in the fall is effective because weeds such as Canada thistle, dandelions etc are beginning to shut down for winter and therefore actively translocating sugars to their roots to over winter, the glyphosate gets translocated efficiently down as well, killing the plants at their roots. This leaves a much cleaner field come spring to seed into and reduces the headache of trying to get rid of these difficult to control weeds (Note: fields should still be considered for pre burn applications in the spring).

With all of this said, the temperature fluctuations and potential frost threats in the fall make spray timing a more difficult task, so it is best to follow some simple guidelines when it comes spraying at this time of the year.

Glyphosate (like most non-residual actives) is a product that can be touchy if sprayed at a time when it is not readily absorbed and translocated within the plant. This means to watch time of day spraying (glyphosate is notorious for being less effective sprayed in the late evening or early morning) and conditions before and after the frost, on top of the weed species you are targeting and the severity and length of the frost. Lots of growers believe that if a killing frost has already hit, their post harvest spray season has ended, but that isn’t necessarily the case.

If you have a hard frost of (-4 degrees C or colder) then you must wait before going into spray any weeds. It is best to wait anywhere from 48-72 hours before going into assess the severity of the frost damage. If you go out and see the plants are still remaining over 50-60% green, there are signs of active growth and the weather conditions have begun to be more favourable, then aiming to spray the next day once temperature have risen to above 10 degrees C for over 2 hours would be your next opportunity to hit that field. Remember, there shouldn’t be frost in the forecast for the next couple days either.

If there was simply a light frost (0 to -3 degrees C), this only slightly affects perennial and winter annual weed control. With that said, time below freezing can come into play and it is still good to go out the next day and assess the plants. Typically, if it was a light frost like this and you go out and spray the following day once temperatures have reached 10 degrees for a couple of hours (and no frost in the forecast) then you should be safe. Giving the plants an extra 24 hours after a light frost can be an effective strategy though.

It is best to spray glyphosate in the middle of the day, especially late in the season like this. If you can catch a warmer, sunnier day, then it is even better. To further it even more, if you get a nice shower, go in the next day and you will see an increase in efficacy as the fall moisture gives the plants a big perk and from what I have seen significantly helps fall glyphosate effectiveness. As for rates, I personally don’t like to see less than a 1L equivalent of glyphosate used when trying to take down any perennials or winter annuals.

I always recommend putting a second chemical in with the glyphosate such as 2,4-D, Express, Dicamba, Florasulam etc. as having a second mode of action is effective in decreasing the potential of glyphosate resistance and also because these products all have a residual in some capacity. I am not going to touch on these to much as the date they are used, rates, soil texture, soil moisture, soil temperature, organic matter and more come into play when determining what can be seeded there next year, if you have any specific questions feel free to ask or talk to your local agronomist as they will be aware of what products will be effective for your situation in your area. I will note that florasulam and Express (tribenuron) typically have strong activity on asteraceae family weeds which is what family our thistles fall into.

Dandelions are generally considered to be the most frost hardy, while Canada thistle, sow thistles and perennial/winter annual grasses are thought to be less frost tolerant. Also, keep in mind if you were late harvesting you must assess the plants regrowth and you should see new leaves being put out by the plant before spraying.

Spraying in the fall is the most effective way to clean up the perrenniels/winter annuals in your field so if you can take advantage of that you’ll be happy you did come the next season.

Canola Variety Considerations

With companies starting to roll out their early booking canola information, I figured I’d put together a quick checklist for determining what variety will be best for your farm. The top varieties are also the first to sell out, so if you know what you want it is best to book them right away.

The first thing most guys look at is yield. Ultimately this is the deciding factor for a lot of growers. Don’t always listen to the seed companies themselves as sometimes I find their yield numbers to be a bit higher than you might see on your farm. Take a look at the third party canola council data, check with local retails and research programs and you should get some good answers. Lastly, talk to your neighbour, knowing what variety grows well in your area is key. Just because a variety yields like crazy in Manitoba, doesn’t mean it will yield the same in southern Saskatchewan.

Standability is something that has come to be noticed a lot this year. A variety that stands better is a lot easier to swath or straight cut and also is less prone to main stem sclerotinia infections than a variety that is laying over. I have always noticed Bayer’s Invigor 5440 to stand up well, even under high inputs (eg: fertilizer). Talk to some neighbours and see what they have noticed with varieties. Some other varieties I have noticed that consistently had good standability are VT 500, Canterra 1900 series, Brett Young 6060 and Invigor L130 and L120.

Shatter resistance is another thing to watch for when choosing a variety. This is especially true for those that want to try some straight cutting. This trait is one that a lot of breeders are building up in their lines as losses due to shattering show up not just in loss bushels, but weed control in the years to come.

Disease resistant is becoming talked about more and more every year. Almost all varieties these days come resistant to Fusarium Wilt and Blackleg. With that said, when it comes to blackleg ratings there is something to note. The first off is that even an ‘R’ rating can still have up to 30% infection of blackleg (this is why you will hear company reps saying it is a “strong R rating”, meaning their variety will only have up to 10% infection vs a weaker R rating having 27% infection). Moderately resistant or ‘MR’ can have anywehere from 30 to 49% infection. On top of this blackleg strains continue to develop and evolve in western Canada and can overcome some of the resistance genes that are put into our canola. These different strains belong to different pathogenicity groups or PG’s, this is important because you may have a variety that is resistant to a couple PG’s, but not another one which is potentially the strain of blackleg you will see develop in your canola. On a side note, Dekalb is coming out with an exciting variety called BL 74-44 which has multi group black leg resistance. Sclerotinia resistance is becoming talked about as well in a number of varieties, I have minimal experience with them, but be aware they come at a premium cost and are only resistant up to about 65% (meaning under a high risk year you can still have up to 35% infection). This means you may still have to spray a fungicide. The other concern I have been hearing is a yield drag, meaning to get the Sclerotinia tolerant gene into the variety they may be giving up some of the superior yield genetics you would find in a non resistant crop. With that said, I have read plenty of research without any indication of yield drag, so something to look into more. Club root resistance has been developed into varieties for a couple years now with the Peace River region being the main target. If you are concerned with clubroot at all, these varieties may be good candidates to look into. Remember, disease resistance genes are not a substitute for a good rotation.

Herbicide tolerance is something else to consider, you may want to mix up the herbicide groups on your farm so an Invigor variety that is tolerant to Liberty (glufosinate ammonium group 10) might be a good route for you. Some growers may have had a group 2 residual issue from having lentils or peas on the land the year before, but want to put canola on that piece. A Clearfield (group 2 tolerant) variety will grow through the group 2 residual with no issues. Then there are the group 9 glyphosate tolerant varieties which allow for a very effective herbicide product to be sprayed on a piece allowing you to do a good job of cleaning up a dirtier field.

Last thing to note are premiums. Some specialty oil varieties such as Nexera and the new Invigor 156H offer premiums based on a per bushel or per tonne basis. This can be very lucrative, but remember try not to give up to much yield potential if you do opt to go this route. An extra dollar a bushel is always nice, but if you can grow a variety that may yield 10% more, you may see a higher return from that variety on the yield vs. the variety with the yield and the premium, so keep that in mind.

One quick thing to watch for, especially if seeding begins to drag out is days to maturity. A variety like Invigor L120 is going to save you a number of days vs an variety like L150.

The amount of research going into canola these days is extremely exciting. Yield potential is going up and variety traits such as drought tolerance and increased herbicide tolerance are right around the corner meaning higher yields, less susceptibility to yield threats and more money in your pocket.

Here is a list of 3^rd party data from 2011 to check out:

http://www.blairs.ag/research/megaplot-data/

http://canolaperformancetrials.ca/

http://www.gmacsagteam.ca/images/file/Folder/Invigor%20trial%20Kindersley.pdf

http://www.gmacsagteam.ca/images/file/Folder/RR%20canola%20trial%20Kindersley.pdf

http://www.hudyesoils.com/images/fieldofdreamspdf/2011/2011-Canola_Variety_Performance_Trial.pdf

Fall Frost Threats

We are getting to that point where the first frost of the fall could come up any day, but just because the temperatures dipped doesn’t mean that your crop is a write off. There are a number of factors that come into play from crop type to length below freezing.

 Quick explanation on what a freeze event does to a plant; When freezing occurs in the plant it causes the cells to expand causing them to burst or rupture.

The first factor that comes into play is the humidity. Cooler air will hold less water than warmer air. When temperatures drop to below where the relative humidity (RH) reaches 100% (dew point), the air becomes oversaturated and condensation occurs. When water changes from liquid to ice it will give off heat. As the dew on the plant is begins to freeze it gives off heat which can help keep the plant tissue above freezing point. So as water is freezing on the outer parts of the plant, the temperatures remain at about  0  degrees C until all the dew has froze. At this point there is no longer protection for the plant which is when we run into the issue of time below freezing and how it can affect the plant. If it begins to warm up right after this point, damage should be minimal, if temperatures continue to drop or stay around that point then there is potential for damage to occur.

The next thing to take into account is that the liquid within plants does not necessarily have the same freezing point as water. There are sugars, proteins, and a number of other solutes occuring in the plant. These other substances within the plant can take the freezing point anywhere from 2 to even 5 degrees (or more) lower than it would be without them. This shows us that a healthier plant which may have a higher degree brix (sugar) or higher protein content etc may in fact also be hardier than a less healthy, diseased plant.

Temperatures and stress leading up to the frost event can also be a driving factor in how much damage you will see from a frost. If temperatures have been cooler leading up you may see a tougher plant that is less susceptible to light frosts. Other stresses can also cause plants to shake things up a bit with hormones and photosynthate distribution etc. that allow a plant to tolerate lower temperatures, as we all know plants are very efficient at adapting to stress. The speed at which temperatures drop can be a factor as well, the faster they drop bigger the concern for damage.

Moisture content of the crop is another big concern, if your crop is still sitting at 50% moisture then it is a much higher risk than a crop sitting 30% moisture (close to swathing stage in other words).

Each crop has a different susceptibility, much like seedling frost tolerances vary by crop.

Canola:

Canola is susceptible at a temperature of about -2 to -3 if it is sitting at a higher moisture content like I commented on above. Frost damaged canola dries down very rapidly locking in green seed count. If you have a canola crop ready to swath you may escape damage and if you have a canola crop that is below 25% moisture you should be relatively safe from damage. To avoid losses from a frost in canola you can swath prior to a frost event, ideally 48-72 hours to escape damage. This can be effective even at 0% seed colour change to avoid some of the damages. The other comment I have on canola is even a light frost of -1 degree C can have an impact on the enzyme that helps clear chlorophyll which may also cause green seed to get locked in. Remember to inspect fields after a frost, ideally 48-72 hours to look for frost damage. If it is a severe frost and you see significant damage, swathing immediately is recommended.

Cereals:

Again moisture content comes into play with cereals, if at a milk stage they are more susceptible to frost than a soft dough stage. For example a slight dip below 0 at milk stage may cause losses (shrivelled seed), but at soft or later dough stages they can tolerate upwards of -5 degrees. Cereals that have gotten a frost can be significantly impacted when it comes to germination, so be weary about using frost damaged kernels as seed. Cereals may take a week or so before you can truly evaluate damage. Wheat tends to be slightly more tolerant to fall frosts than barley.

Obviously, there are other crops, but I’m going to leave it there. If you have any questions about anything or on other crops feel free to ask.

 

Source: Sask Ag

 

Pre Harvest Glyphosate and Desiccation

Lentils are the main crop that will get hit with Reglone (diquat) and I will touch on them first. Ideally the staging is so that the lowest third of the plant pods are rattling and the seed itself is hard and doesn’t split, the middle third of the plant will be hard and not juicy, but will split nicely into 2 halves and the top third will be full size, but immature. This is also the proper stage for glyphosate timing. The MRL of glyphosate did get increased to 10PPM (same as peas) this year so you are able to use glyphosate if you wish. Be aware glyphosate is NOT a desiccant. It will kill the plants, but it does very little to increase dry down like Reglone will. A glyphosate app still means you could have 10-14 days or more till the proper harvest timing, where as 4-7 days (can be 10) is typical time from Reglone app to harvest.

Peas proper staging for Reglone/Glyphoate is the bottom third of the pods will have seeds detached and rattling with the pods being translucent and shrunken, middle third will have shrunken and leathery pods and will split when squeezed, upper third will just be starting to turn. Again, glyphosate is not a desiccant and will only speed up harvest by a few days or so vs. no glyphosate.

When it comes to using Heat (saflufenacil) from BASF there is no MRL set and I would suggest to avoid using it if you can to save yourselves from having to deal with a buyer denying your lentil crop. If you do decide to use Heat be aware that it will not be as effective as Reglone, atleast not in my experience. You also must use an increased rate as opposed to the 10.4g/ac (80ac/jug). You should use atleast 14g/ac and ideally use upwards of 20grams per acre (40ac/jug) to see better results.

Aim (Carfentrazone) from Nufarm is also registered as a desiccant. You have to increase the rate significantly to get the results you want. In my experience it is a product that will still get the job done if you decide to go this way.

For wheat and barley(not malt) timing of glyphosate, you are looking at close to the same time as swathing. The wheat and barley will be at 30-35% moisture, or hard dough stage. A finger nail imprint will remain on the seed. You can get away with maybe 2-3 days before a typical swath timing would be, but remember if you go in to early with glyphosate the seeds will appear shrunken and it will have a similar appearance to frost damage. In wheat you may also look at the peduncle which is the stem located just below the head, and it will have turned from green to a brown colour.

Remember glyphosate is much better on perennials so if you have a field with lots of quackgrass, Canada thistle etc. then using glyphosate is your best route to go. Not going to be effective to tank mix them, but if you want to get the best of both worlds then using glyphosate first and then hitting with Reglone 3 days later is probably your best bet to get dry down and good perennial weed control.

Some notes on Reglone:

-Reglone prefers water pH of <7

-Ideally use 15-20 gallons of water per acre, the more the better.

-Doubling up on surfactant can be very effective to ensure chemical penetration into the plant.

-Be sure to increase PSI to above 50

-I have heard mixed comments on nozzles, Twin TurboJet seem to be a good option though.

-LI700 is a surfactant that helps get the chemical into the plant as well as lower pH, seen good results with it. Rate is 0.1% v/v, 0.2 if you want to double the rate. Note: Syngenta wants 0.25% v/v to support this adjuvant use.

-If you are using an AgSurf product for example then it is reccomended to double it.

-Reglone is a contact that reacts off UV light so spraying in the evening allowing the chemical to get into the plant is a very effective route to go. This means it is fully soaked into the plant for the next morning/day. You may get some slight local systemicity vs. straight contact as well if sprayed at night due to it soaking in a bit better within the leaves.

-Very rainfast, 15 minutes.

-Reglone prefers hot temperatures so if you can time it so that you spray in the evening and the next day is HOT, it will be more effective.

-Reglone is a group 22, this can be an effective chemical to change up herbicide groups in your rotation.

-The rate is 0.7-0.8L/ac typically, heard of guys going 1L/ac. My main tip with the rate is don’t assume that since you are going the high rate you can cut the water volume, in my experience going the lower rate with higher water volume is MUCH better than going high rate with a low water volume.

It has been a while since my last blog post, hopefully I shook the rust off and wrote one that some get atleast a little bit of info from.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask.

Sources: Syngenta Canada

Determining Whether to Spray a Fungicide

Determining whether it is worth while to spray a fungicide for disease can be a difficult thing to asses. The first thing I always say about fungicides is you need to look at them like they are insurance. No one knows they are going to get hail, but they still get hail insurance. Maybe this is an extreme example, but it atleast gives you an idea of how these products need to be viewed. Based on my experience, if conditions are good (or under irrigation) I strongly recommend a fungicide because time and time again they atleast pay for themselves and protect yield at the very least.  I will mostly focus on cereals, but some of the notes can be used for a number of crops.

The first thing you need to look at is the conditions. Is there moisture and the proper temperatures? Typically if you have good growing conditions, you have good conditions for disease to develop. Most diseases, generally speaking, enjoy lots of moisture and that 20 degree celcius temperatures range. Also remember, when you crop canopies over, it has its own microclimate in there which can be very different from the conditions you feel when you step outside, so get out to your field and see what it is like under the canopy. Heavy dews are more than enough for disease spores to germinate. Remember to check the forecast moving forward too.

Next thing to ask is how good does your crop look? If you have a great crop coming it typically means you had/have the conditions for disease to develop, and you want to protect that crop. So keep that in mind. Where I am originally from in west central Sask, in 2010 there were great growing conditions during the year and great looking crops. The area hadn’t heard of Sclerotinia before, let alone seen it, and it moved in and had 50bu/ac looking lentil crops go less than 5bu/ac. Disease can move in fast, the guys that sprayed preventatively actually had a crop.

If your crop is wheat on wheat for example then your field is a good candidate for a fungicide application. Disease such as tan spot and septoria over winter on stubble from the previous year so the pressure is going to be even higher on those fields so go out and scout those first.

When it comes to leaf disease in cereals especially, always remember to take off some flag leaves or penultimate leaves (second from top) off and hold them up to the sun, if you see some light “pinhole” looking speckles that is the beginning of disease. You have about 8 days from the time a disease spore lands on a leaf until it has reproduced again and you see the big, yellow/brown spots on your leaves. This is when the rain splash, dew, animals etc move the spores up the leaves. I have always been told that assuming there are good disease conditions, whatever your leaf below looks like that’s what the leaf above it is going to look like in 5-7 days. So for example if you have 20% infection on the penultimate leaf, a week later there will be around 20% infection on the flag leaf.

With a “curative” fungicide such as some of the active ingredients in the group 3 triazole family (Caramba, Prosaro, etc) these products have the potential to suppress the disease up to about day 5 or 6 in the lifecycle of the disease, so if you have a lot of small pinholes on your leaves you can guarantee more are coming and it probably is best to apply a fungicide to ensure you maintain a high yield potential. Always remember it is best to spray preventativley before there signs of heavy disease pressure, once it moves in the damage happens fast.

There is also the plant health benefits some products bring to the table such as the strobilurin family of fungicides (group 11) so these can help pay for the fungicide and further help a plant yield better and fight disease. Some of these benefits include, increased nitrogen use efficiency, water use efficiency, and decreased ethylene producttion. Examples of these products include Headline and Quilt.

A great leaf disease basic formula I got from Steve Larocque`s Beyond Agronomy Newsletter is as follows to determine yield loss:

Percent Loss= .66 X % of flag leaf area infected + .50 X percent of penultimate leaf area infected divided by 2.

Example: 10% Flag leaf infection and 20% penultimate leaf infection on what looks like will be a 50bu an ac crop.

                .66 X 5% + .5 X 20% divided by 2

                = 6.65% yield loss X 50bu = 3.3 bu an acre loss

Assuming $7.50 a bushel Red Spring prices 3.3 X 7.50 = 24.75 an ac LOSS.

Note: Some leaf diseases are more aggressive than others, such as rust being more yield robbing than tan spot. This is a ball park.

Sclerotinia yield losses in canola typically look like this:

% infection divided by 2 = yield loss.

Example: 15% infection on a 40 bu an acre canola crop = 7.5% yield loss = 3 bu an ac

Using a $13 a bushel prices = 13 X 3 = 36 bushel an acre yield loss.

There are also the quality issues the diseases cause, especially with Fusairum Head Blight. You lose yield AND quality.

Always know the target disease you are going after, that way you can talk to your neighbours or local agronomists or reps about what product is going to be the most effective on what disease and at what stage. For example, just because you do not have any leaf disease, does not mean that fusarium headblight isnt going to be an issue so an application may be warranted at head emergence. Also, remember fungicides don’t last for the rest of the plant life cycle, typically after 14-21 days (depending on product) the fungicide will begin to wear off and the plants will be susceptible to disease again. Note also that spraying a fungicide after heads have begun to fill (in cereals) typically isnt economical, the disease has done most of its damage. You are just revenge spraying at that point. The flag leaf and penultimate leaf of a wheat crop combine to photosynthesize and produce upwards of 60% of the total yield so that shows how important protecting those 2 leafs are.

Always remember the disease triangle. Host, Pathogen, Environment. There needs to be all three present for disease to develop and flourish. For example if you are concerned about Fusarium Headblight in Durum then Durum is the host, if you have had FHB in the area before then the pathogen is present and if conditions are in that 20 degree range and damp for a period of time then you have the environment. This means there is a good chance your crop will have some FHB in it.

This was all over the place, I apologize, hopefully there is still something everyone could take away from it.