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To Learn About Soil Health And Farming Green

On July 29, 2017

Join Penn State Extension for a Soil Health Field Day on August 10th at the Steve Kanagy farm in McVeytown. There you can learn about Steve’s first year experiences of planting green into standing rye cover and hear about the latest in planting green research from Penn State graduate student Heidi Myer.  Extension Agronomist Zach Larson explains Dr. Sjoerd Duiker will lead sessions on health testing, soil physical properties, carbon and nitrogen cycling and soil fertility.

Steve’s planting equipment will be on-hand and attendees can learn how to modify their equipment for planting green.

The event starts at 10:00 am and wraps up by 2:30 pm.  The Kanagy farm is located at 630 Mountain Ln., McVeytown PA.  Admission is free but attendees are asked to register by contacting Mifflin County Extension at (717) 248-9618 A light lunch and refreshments will be provided.

To Watch for Poisonous Plants in our Pastures

During July and August, our pastures experience their annual “summer slump”.  Summer slump is the period of time when cool season grasses shut down and stop their otherwise aggressive growth.  Couple this with the stress of heat and lack of rainfall and the productivity and quality of pastures can quickly decline.  As overgrazing becomes more prevalent, many weedy species along with less desirable “summer grasses” such as crabgrass will invade.  Extension

Agronomist Jeff Graybill reports this combination of factors can result in pasture animals becoming more susceptible to “sampling” plants which they otherwise would avoid.

Unfortunately, many of these invasive broadleaves have toxins which, when consumed in enough quantity can sicken or kill livestock. Some poisonous species only need to have a few ounces consumed to sicken livestock, while the literature indicates that as much as 0.5 % of body weight, or more, must be consumed of other species. (0.5% of a 1,000 pound animal is 5 pounds)

Practicing good pasture management becomes very important during the summer.  Walk your pastures and look for invasive species.  Learn to identify poisonous species and how to control and eliminate them.  In many cases removing animals to rest the pasture, mowing, fertilizing and applying appropriate herbicides will help to keep your animals safe and prime the pasture for renewed growth this Fall.

Below is a Penn State Extension link listing the most common poisonous pasture weeds we see here in the Northeast, and additional information:

http://extension.psu.edu/plants/crops/news/2015/06/poisonous-pasture-weeds

As you walk your pastures looking for problem species, it is also an appropriate time to evaluate the pasture as a whole.  If desirable species of grasses and legumes are difficult to find and you have growing weedy and bare areas, it may be time to renovate the pasture. The Penn State Sustainable Agriculture website  http://extension.psu.edu/plants/sustainable/production-tips/fall-management-for-pastures-renovate-or-restore which has an excellent article to help you assess your pasture and take the appropriate action to meet your pasture productivity goals.

To Consider Fungicide Applications For Corn

During times of continuing wet, humid weather many growers ask about foliar applications of a fungicide on tasseling corn. Research performed in 2014 at the Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center (figure 1) tested 4 different fungicides on corn, with products applied at the V5 and R2 (blister) stages. Extension Agronomist Del Voight reports in 6 out of the 10 treatments, there was a significant response to the application of a fungicide exceeding 11 bu/acre. However, the decision is not as much which product to use but whether the hybrid will respond to an application, and in the case of this study the hybrid used was susceptible to leaf diseases. When considering products and their effects on specific diseases, Purdue Extension’s Fungicide Efficacy for Control of Corn Disease an excellent starting point. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/bp/bp-160-w.pdf

When asking whether a fungicide application is necessary consider the following criteria.  Low lying fields with a history of disease are more likely to respond to a fungicide. High yield fields are more likely to show an economic response.  The lower the genetic resistance to gray leaf spot, northern corn leaf blight and anthracnose, the more potential for an economic response.

Corn following corn tends to harbor more disease inoculum.  Corn diseases are starting to appear, especially in no-till corn on corn fields. Fields that already show 5-10% visible disease may have a higher risk of further development.  Low K levels and compacted soils could exacerbate disease effects on lodging and yield. If the field has poor fertility the likelihood of increased disease invasion is higher. If one or more of these criteria apply to your situation, than a fungicide application may provide an economic return and it may be time to discuss options with your agronomist or seed supplier. Both growers and agronomists should consider conditions field by field and take action from there.

Most labels dictate that applications be made between the VT and R1 stages. In addition, the labels Voight reviewed also require that adjuvants are NOT to be used after corn has reached the V8 stage and some recent research has shown that beer can ears can result from the application of adjuvants near VT. In addition, growers may be tempted to add additional products to the tank while going over the field. Most labels allow for the inclusion of insecticides but caution that growers only apply approved tank mixes and observe the most restrictive labeling. Finally on some products there is a 30 day harvest restriction for forage and grain so bear in mind that an early forage harvest might need to be delayed should an application be made.

To Be On The Lookout For Western Bean Cutworm

For about six years straight, Penn State Extension and the Department of Entomology trapped for western bean cutworm to try to understand the population dynamics of this species, which we first found in Pennsylvania in 2009. Extension Entomologist John Tooker reports we discontinued this effort in 2016, because, even though we could find moths, we could not find many caterpillars. Populations of this potential pest of corn and dry and snap beans have been mild in Pennsylvania, particularly compared to NY, MI, OH, WI, and Ontario, where this pest has caused economic damage.

This year at our research farm in Centre County Tooker has easily found egg masses on upper leaves of vegetative stage corn, leading him to believe that this pest species is more common than in previous years. He is not sure what this means because this caterpillar prefers to feed upon reproductive stage corn, particularly on the tassel and on the developing year. Given that much of our corn is delayed this year compared to most years, perhaps this is a good thing in terms of reducing the potential for damage. Nevertheless, Tooker encourages folks to be on the lookout for these caterpillars in their corn fields. You should also be aware that some of the Bt corn that used to be able to help control populations of this caterpillar have not been performing very well in surrounding states. The caterpillars looks similar to corn earworm, but does not have lines down the sides of its body like corn earworm does and has three distinct light-brown lines on its “neck” just behind its head.

Quote Of The Week: “Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” Mother Teresa