Farm Facts for Fairfield County
Farm Facts for Fairfield County
for April 18, 2003 ; also seen on Fridays in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette
Droughts, insects and diseases can take a bite out of corn yields, but missing the boat on crop establishment also may have a detrimental effect on the crop's performance.
Peter Thomison, an Ohio State University Extension agronomist, said that such practices as proper tillage, paying attention to soil conditions and seeding at the right depths can make a big difference in yields at the end of the growing season.
"The sins of poor crop establishment will come back later on to haunt you," said Thomison, an associate professor with the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. "Mistakes made during the planting operation are usually irreversible, and can put a 'ceiling' on the crop's yield potential before the plants have even emerged."
Although growers have little control over environmental conditions -- the driving factor behind last year's poor crop development -- they can help send the corn off to a good start by following some basic planting rules of thumb:
Till only when necessary and avoid planting in wet soils or in no-till fields too early.
"Shallow compaction created by excessive tillage can reduce crop yields, especially under drought-stressed conditions like those that occurred in 2002," said Thomison. "Compaction can have a detrimental effect on corn emergence, causing poor nodal root development. Cloddy soils resulting from spring tillage of wet soils can cause the plant to leaf out underground. This is a mortal injury to the plant."
He added that some growers tend to push no-till fields too hard, too early because the residue will support the equipment, even though fields may really be too wet to plant.
"I emphasize soil condition, because that was the root of so many problems growers had last year," said Thomison. "A good way to test the soil is to dig up soil samples in the field. The soil may be dry on the surface, but could still be too wet five or six inches deep."
Complete planting by mid-May if weather permits.
Thomison said planting as early as possible under dry conditions can be advantageous for the crop.
"In addition to producing higher yields, early planted corn matures earlier in the fall with more time for field drying and higher test weights. Planting earlier can also mean earlier plant emergence and faster canopy closure during the growing season," he said. "Early planted corn usually has better stalk quality and may reduce the exposure to various late insect and disease pest problems."
Growers are recommended to plant half of their corn acres two weeks before the optimal planting date to optimize yield potential. The longer growers wait to plant after the optimal planting dates, the more the yields tend to decrease. Recommended planting dates for corn in southern Ohio is from April 10 to May 10 and in northern Ohio, from April 15 to May 10.
"If soil conditions are good and fields are dry and well-drained, then planting should proceed," said Thomison.
Adjust seeding depth according to field conditions.
"Irregular planting depths contribute to uneven plant emergence, which can reduce yields," said Thomison. Growers are recommended to seed between one and a half to two inches deep, shallower (one and half inches) when soils are moist and deeper (two inches) when soils become more warm and dry.
Adjust seeding rates based on yield potential.
"Higher seeding rates are recommended for sites with high yield potential with high soil fertility and water-holding capacity," said Thomison, adding that stands of 28,000 to 30,000 plants per acre or more may be required to produce yields of 160 bushels per acre or more. "When planting occurs in cold soils, usually very early planting dates, the seeding rate should be 10 percent to 15 percent higher than the desired harvest population."
In the case of a late planting after June 1 or on droughty soils, growers should lower their seeding rates. "On soils that average 120 bushels per acre or less, final stands of 20,000 to 22,000 plants per acre may be adequate for optimal yields," said Thomison.
Weather Kind to Ohio's Wheat by Candace Pollack, OSU News and Media
The weather, so far, has been good to Ohio's wheat with much of the crop rapidly "greening up" throughout the state.
"The wheat is trying to begin its re-growth phase," said Pat Lipps, an Ohio State University Extension plant pathologist. "The wheat throughout much of the state is in good shape with high tiller numbers -- anywhere between 25 to 35 per foot of row, which is very sufficient for any kind of yield we could ever expect."
Ohio growers have planted an estimated 1 million acres of wheat, up from 860,000 acres planted last year.
"That's good because it's taking some of the soybean acres out of continuous soybeans and improving our crop rotations," said Lipps, a professor with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster, Ohio.
According to the Ohio Agricultural Statistics Service, nearly 60 percent of the wheat crop has been rated in "good" condition. But, as with other crops, the weather is the limiting factor in the wheat's overall performance throughout the growing season.
Some portions of wheat fields throughout northern Ohio were impacted by ponding, a condition where snow and ice melt as the weather warms and the water sits in poorly drained or low-lying fields. The longer the water sits, the greater the chance of killing the seedlings.
"Despite some ponding, the crop looks better than it did last year," said Lipps. "For an excellent wheat crop this season, it should stay in the 50- or 60-degree range until mid-May and then warm up to the 70s and stay there until mid-July. If it gets any warmer, the wheat crop will ripen quickly and the grain-filling period will be short, impacting overall yields."
For now growers should be focusing on applying nitrogen to their crop and controlling weeds. The watch for diseases won't begin until the end of April or beginning of May when the crop enters the flag leaf stage.
Lipps said the first disease of the season is powdery mildew, brought on by high relative humidity, cloudy skies and cool temperatures ranging in the 60s and low 70s.
"The next disease is Stagonospora leaf and glume blotch, promoted by wet weather. That's the one disease where if we get two or three days of rain a week and it's not drying, it can get pretty severe," said Lipps. "Then we have the possibility of leaf rust in late May and early June, and, of course, head scab during flowering."
Head scab, or Fusarium head blight, can be devastating for wheat producers. The disease is likely to occur when warm, wet weather persists during the crop's flowering stage in late May and early June. The disease infects the wheat heads, causing shrunken, lightweight kernels, thereby reducing the quality of the grain. The fungus that causes the disease also produces a chemical in the infected grain called vomitoxin that is toxic to livestock and humans. The disease was reported in low levels throughout Ohio last year.
Farmer's Market to Open April 26
The Lancaster Farmer's Market, a gathering of area producers to offer for sale their locally grown agricultural and horticultural produce, as well as flowers and other landscape products will begin a new season on April 26. As in the past, the market will be held in the parking lot of the Jobs and Family Services building at the corner of Memorial Drive and Wheeling St. and will be open on Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to noon, and Wednesday evenings from 6 - 8 p.m. This year's dates will be Saturdays from April 26 through October 25 and Wednesdays from May 7 through September 24. Products expected to be offered in the first few weeks are perennials, bedding plants, other landscape and gardening plants, and possibly some baked goods.
For a listing of upcoming programs, meetings and events, visit the AG CALENDAR
Farms Facts is a weekly newspaper column, written by the agriculture staff at the Ohio State University Extension office in
Fairfield County.
All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Keith L. Smith, Director, Ohio State University Extension.
TDD # 1 (800) 589-8292 (Ohio only) or (614) 292-1868