28 Our Advertisers Appreciate Your Business Better Farming | November/December 2023 es. First response is “no.” Second response is “I do but it’s a bit old and I don’t know where the results are.” This begs another question. Why are you not soil testing? To be farming without soil tests is like having a bank account with no records of what you deposited or withdrew. Soil tests measure soil nutrients and soil pH. You may not be able to change the pH, but you can pick forage species that do better on soils with a certain pH. In modern agriculture, having a current soil test is as basic as checking the fuel in a tractor. Get it done. When addressing the fertilizing of forages I ask, “did you apply manure?” Sometimes the answer is “yes.” Then I ask about the rate and analysis of the manure. This is too often answered with silence. Then I have to do a quick calculation on rate based on loads per acre and a guess as to the weight of each load. Then I use average numbers for manure value. Pretty crude for today’s agriculture. It is like spreading fertilizer when you have no idea of the rate or the analysis. You wouldn’t apply fertilizer without knowing the analysis, so why do you apply manure without knowing its value? Question: I sprayed my barley and underseeded alfalfa with Pardner and a fungicide. The barley is all burnt and looks terrible. Answer: Often you can decrease leaf burn by using more water. “You told me you used 20 gallons of water. However, this year we are seeing significant leaf burn with certain combinations of fungicides and herbicides. I am sure it will be OK.” Two weeks later I checked back with the grower. He was quite pleased. After he sprayed, they received a good amount of rain and the barley was looking great. Question: How come alfalfa weevil showed up in my second-cut alfalfa this year. You said that by taking first cut I would get rid of the weevils? Answer: Alfalfa weevil is a significant pest in alfalfa in Eastern Canada. And it is moving to Western Canada. Blame it on global warming or the government or whatever. The reality is that it is coming. In Eastern Canada we used to be able to control it with cutting. Taking first cut early removed weevils. There are several factors in play which led to the question above. The “cut and they are gone” recommendation was valid during the last bad cycle of alfalfa weevil in Eastern Canada during the ’70s. During that period, we were taking first cut a few days later than we are now. But the main reason is because we are cutting higher now. We used to cut at 1-1/2 to two inches. Currently a three-inch cutting height is standard. This higher cutting height means there is more feed left for the surviving weevil and we are not physically removing as many weevil. It is also possible that the weevil is evolving. Weevils that hatch later and are smaller when first cut is taken may be more prevalent. We kill the firsthatched ones and later hatches survive and continue to build. Question: I planted alfalfa after a cereal crop and I thought I killed the volunteer cereal with tillage. Now I have volunteer cereal coming up in strips from behind the combine. Will this matter? Answer: Volunteer cereal at a low level through the field will not hurt alfalfa. But if it is heavy – as in two to three times a normal seeding rate – this will crowd out the alfalfa. Even if the alfalfa survives through fall, the cereal will lodge with snow and kill the alfalfa. You must spray a herbicide like Assure or its generic to control volunteer cereal. If you can just spray the area behind Answering Forage questions Regular soil testing allows you to properly apply fertilizer. AlDa.videophoto - Adobe Stock We love connecting with prairie producers. Please advise if we can ask a few questions about your operation. Paul.Nolan@Farms.com PRODUCERS: CAN WE TALK?
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