Boots In The Field Report

Ken waves the caution flag on planting after noon today (5/6) in areas that are forecasted to get lower temperatures, warning that it is setting up the perfect storm for another Mother’s Day Massacre. He also talks with Matt Duesterhaus in Quincy, Il about replant decisions they are facing and how to use the replant worksheet on the website.
This week they also warn growers with cover or high weed presence to be aware of the cutworm pressure. Scouts need to be on the lookout and not assume slow emergence is due to cold weather. Reports of seed corn maggot and bean leaf beetle have been coming in causing issues with emergence.
Ken also advises growers to pay attention to moisture when they plant and if it is a concern to shut off the in-furrow starter. He says a little attention to seedbed this year can pay big dividends.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken gives a planting progress update and warns pest teams to stay on top of the bean leaf beetle pressure. He also states the rain delay was a welcome break to take care of moisture concerns and to help diversify risk by widening the planting window. Ken also talks a little about new technology that he got to see run this week that might solve the planting spike up dilemma.

Ken advises to keep an eye out on corn following the April snow to make sure it does not leaf out under ground and to check wheat for frost damage. He also warns growers to make sure they are checking on their prepaid glyphosate order to see if the shortage will cause farmers to readjust their plans.

To plant or not to plant that is the question! Ken lays out the risks of planting next week for both corn and beans. Farmers must know the risks involved for their own farms and weight it against the advantages. Many farmers will be coming to different decisions based on their own farm situations. What is right for you may not be right for your neighbor. Finally, Ken mentions that landlords and farm managers must be on the same page!

Ken gives a report on how many growers got something planted during the shot of good weather. He also catches up with CTC Agronomist Matt Duesterhaus to see how field conditions are progressing in the western part of the state. Ken stated some growers couldn’t take advantage of the nice weather to get beans in the ground because they had to wait on a herbicide application. He advised that planning for early beans might take an adjustment in winter burn down plans. Ken also warns growers to keep an eye out for cutworm and wireworm presence

Ken walks through what to think about when considering putting early beans in the ground. He reminds growers that when making a pass in the field you only want to create a density change not a compaction layer. And he warns that while you may get away with putting in a compaction layer to plant early beans, you must assign the cost and design a plan to fix it before the next year’s corn crop.

Ken answers the question “If 2021 is a drought, do I move all my nitrogen up front?” and other concerns for mitigating weather risk in the season ahead. He also sends out a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped put in, collect, and shell the ears for the Hybrid study.

The Sins of Spring presentation has caused a lot of questions about how a tillage system with TWO compaction layers (shallow and deep) was beating one with only one deep layer and how a vertical format was beating them both by quite a margin. In this in-depth Boots In The Field Report, Ken takes time to detail which elements caused the reduction and why yield response was so strong.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers considerations when trying to pay the carbon penalty of cover crops with manure, how carbon penalties affect beans, and who should push planting windows and who can wait.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers who needs to do seed test, which lots to test and what tests to run.