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On May 23, 2018

To Scout for Cereal Rust Mites in Timothy

Cereal rust mites are a small but destructive pest that could be robbing yield and quality from your timothy hay fields. This cool-season pest has caused headaches for many timothy growers, particularly in Southeastern Pennsylvania where it seems to have spread to the majority of fields, reducing growth and crop quality. Extension Agronomist Andrew Frankenfield explains producers should determine whether this pest is active in their timothy fields by scouting fields for signs of damage. Look for leaf blades that are rolled up tightly, rather than leaf blades that are flat and normally expanded. The feeding of the mites causes leaves to roll up, presumably to provide the mites with better protection and microclimate. The mites are microscopic and challenging to see even with good magnification.

Treatment is recommended if 25% of tillers show leaf curling within several weeks of green-up. Chemical options are limited, but Sevin XLR PLUS has a supplemental label allowing its use against mites on timothy in Pennsylvania. Spray coverage is important to control this pest. The product label states a range of 10-50 gallons per acre, suggesting the higher water volumes should be used for improved mite control. In general, one application at 2-3 pints per acre should provide control. Do not apply within 30 days of harvest. See Penn State’s fact sheet Penn State’s fact sheet: http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/cereal-rust-mite

In order to obtain a higher price for your hay, you may need to think “marketing” instead of “selling”.

Having a good plan for planting corn and soybean varieties can improve yields, minimize potential weather risks, and help to facilitate earlier planting of cover crops and small grains.

To Plant A Variety Of Corn and Soybean Maturities

Having a range of variety maturities is a good strategy for spreading risk on many farms. Earlier corn hybrids and soybean varieties provide some advantages for earlier planting of cover crops and small grains. Extension Agronomist Greg Roth explains by having a preplanned strategy you may be able to maximize the benefits of the various maturities you have selected.

First, let’s define corn maturities. When Roth thinks about a maturity range of hybrids for an area he usually is thinking about a 12-14 day spread in maturities. For example in Central PA we might consider 98-102 day as our early group hybrids, 103-108 day as our Medium Maturity hybrids, and 109-112 as our full season hybrids. Early hybrids have little maturity risk but some risk of reduced yields in some seasons. Medium maturity hybrids have low maturity risk in most situations and high potential yields. Late hybrids have high potential yields but some maturity risk in cool seasons or when planted on the late side.

For corn, one issue is “calendarizing” your crop to avoid all of it pollinating in the same time frame. Generally this strategy involves planting some short season corn first, moving into full season corn next and finishing with some medium maturity hybrids. If planting is delayed, some early hybrids can be used to finish up. This also provides some corn acres for an early harvest “shakedown” and an opportunity to plant timely small grains or cover crops in the fall.

Another important consideration is harvest timing. With today’s large planting equipment we can plant lots of corn in a narrow window. For silage this can be an issue, if everyone plants the same maturity corn in a region or on a large farm, it will all be ready at the same time. This could present a challenge at harvest to get it all harvested at the optimum moisture. On the flip side, an operation that gets its silage harvested all in a few days will want a narrow range of maturity on the farm.

We have been monitoring silage yields of different maturities in our silage hybrid trials in Southeast PA for the past several years, comparing early (94-104d), medium (105-110d), medium late (111-115d) and late (116-118d) hybrids. Averaged over three locations, the medium late hybrids topped the yields, late hybrids yielding 0.2 t DM/a less with medium hybrids 0.6 t DM/a less, and the early hybrids 0.9 t DM/a less. These are relatively modest differences given the advantages in harvest timing, equipment use and small grain silage yields that earlier hybrids can provide.

For soybeans, we might see 1.0 maturity group (MG) range possible at an individual farm, say MG 2.5 to 3.5 in Central PA. Generally, early soybeans do best planted early, and later soybeans planted later. An early 2.5 soybean planted early in Centre County will usually be ready to harvest in late September. This can provide an excellent situation to plant winter wheat or even barley without any late planting impacts. Numerous growers have reported success with this strategy at our recent soybean workshops, with excellent yields associated with the early soybeans planted early strategy.

The bottom line is that it pays to consider hybrid and variety maturity before planting to maximize the efficiency of your harvest plans and optimize yields of crops that follow corn and soybeans.

To Learn About Shale Gas Well Production And Pollution-Reduction Research

Research conducted by private companies and the U.S. government to make shale gas development more productive and safer for the environment will be the topic of a web-based seminar offered by Penn State Extension.

 

The one-hour webinar, “Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site: Field Test Site in the Permian Basin Dedicated to Environmental Safety and Stimulation Efficiency Research,” will begin at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 19.

The event will feature Jordan Ciezobka, senior engineer with the Gas Technology Institute; Sarah Eisenlord, principal scientist at the company; and Gary Covatch, petroleum engineer with the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Companies always look for ways to reduce risks and increase production, Covatch noted. The National Energy Technology Laboratory is working with the Gas Technology Institute to study safe ways to reduce potential environmental impacts and increase the efficiency of natural gas recovery in the hydraulic fracturing process.

“The U.S. Department of Energy currently has seven field laboratories that focus on critical gaps in the understanding of reservoir behavior, optimal completion and stimulation, and water disposal in order to increase and enable more cost-efficient and environmentally sound recovery from shale gas, tight oil, heavy oil and tight gas resources,” Covatch said.

“One of the field laboratories is the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site, which is a collaborative, comprehensive hydraulic fracturing diagnostics and testing program in horizontal wells at a dedicated, controlled field-based site.”

At that facility, researchers conducted tests using advanced technologies to adequately characterize, evaluate and improve the effectiveness of individual hydraulic fracture stages. Air quality, groundwater quality and produced water chemistry and microbiology also were monitored before, during and after hydraulic fracturing.

The presenters will provide an overview of Department of Energy field laboratories, the benefits of collaborative research, details of the field test site, and a summary of the field experiments. Early results and next steps will also be discussed.

The webinar is free, but registration is necessary. To register, visit the Penn State Extension Natural Gas Events webpage: https://extension.psu.edu/hydraulic-fracturing-test-site-hfts-research More information is available by contacting Carol Loveland at 570-320-4429 or at cal24@psu.edu.

 

Quote Of The Week: “I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” Ruth Stout