Can You Teach An 'Old Dog' New Tricks?

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Our second annual conference season review offers ideas & insight.

By Paul Hermans

Thank goodness for winter agronomy meetings. They allow growers and ag industry folks to get together and see what is working in agriculture.

They also help us pass the time in Ontario's cold, blustery winter months.

As I did last year, this article will cover some key topics from this winter's Ontario CCA conference, the Great Lakes YEN panel, the Ontario Agricultural Conference, and our internal Pioneer North America agronomy conference.

As the old saying goes, if you do not keep up with innovative ideas, you will quickly become irrelevant.

Winter wheat

Winter wheat acres continue to increase. Here are the key tips for a higher-yielding crop if you are in this game.

Planting date, planting date, and planting date – that is the key.

Earlier planting dates, within your ideal planting window, rules. This promotes more biomass accumulation, both above-ground and below-ground, allowing the roots to secure more water and nutrients early on.

Joanna Follings, OMAFRA cereals specialist, commented recently that a six-day difference in planting dates can account for vast yield increases. The key is to plan for management practices that allow you to plant six days earlier than normal.

Head count matters in wheat. The number of heads per square metre is critical for higher yields. This ties in with earlier planting dates, as earlier planting dates have more tillers per plant. More tillers in the fall equates to higher yields than additional tillers added in the spring. Ideal heads per square metre are 700 or greater.

Data from Michigan State University shows that winter wheat planted earlier responds more to fall-applied fertilizer than wheat planted later. Simply put, more roots and biomass earlier in the season allows the plant to continually access more nutrients and water.

Managing for higher soybean yields

The debate continues around the countryside: Does corn out-yield soybeans in terms of overall rate of genetic gain?

Looking at North American trends over the past 20 years, corn has averaged 1.6 bushels-per-year gain. Soybeans over the last 50 years have gained 0.48 bushels per year.

There is a straightforward way to look at soybean yields on your farm and determine if they are keeping up to your corn yields from a genetic gain standpoint.

Don Kyle, soybean breeder with Corteva, commented on the yield and soybean gains in North America over the past 15 to 20 years. He looked at the yields of corn on average in bushels- per-acre for both crops. He then compared the ratio of corn yields to soybean yields.

As an example, in Ottawa-Carleton region in 2022, the average corn yield was 177.6 bushels per acre and soybeans was 54.8 bushels per acre. If you take the corn to soybean yield ratio, the ratio would be 3.2.

Don would suggest any ratio below 4.0 means your soybean yields are keeping up with your corn yields on an annual genetic yield gain basis.

If your ratio is above 4.0, what are some things you can do to achieve higher soybean yields?

Planting the newest soybean varieties is one way to increase yields. As with winter wheat, earlier planting dates also expand yield opportunities. Local planting date studies show a solid 3.0 to 5.0-bushel yield gain for planting soybeans 10 to 14 days earlier than mid-May.

Seed treatments and the value they bring go hand in hand with earlier planting dates. They reduce risk by protecting soybean seeds from the insects and pathogens that thrive under cooler, wetter conditions often experienced earlier in the planting window.

Dive deep into the seed treatments you are using, as not all seed treatments are the same.

Various "cocktails" are added to take away that early planting stress you may be experiencing.

Fungicides are necessary, especially in areas with high white mould pressure.

Don's comments suggest that we must keep beans disease-free all year for higher yields.

The biggest yield loss occurs during pod abortion. Keeping pods happy and stress-free leads to bigger yields.

Fertility and feeding the crop, with subsequent crop removal, are important – especially with the higher yield levels we are achieving.

Potassium is one element that needs to be improved on for top-end yields.

These ideas are just a few management practices aimed at increasing soybean yields.

Drones for pesticide application

There is a lot of excitement about the possibility of using drones to apply pesticides in Ontario.

Think about it – a lot of Ontario field shapes and sizes are odd and small. Getting across those fields with larger equipment is a challenge at times. Add to that the curveballs that Mother Nature throws us and often we cannot get into the field to apply a pesticide when above-average rainfalls occur. Timing for a disease like white mould is critical.

OMAFRA application technology specialist Jason Deveau presented some interesting research findings at the annual Certified Crop Advisor meeting in January. He showed that the downwash effect of drones and subsequent spray pattern is not ideal for proper control of pests (insects, weeds, or diseases) with current technology.

One would think drones are like helicopters. But this is not the case, as each motor on a drone can spin in different directions and at different speeds. Jason asked us to visualize a corn crop at tassel time when a helicopter passes over. Do you see the tassels move dramatically? The answer is no. If you have a drone flying over, the answer is yes. This gives you a visual sense of why more drone research work needs to be done before we can use this technology in Eastern Canada.

So, my take-home would be to hold off on making that purchase for pesticide applications. And remember that it is currently illegal to spray a pesticide with a drone in Ontario for large acreages (non-research permit-based areas).

Intrigued about this? Check out Jason's great website on drones and sprayers at http://www.sprayers101.com.

Corn rootworm challenges

Whether it's an insect, weed or disease, Mother Nature has a unique way of overcoming what agriculture throws at it. By that, I mean becoming resistant to continual use of pesticides or other activities.

In the corn rootworm world, there is heightened awareness to resistant corn rootworm in specific locales across Ontario and other areas in North America. These areas are similar in terms of high use of corn rootworm traits year in and year out on continuous corn.

This continued use has allowed Mother Nature to build up populations of corn rootworm with resistance to corn rootworm Bt traits.

In Eastern Canada there is a divide in species. In general, from Ottawa west to Windsor, the western corn rootworm is predominant. East of Ottawa through Quebec, the northern corn rootworm persists more than the western. Western tend to lay twice as many eggs as northern, and to date, are the species that have shown to develop resistance to the current Bt traits. From a scouting standpoint, one western will do more damage that one northern.

In general, rootworm do not move that much – on average, less than half a kilometre per year. But with high-velocity wind storms, it has been shown that corn rootworm beetles can travel 200 km or more!

New to agriculture in Eastern Canada is RNAi technology, to provide a new mode of action in our toolbox in the fight against rootworm. This trait is combined with two other traditional modes of action for superior below-ground rootworm control. Unique to this is the ability of the trait to reduce corn rootworm adult beetles by as much as 99 per cent – which further helps mitigate this pest.

At the end of the day, rotating crops, traits and management practices is the No. 1 solution to managing corn rootworm to ensure the traits we currently have are around for years to come.

Networking and learning

It is great taking part in these meetings, but it is the after-meeting learning that keeps you thinking as well.

One example I had was talking with an agronomist from northern Iowa. He was explaining their change in the landscape, with large dairies from California moving into the area and setting up large 6,000-head-plus dairy operations. Land values in California in some regions are hitting record values. Limitations in water availability and use in certain geographies is restricting agriculture output. This has challenged growers and producers to expand their thinking and expand their horizons to keep on farming. Our world is ever-changing, both locally and globally. Farmers continue to adapt to our evolving landscape.

Commodity prices

Commodity prices have declined recently in agriculture. I had a grower ask me what items I would recommend they cut out of their crop management practices to be profitable. Their first instinct was to cut inputs. I challenged the grower to look at what inputs matter, what assorted items cost them on a per-bushel basis, and strive for the highest yields possible. At the end of the day, higher yields mean lower input costs and better profitability.

Think about diverse ways to manage your farm business. One example of such thinking recently came from Chris Barron from Ag View Solutions, who shared their story on how a few growers have joined forces and collaborated on joint ownership of equipment. This has allowed for lower machinery costs on a per-acre basis and improved economics on their farm operation.

Thinking creatively on all aspects of the farm operation is critical to survival in 2024 and beyond.

This is why keeping up with innovative technologies, the latest agronomic research, and picking the brains of neighbours close and afar is critical to moving the yield needle on your farm.

From my writing desk to your reading desk, happy planning for the upcoming planting season. BF