5/15
Oneida Madison Scouting Report May 15, 2015 Weather: For the week ending on May 11th Running total of GDD,s base 48 starting April 13th as of May 11th for alfalfa weevil = 305. Scouts from western NY are reporting seeing the shotholes in alfalfa leaves associated with alfalfa weevil feeding Rainfall was from 0– 0.6” for the week ending on May 11th with Oneida and the northern half of Madison counties approaching drought status
Cropping activities: We had
all cropping activities happening in local farm fields, manure being spread, fields being tilled, hay seedings and corn being planted. Many more corn fields were planted this past week.
GDDs base 48 F 2015
Weekly rainfall (in) County 2015
350
1.6 300
1.4
250
1.2
200
1 0.8
150
0.6 100
0.4
50 0 4/12/2015
0.2
4/19/2015
4/26/2015
Verona
New Hartford
5/3/2015
5/10/2015
0 4/19/2015
Chadwicks
Crop Conditions: Hay Mow grass hay fields as soon as possible!!
Native orhardgrass heads were sited on Monday. The results of Mondays sample results show that the NDF of local grass fields are near or at 50. The optimal range 48-55. For those of you hay in a day folks you could be harvesting for silage today and maybe Sunday. Many of us will have to wait till Wednesday to start.
4/26/2015 Verona
5/3/2015 NewHartford
Chadwicks
5/10/2015
CCE Oneida Madison County Hay Quality Project 2015 Forage Quality: Each year you get another chance to put up high quality for age for your her d. The fir st cut of hay is a critical time period. Nearly half the hay on your land is harvested in that first cut putting greater weight on trying to harvest all that forage at peak quality for your livestock. At the time of writing this (5-14-14) we have had a cool wet April up until the last week which was warm and dry. Goal NDF for grasses is 48-55, which means that these gr ass fields should be har vested when alfalfa in a neighboring field is 16-17” tall. Goal NDF for clear alfalfa fields is 39-43, which means that these fields should be har vested when the tallest alfalfa plants are no more then 30” tall. Mixed alfalfa grass stands ideal NDF are between these two and vary depending on the percent of grass in the stand. J er r y Cher ney, For age specialist at Cor nell and field staff all ar ound the state par ticipated in 2 year s of field sampling to develop a chart to help you use two factors: alfalfa height and % grass in your stand to identify the ideal time to harvest your individual fields. That information is contained in the chart below: CCE field staff also obtain hay samples from 6 farms across Oneida county each Monday. These samples ar e analyzed by Dairyone and results are sent back to CCE that Wednesday. CCE shares this information by email with 90 local producers and agribusinesses on a weekly basis. This information is also posted to our website Progressive dairy farms will be checking heights of alfalfa in their hay fields on a weekly basis soonto help them track the development of the crop (hitting optimal quality) and determine the order in which fields should be harvested. Field: Remsen Elevation: 1659ft Slope: west facing Planted: 10+ year Date
Gras NDF Ht
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
6-7” 43
27
..72
5/11
10 “
24
.62
52
Field: Marcy Elevation: 560ft Slope: slight south facing Planted: 2013 Predominantly alfalfa Date
Alfa NDF Ht
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
9”
25
35
.78
5/11
14”
29
32
.72
Field: Verona Elevation: 447’ Slope: flat field Planted: sept 2014 100% triticale
Date
Ht
NDF
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
14”
36
27
.76
5/11
25”
50
23
.69
Field: Augusta Elevation: 961ft Slope: flat field Planted: 2013 80% alfalfa, 20% grass Date
Alf Ht
NDF
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
6”
28
30
.74
5/11
10”
31
30
.70
Field: Chittenango Elevation: 743ft Slope: north facing 15 year old grass stand Date
Gras NDF Ht
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
12”
42
28
.72
5/11
21”
49
25
.66
Field: Hamilton Elevation: 1446ft Slope: east facing, 90% alfalfa, 10% grass Date
Ht
NDF
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
5”
19
32
.84
5/11
12”
26
32
.77
Field: Georgetown Elevation: 1365ft Slope: flat field 90%grass some native clovers Date
Gras NDF Ht
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
6”
30
30
.82
5/11
10”
49
25
.68
Corn
Field preparation and corn planting had been minimal until this past week. Local growers took advantage of field conditions and weather and started planting.
There are a few unververth zone tillers in our area that are capable of preparing a seedbed that is 4 “ deep by 12” wide to plant into. Growers that have used strip tillage like that pictured to the left have also seen no yield penalty and time and fuel savings. The unververth zone tiller has an adjustable straight tine that is used to break up tillage pans. Most local growers set this tine at 11-13” depth which is enough to make a slice through the tillage pan allowing for drainage and deep root development.
Many of our corn fields are still prepared using equipment that tills the entire soil surface. This cant be avoided when fields are rutted up during harvest in the previous year and there is a temporary increase in aeration and soil warming following full surface tillage. As we continue to work with farmers comparing full surface tillage with strip and no-till and prove that there is no yield penalty to doing less tillage in many of our soils and as we learn more about the benefits of reducing tillage like increasing organic matter, increasing biological life in the soil, increasing soil structure, increasing water and nutrient holding capacity we will see more fields like those pictured above and less like that pictured to the right.
Pasture for age quantity is slim r ight now in r esponse to the dr y conditions we have been exper iencing this spr ing. You will see a great benefit if you can move livestock before the sward gets below 3 “ height . Grasses especially are hurt by over grazing and will take a long time to recover producing much less forage for your animals. If you can move livestock and have not yet put nitrogen on your pasture consider applying it after the animals have been removed from the area.
Nitrogen fertilization of grass hay fields: Is it too late? No, Many of our fields ar e just star ting to gr ow. Apply as much as 200lbs of urea/acre on fields with improved grasses like timothy, orchardgrass, bromegrass, reed canarygrass or tall fescue as long as they can be harvested by the third week in May. Any N that is not used by the plants in the first harvest will be available to fuel regrowth. You don’t need to add an N protectant to urea if it is applied just prior to a rainfall. Consider using agrotain or superU if you need to apply immediately and there is no rain in the forecast. Corn planting considerations: Seeding rate should be 35,700 seed/ac for silage 32,000-33,000 for grain Depth 1.75”- 2.00” lean towards deeper planting if it is drier. Singulation- even space between seeds Speed 3-4 mph Check spacing on driveway, check depth in field All needed P and up to 30lbs N/ac in band at planting, not more than 80lbs of N+K in the band. Band located 2” to the side and 2” down from the seed. If applying all N at planting consider deeper placement 8” and nitrification inhibitor. Side dress of N reduces potential N losses and allows for changes of rate based on weather experienced up to application Black cutworm flights have been r ecor ded in Pennsylvania which can mean that we might see them in our fields. They are attracted to weedy fields, so folks that are doing no-till or zone till should be on the look out for this pest. Universities like PSU set up traps and are counting adult moths like the one in the picture to the right. What you need to look for in your fields are the cut plants and the cutworm as in the picture below. This pest doesn't damage a field evenly it works in localized areas so is harder to find and the decision to apply a pesticide is also less easy to make. If you have 5% damage or more in pockets of the field and the larva are 1/2” or less then you should consider applying an appropriate insecticide to those localized pockets.
Weed Control: Develop list of weeds found in each field Identify products / combinations that will control that set of weeds Always consider preemergent products as your best choice…reducing weed competition from the start Consider timing, price, rotation of chemical families, residual and succeeding crops and practicality when selecting herbicides Preemergence herbicides should be applied soon after planting Read the label and apply post emergence herbicides at recommended timing for the major weeds in the field Herbicide effectiveness chart on the next page.
Corn Herbicide effectiveness
P R E E M E R G E N C E BROADLEAF ANNUALS Wild Buckwheat Common Lambsquarter Wild Mustard Redroot Pigweed
B I C E P I I
C I N C H A T R A Z I N E
P R I N C E P
D U A L I I
O U T L O O K
W A R R A N T
E G P P E G P P E G P N E G G G
P R O W L
S H A R P E N
C A L L I S T O
P R O W L A T Z
F G P E
L U M A X
A T R A Z I I N NK E S E T Y P I S R GT O AO W T N L E E
E
E
G
E G E E* E* E E E F G G E E E G E F G E E E* E E E
E E E
G
E E
P O S T E M E R G E N C E
S T E A D F S T A T Z B A N V L
C L A R I T Y A C C E N T Q
I M P A C T
P E G E G E
Common RagVelvetleaf
E G P P F F N N
F
P G F G E E F E G G E G E G E G
E P G P
E E
ANNUAL GRASSES Barnyardgrass Crabgrass Foxtails Fall Panicum Witchgrass Corn Tolerance Wirestem muhly Quackgrass
G P F P E E
E E E E E G
E E E E E G
G F G G G G
E G F F
Nutsedge (yellow) E = excellent G = good F = fair P = poor N = none
G G G G G E
E E E E E G
E E E E E G
N N N N N G
N F N N N E
E E E E E G
E E E E E G*
E E E E E G
G F G F F G
E E E E E G
E G F/ F/
F
G E
G
G F G F
B A N V E L
N
B E A C O N
B U C T A R I I M L
Y U K O N
L A U D I S
R E S O L V E Q
G L Y P H O S A T E
H A L E X
E
G
F
E E
E G G
G F G E N G F F G G G P
E E E E E E
F E E G E E G E E
G G
G E P F E E G G E G E E
F F
E E E E
G F G G
G F G G
E E E E E ? E E
N N N N N G G G N E N N
G F
S T E A D F A S T Q
N
P P F F
F
N N N N N G G
F
E
F
F
N N N N N G
N N N N N G
G F F N
G F N N
E N
E E E E E ? E E
F G
Cropping activities: We had
all cropping activities happening in local farm fields, manure being spread, fields being tilled, hay seedings and corn being planted. Many more corn fields were planted this past week.
GDDs base 48 F 2015
Weekly rainfall (in) County 2015
350
1.6 300
1.4
250
1.2
200
1 0.8
150
0.6 100
0.4
50 0 4/12/2015
0.2
4/19/2015
4/26/2015
Verona
New Hartford
5/3/2015
5/10/2015
0 4/19/2015
Chadwicks
Crop Conditions: Hay Mow grass hay fields as soon as possible!!
Native orhardgrass heads were sited on Monday. The results of Mondays sample results show that the NDF of local grass fields are near or at 50. The optimal range 48-55. For those of you hay in a day folks you could be harvesting for silage today and maybe Sunday. Many of us will have to wait till Wednesday to start.
4/26/2015 Verona
5/3/2015 NewHartford
Chadwicks
5/10/2015
CCE Oneida Madison County Hay Quality Project 2015 Forage Quality: Each year you get another chance to put up high quality for age for your her d. The fir st cut of hay is a critical time period. Nearly half the hay on your land is harvested in that first cut putting greater weight on trying to harvest all that forage at peak quality for your livestock. At the time of writing this (5-14-14) we have had a cool wet April up until the last week which was warm and dry. Goal NDF for grasses is 48-55, which means that these gr ass fields should be har vested when alfalfa in a neighboring field is 16-17” tall. Goal NDF for clear alfalfa fields is 39-43, which means that these fields should be har vested when the tallest alfalfa plants are no more then 30” tall. Mixed alfalfa grass stands ideal NDF are between these two and vary depending on the percent of grass in the stand. J er r y Cher ney, For age specialist at Cor nell and field staff all ar ound the state par ticipated in 2 year s of field sampling to develop a chart to help you use two factors: alfalfa height and % grass in your stand to identify the ideal time to harvest your individual fields. That information is contained in the chart below: CCE field staff also obtain hay samples from 6 farms across Oneida county each Monday. These samples ar e analyzed by Dairyone and results are sent back to CCE that Wednesday. CCE shares this information by email with 90 local producers and agribusinesses on a weekly basis. This information is also posted to our website Progressive dairy farms will be checking heights of alfalfa in their hay fields on a weekly basis soonto help them track the development of the crop (hitting optimal quality) and determine the order in which fields should be harvested. Field: Remsen Elevation: 1659ft Slope: west facing Planted: 10+ year Date
Gras NDF Ht
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
6-7” 43
27
..72
5/11
10 “
24
.62
52
Field: Marcy Elevation: 560ft Slope: slight south facing Planted: 2013 Predominantly alfalfa Date
Alfa NDF Ht
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
9”
25
35
.78
5/11
14”
29
32
.72
Field: Verona Elevation: 447’ Slope: flat field Planted: sept 2014 100% triticale
Date
Ht
NDF
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
14”
36
27
.76
5/11
25”
50
23
.69
Field: Augusta Elevation: 961ft Slope: flat field Planted: 2013 80% alfalfa, 20% grass Date
Alf Ht
NDF
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
6”
28
30
.74
5/11
10”
31
30
.70
Field: Chittenango Elevation: 743ft Slope: north facing 15 year old grass stand Date
Gras NDF Ht
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
12”
42
28
.72
5/11
21”
49
25
.66
Field: Hamilton Elevation: 1446ft Slope: east facing, 90% alfalfa, 10% grass Date
Ht
NDF
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
5”
19
32
.84
5/11
12”
26
32
.77
Field: Georgetown Elevation: 1365ft Slope: flat field 90%grass some native clovers Date
Gras NDF Ht
Crud Prot
NEL
5/5
6”
30
30
.82
5/11
10”
49
25
.68
Corn
Field preparation and corn planting had been minimal until this past week. Local growers took advantage of field conditions and weather and started planting.
There are a few unververth zone tillers in our area that are capable of preparing a seedbed that is 4 “ deep by 12” wide to plant into. Growers that have used strip tillage like that pictured to the left have also seen no yield penalty and time and fuel savings. The unververth zone tiller has an adjustable straight tine that is used to break up tillage pans. Most local growers set this tine at 11-13” depth which is enough to make a slice through the tillage pan allowing for drainage and deep root development.
Many of our corn fields are still prepared using equipment that tills the entire soil surface. This cant be avoided when fields are rutted up during harvest in the previous year and there is a temporary increase in aeration and soil warming following full surface tillage. As we continue to work with farmers comparing full surface tillage with strip and no-till and prove that there is no yield penalty to doing less tillage in many of our soils and as we learn more about the benefits of reducing tillage like increasing organic matter, increasing biological life in the soil, increasing soil structure, increasing water and nutrient holding capacity we will see more fields like those pictured above and less like that pictured to the right.
Pasture for age quantity is slim r ight now in r esponse to the dr y conditions we have been exper iencing this spr ing. You will see a great benefit if you can move livestock before the sward gets below 3 “ height . Grasses especially are hurt by over grazing and will take a long time to recover producing much less forage for your animals. If you can move livestock and have not yet put nitrogen on your pasture consider applying it after the animals have been removed from the area.
Nitrogen fertilization of grass hay fields: Is it too late? No, Many of our fields ar e just star ting to gr ow. Apply as much as 200lbs of urea/acre on fields with improved grasses like timothy, orchardgrass, bromegrass, reed canarygrass or tall fescue as long as they can be harvested by the third week in May. Any N that is not used by the plants in the first harvest will be available to fuel regrowth. You don’t need to add an N protectant to urea if it is applied just prior to a rainfall. Consider using agrotain or superU if you need to apply immediately and there is no rain in the forecast. Corn planting considerations: Seeding rate should be 35,700 seed/ac for silage 32,000-33,000 for grain Depth 1.75”- 2.00” lean towards deeper planting if it is drier. Singulation- even space between seeds Speed 3-4 mph Check spacing on driveway, check depth in field All needed P and up to 30lbs N/ac in band at planting, not more than 80lbs of N+K in the band. Band located 2” to the side and 2” down from the seed. If applying all N at planting consider deeper placement 8” and nitrification inhibitor. Side dress of N reduces potential N losses and allows for changes of rate based on weather experienced up to application Black cutworm flights have been r ecor ded in Pennsylvania which can mean that we might see them in our fields. They are attracted to weedy fields, so folks that are doing no-till or zone till should be on the look out for this pest. Universities like PSU set up traps and are counting adult moths like the one in the picture to the right. What you need to look for in your fields are the cut plants and the cutworm as in the picture below. This pest doesn't damage a field evenly it works in localized areas so is harder to find and the decision to apply a pesticide is also less easy to make. If you have 5% damage or more in pockets of the field and the larva are 1/2” or less then you should consider applying an appropriate insecticide to those localized pockets.
Weed Control: Develop list of weeds found in each field Identify products / combinations that will control that set of weeds Always consider preemergent products as your best choice…reducing weed competition from the start Consider timing, price, rotation of chemical families, residual and succeeding crops and practicality when selecting herbicides Preemergence herbicides should be applied soon after planting Read the label and apply post emergence herbicides at recommended timing for the major weeds in the field Herbicide effectiveness chart on the next page.
Corn Herbicide effectiveness
P R E E M E R G E N C E BROADLEAF ANNUALS Wild Buckwheat Common Lambsquarter Wild Mustard Redroot Pigweed
B I C E P I I
C I N C H A T R A Z I N E
P R I N C E P
D U A L I I
O U T L O O K
W A R R A N T
E G P P E G P P E G P N E G G G
P R O W L
S H A R P E N
C A L L I S T O
P R O W L A T Z
F G P E
L U M A X
A T R A Z I I N NK E S E T Y P I S R GT O AO W T N L E E
E
E
G
E G E E* E* E E E F G G E E E G E F G E E E* E E E
E E E
G
E E
P O S T E M E R G E N C E
S T E A D F S T A T Z B A N V L
C L A R I T Y A C C E N T Q
I M P A C T
P E G E G E
Common RagVelvetleaf
E G P P F F N N
F
P G F G E E F E G G E G E G E G
E P G P
E E
ANNUAL GRASSES Barnyardgrass Crabgrass Foxtails Fall Panicum Witchgrass Corn Tolerance Wirestem muhly Quackgrass
G P F P E E
E E E E E G
E E E E E G
G F G G G G
E G F F
Nutsedge (yellow) E = excellent G = good F = fair P = poor N = none
G G G G G E
E E E E E G
E E E E E G
N N N N N G
N F N N N E
E E E E E G
E E E E E G*
E E E E E G
G F G F F G
E E E E E G
E G F/ F/
F
G E
G
G F G F
B A N V E L
N
B E A C O N
B U C T A R I I M L
Y U K O N
L A U D I S
R E S O L V E Q
G L Y P H O S A T E
H A L E X
E
G
F
E E
E G G
G F G E N G F F G G G P
E E E E E E
F E E G E E G E E
G G
G E P F E E G G E G E E
F F
E E E E
G F G G
G F G G
E E E E E ? E E
N N N N N G G G N E N N
G F
S T E A D F A S T Q
N
P P F F
F
N N N N N G G
F
E
F
F
N N N N N G
N N N N N G
G F F N
G F N N
E N
E E E E E ? E E
F G
