BLS can cause significant yield loss on some cereal varieties, but, as is the case with other disease issues, its development is dependent on weather conditions and susceptible plant host presence.

The bacterium causing the disease is xanthomonas translucens.

“The disease can develop and become severe rapidly after the crop reaches the heading growth stage,” said Michael Harding, crop diversification centre research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.

Symptoms and spread

BLS symptoms appear after the crop has reached the heading growth stage. The disease can affect yield by reducing grain filling and kernel numbers.

“This bacterium can cause elongated water-soaked lesions on leaves, which later turn light brown,” said Harding. “As the disease progresses, lesions coalesce to form large stripes or streaks along leaves. The bacterium can also infect the glumes, causing black, longitudinal stripes or bands on the glumes and awns.”

The glume infections are referred to as “black chaff.”

“During periods of leaf wetness, lesions and plant tissues surrounding them feel slimy to the touch,” said Harding. “When plant tissues are dry and humidity is low, the same leaves will have a shiny appearance.

“Leaves look as if they were glazed or frosted with a thin sugary glazing. In this case, however, the glazing consists of millions of dry bacterial cells awaiting transport to another leaf or plant.”

Bacteria are transferred from one leaf to another during periods of leaf wetness.

• SEE ALSO: “Disease geometry” from Country Guide, April 2014.

Wind provides leaf movement, allowing for the localized spread of bacteria from plant to plant. “As the pathogen is spread through contact with diseased plants, fields may have initial hot spots or patterns of diseased plants running parallel with wind direction,” said Harding.

The bacteria can be spread by plant-visiting insects, and the bacteria can survive in soil organic matter for an undetermined period of time and on or within the seed.

Management

If BLS is detected, no fungicide application can control it. “As fungicides are highly targeted to disrupt fungal metabolism and respiration, they will rarely affect bacterial metabolism and/respiration,” explained Harding.

Bacterial diseases, like BLS or black chaff are often seed borne. “Using certified, disease-free seed is an important prevention practice, as is using spring wheat varieties with bacterial stripe resistance,” said Harding.

“Bactericidal seed treatment can also add an extra level of prevention of seed borne outbreaks, but seed treatment of infected seed won’t prevent disease outbreaks, so it can’t replace the use of disease-free seed.”

Although there are a number of compounds registered in Canada for the control or suppression of bacterial diseases, Harding is not aware of anything registered for use on cereal crops to control BLS or black chaff.

Yield loss

Black chaff and BLS rarely cause serious yield losses. However, in extreme cases, losses of up to 40 per cent have been reported in the U.S.

BLS and black chaff are rarely seen at economic levels in Western Canada, yet, on occasion, there have been existing conditions that have led to an outbreak or epidemic.

“Some seed borne inoculum could introduce the disease to a field,” said Harding. “Then, conditions of high humidity, intermittent rains, and/overhead irrigation can compound the problem, leading to moderate or severe disease pressure.”

In 2013, there was higher than usual levels of BLS and black chaff in Alberta. “There were a handful of fields with measurable yield loss, but there will be a large amount of harvested grain infested with the bacterium,” said Harding.

The post Detect and avoid bacterial leaf streak appeared first on Grainews.

Around the world, some countries are concerned about the lack of local available water for growing their own forage. “There is a growing trend for longer-term commitments when purchasing forages and alfalfa of perennial legume by other countries,” said Lastiwka. This can provide Canadian grain and oilseed producers with a more economically viable alternative crop.

Growers can also seed their stand into a perennial legume, have custom representatives come in and harvest it, and get a better price per acre and per tonne for forage legume. “This is happening and it’s a trend we feel is on the rise,” said Lastiwka.

Perennial legumes

A perennial legume provides an opportunity to bring a very different type of plant into a crop rotation system. This can break disease cycles of existing cereal and oilseed crops. It may also address some herbicide resistance issues and cut fertility costs, as alfalfa can fix its own nitrogen.

On the negative side, annual crop diseases seem to be on the rise. “We worry about general diseases that can occur with a short rotation that survive through the two years between oilseed crops — like fusarium, aster yellows, skull, net blotch, black leg, club root and even insect issues,” said Lastiwka.

“When we look at breaking that rotation with a perennial legume, we make an inhospitable environment for those diseases and insect issues.”

Work done by Neil Harker at Lacombe showed the opportunity of breaking some wild oat herbicide resistance issues by looking at a number of alternatives, such as a perennial crop like alfalfa.

• More Grainews: Alfalfa seed production

“When that was looked at with wild oats, excluding wild oats herbicides for three years, done at eight locations across Canada (from Alberta to Quebec), they found alfalfa as an alternative, along with a double seeding rate of winter cereals, allowed for cutting silage — providing effective wild oat management without wild oats herbicide,” said Lastiwka.

This system dramatically reduced selective pressure of wild oat resistance to herbicides and helped growers delay wild oats resistance evolution.

Lastiwka looked at existing fertility opportunities with a perennial legume. “Even with a very short rotation with perennial legumes, it’s surprising, within the two or three year crop production system, how much nitrogen can be harvested and made available to resulting crops on that land,” he said.

Nitrogen release

The University of Manitoba’s Dr. Martin Enns found with a no-till approach, the release of nitrogen is slower than when the alfalfa stand is cultivated under.

According to Enns’ study, the slow release of nitrogen with no-till can last up to seven years (with some based on nitrogen coming out of the roots). “He also felt some was due to the root channels,” said Lastiwka. “Also, the root system improved the productivity longer, potentially up to 10 years — doing well with this good highway in the soil to travel.”

Alfalfa can go as deep as 20 feet into the soil. The majority of the effect alfalfa would have on the soil would be below the cultivated line, but, in many situations, the soil is only cultivated about three feet deep.

“Work done by Bruce Coulman and Paul Jefferson in Saskatchewan show that our hay fields have been dropping over time, part of which they felt was due to very good prices for cereals and oilseeds resulting in many producers letting their stands get older with lessened quality,” said Lastiwka.

“We’re seeing a higher price paid for forages, in general, because of a market and lack of acres. But, having legume stands seeded doesn’t mean you have to harvest it yourself or that you won’t have opportunity to market it, as long as you’re doing it right.”

Lastiwka advised consulting with all parties involved in advance to determine what they are looking for, what they will pay for it, and even if they will harvest it for you.

“Productivity of alfalfa forage stands are related to their management and that is a very important factor,” said Lastiwka. “The more skilled the management, the more the potential.”

The post Using alfalfa to solve pitfalls appeared first on Grainews.

As with any practice, there are challenges that need to be met through advances in precision agricultural technologies, but many believe that, one day, mixing hybrids within fields will could become common practice.

Crop stress

According to Dr. Bao-Luo Ma, a crop physiologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre in Ottawa, within every growing season, crops are inevitably exposed to stress, both biotic (stress caused by living creatures like fungus or insects) and abiotic (stress caused by the environment, like cold, heat, crowding, weeds or water or nutrient deficiencies.)

Bao-Luo Ma’s research focuses mainly on corn crop responses to abiotic stress. Theoretically, Bao-Luo Ma sees mixing corn hybrids within a field increasing the diversity and adaptability to both types of stress. “Slightly early or delayed growth stages of one hybrid could help it avoid insect damage, pathogen infestation, effects of drought, flooding, nutrient deficiency, shading, etc. at critical stages of crop development, compared to other hybrids in a mixed-culture or monoculture field,” says Bao-Luo Ma.

“This would result in overall greater grain yields of mixed culture fields than those of the monoculture fields.”

But mixing corn hybrids will not always produce greater yields than would mixing monocultures. “Mixing corn hybrids could often result in the same or even lower yields than monocultures if the conditions weren’t right for mixing cultures or if the wrong hybrids were chosen,” said Bao-Luo Ma.

Bao-Luo Ma advised, first and foremost, knowing your field. Mixing hybrids could be more profitable where there are more differences within the field. “Mixed culture may be more promising in fields with expected large spatial variability, coarse-textured soil, and continuous rain-fed monoculture with a history of higher risk of diseases and insect damages.”

“As well, all hybrids should have high productivity potential with similar plant height, but should have different specific traits.” Some hybrids may be more tolerant to drought, nutrient, crowding or resistant to root or foliar diseases. In a mix, some hybrids may be more suitable for heavy textured soil, have stronger root/stalk strength, or fast dry-down rates — a variety of traits can make mixing hybrids more profitable.

• From Country Guide: Plotting a course for 2014

Precision agriculture

As new hybrids become available, it is important to conduct frequent tests to optimize agronomic measures. Testing small areas in many locations before implementing change over the whole farm is very important.

According to Dr. Jiali Shang, who conducts research in remote sensing at AAFC, since the 1950’s, several studies conducted in the U.S. and Canada to evaluate the potential increase in yields of hybrid mixing have shown little or no yield benefit — but, with advances in precision agricultural technologies, mixing hybrids within fields is receiving more attention. “Under the control of precision farming, we’re able to alter the variables of many factors influencing the crop yield and obtain different yield results,” said Shang.

With precision agriculture, it is important that varying hybrid plantings and seeding rates within a field are in accordance with varying soil conditions and properties. “Precision seeding technology, for example, allows for the planting of ‘defensive hybrids’ and ‘high yielding’ hybrids at varying seeding rates, according to the differences in yield potential across a field,” said Dr. Bao-Luo Ma.

By measuring the yield results of mixing crop hybrids using precision farming technologies, farmers and researchers can know what affects the productivity of mixed crop hybrids and ultimately improve the mix.

“Growers should pay attention to kernel shape and maturity of the selected hybrids for mixing culture,” said Bao-Luo Ma. “Planter setting of seeding rates for round shape kernel is different from that of long grain shape hybrids at the same seeding rates.

“Keep in mind that if the difference in anthesis (flower blooming time) or physiological maturity between hybrids in the field is five days or more, kernel moisture content in the mixing could be exceeding the desirable range (below 20 per cent) for combine harvest. This could influence the quality of kernels (broken kernels) and cost of drying.”

More improvements of corn hybrids and the development of agri-technology will help improve productivity, reduce production costs and increase environmental sustainability.

Mixing in Manitoba

Morgan Cott, field agronomist with the Manitoba Corn Growers Association at Carman, Man., is not aware of any farmers in Manitoba who mix hybrids — besides those planting both Bt and non-Bt varieties (which help combat European Corn Borer infestations).

“Mixing varieties would get really tricky, as many have different points of maturity,” said Cott. “Even if you have two varieties with the same specification for corn heat units required, they may not ripen evenly.” This could be especially true for farmers using hybrids from different companies.

Cott advises farmers not to mix varieties that need different heat units, due to the risk of varying maturity.

“At planting, if you have different varieties of different CHUs or not, you may have different types of seed — round versus flat,” says Cott. “At pollination, different varieties may pollinate at different times. At harvest, you’ll find the biggest struggle. A producer following this practice will have to wait until the later variety matures. If he begins harvest when the early variety finishes, the later variety will be too wet and he’ll run into higher drying times and costs.

Assuming the two varieties are the same maturity, there will still likely be different moistures at the same time of harvest. It all depends on the hybrids chosen and how fast/slow they each dry down.”

According to Cott, much work is still needed to improve corn on the Canadian prairies, by way of shortening their maturity times while increasing yields in these varieties.

“We’re extremely lucky here, in Manitoba, to be able to take advantage of all of the advances in corn in the recent past — enabling us to grow a successful crop in the Red River Valley and surrounding areas, pushing outwards in all directions. It won’t be long before you should be able to grow a grain corn crop in southern Manitoba and not run the risk of it being frozen before maturity.”

In 2012, Manitoba had 273,000 acres of grain corn and 75,000 acres of silage corn. In 2013, provincial corn acreage increased to about 342,000 acres of grain corn and 86,000 acres of silage corn. The majority of harvested grain corn is sold to Minnedosa’s Husky Energy plant for ethanol and feed.

This article first appeared in the March 11 issue of Grainews.

The post Mixing corn hybrids to increase yield appeared first on Grainews.

Larocque runs Beyond Agronomy, an independent crop consulting business at Three Hills, Alta., and farms 1,000 acres just north of Drumheller, Alta. He grows wheat, barley, canola, peas and fava beans and has been operating his farm with a controlled traffic system since 2010.

At the start of his work on increasing Alberta barley yields, Larocque got together with Alan Hall, from the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund (ACIDF).

Larocque and Hall discovered that in the late 1980s/early 1990s, some experiments with very small plots with intensive agronomy packages successfully yielded just over 180 barley bushels per acre, just south of Drumheller. In Vauxhall, 205 barley bushels per acre were harvested, from small fields seeded with varieties like Harrington (a two-row malt barley variety not known for its high yield).

“The challenge was to replicate this from a small plot where you have a homogenous soil type and a homogenous elevation to an 80 acre field with variations,” said Larocque.

Barley 180

With help and funding from the Alberta Barley Commission and the Alberta Research Extension Council Association, the Barley 180 Project started in 2011.

With two agronomists and five sites in the first year, the project reaped 156 bu./ac. on black soil and 141 bu./ac. on dark brown soil. With these results, Larocque said, “We thought, wow here we go.”

As they fine-tuned the agronomics and figured out which inputs were providing the greatest benefit, they tried out some fungicide treatments inside of the high yield, leaving an area unsprayed.

“Doing that in 2012 was a big challenge, as it didn’t rain,” said Larocque. “Yet, we still did 100 to 120 bushels, which was still great considering we only got four, five, or maybe six inches of rain.”

In 2013, there was excessive rain, 12 inches in four weeks, but, they still achieved 100 bu./ac.

Through all the trial and error, Larocque and team sought a recipe with the biggest economical benefit — eventually narrowing it down to nitrogen and fungicides combined with plant growth regulators.

“Although many things are important, nitrogen, fungicides and plant growth regulators are the areas we focused on, to see how we could get the biggest benefits,” said Larocque.

“If we applied all the nitrogen up front — 180 to 200 pounds of nitrogen — it’s higher risk and a tremendous expense put into that crop. But if you’re willing to take that risk, it’s not a bad idea. This is how we set the record, by banding all the nitrogen up front.

“But,” Larocque says, “if you apply that much nitrogen up front, you really have to come in with a growth regulator, because you’re going to push all sorts of vegetative growth and weaken the stems.” Without a growth regulator, barley plants that generate yields this high will just fall over.

From the Manitoba Co-operator website: Malt barley supplies large ahead of new crop year

Growth regulators

Growth regulators have been the most remarkable aspect of the project for Larocque.

“One of my frustrations with barley used to be, in certain areas where I could put 100 pounds of nitrogen but no more, it would just lay flat, fall over,” said Larocque. “Growth regulators have really helped keep a 156 bushel barley crop standing, which is just phenomenal.”

Larocque and team have been trying the products Ethrel (from Bayer) and Cycocel (from BASF). To date, Ethrel (with the active ingredient Ethephon) has shown the most benefits.

However, Larocque and team have found Ethrel’s application timing to be “finicky” as it has to go according to a particular growth stage. “It has to go at the late flag just before the spike emerges from the boot — no later, no sooner,” said Larocque. “This makes it a difficult product to scale out onto big acreages. But, it’s $5 to $6 per acre and can sometimes shorten a crop for six to 10 inches, depending on the variety.

Larocque says growth regulators are known to be risky. It they are applied at the wrong time, or the weather doesn’t co-operate, they can reduce yield by 20 or 30 per cent.”

From Larocque’s prospective, growth regulators are worth the risk, especially when applying such high rates of nitrogen combined with high plant densities. The risk of the plants falling over and reducing yield is greater than that of dropping yield due to poor application timing.

As for fungicides, Larocque and team use them in a preventative manner to keep the plants healthy and alive longer. “By keeping plants green and intact longer, they are healthier and it delays senescence (the onset of those plants dying off),” said Larocque.

The plants continue producing photosynthesis and can use all the applied nitrogen.

Extra nitrogen, growth regulators and fungicides work well together. “Combining all three practices doesn’t equal three,” said Larocque. “It’s actually ‘one plus one plus one equals seven,’ because when you combine fungicide with a high nitrogen rate, you get a greater yield response than with individual nitrogen or fungicide. Then you put on the growth regulator to ensure the plants stay upright, so you can harvest and have a winner.”

Try this at home

Here are three tips for trying this at home.

1. Larocque recommends starting out with a split nitrogen application mixed in with a couple of fungicide applications and an on-time growth regulator. Since most farmers considering this probably already use fungicides, this will only add a couple of extra trips to the field — one to apply nitrogen and one to apply growth regulator.

2. Make sure to find and book your growth regulator ahead of time. Supplies may be limited.

3. Set up an agronomy program and keep it simple, beginning with the added applications of nitrogen and then a growth regulator, and then just go for it. Be sure to watch your timing and late flag hit it with the growth regulator and see where you end up.

Larocque believes this system has great potential anywhere in the world, as long as producers keep in mind their particular potential. If you farm in a dry area, where 80 bushels per acre is a really good yield, you may want to fertilize to push for 100 bushels. In this case, you may not need a growth regulator or you may only want to use it at a lower rate.

The aim is to find ways to increase yield regardless of location or conditions, so farmers can bring their barley yields up by 15 to 20 per cent.

The post Barley 180 project appeared first on Grainews.

Here are six.

1. Planting date
“While planting early offers potential benefits, it also presents some challenges,” says Aaron Miller.

“A well prepared seedbed along with the right temperature (close to 10 C) and adequate moisture are most important when determining when to plant,” says Miller. However, if soil conditions are too cold or wet for planting, crops potentially face more emergence stresses.

A critical way to protect against stand and yield loss is to “choose a planting date based on soil conditions and weather outlook by monitoring soil temperature at planting depth, delaying planting until soils reach 10 C.”

If the near-term forecast predicts a warming trend, Miller said, “You could start planting when soil temperature is close to 5 C.”

On the other hand, if the near-term forecast predicts a cold spell, Miller advises, “Stop planting for a few days to allow emergence to begin at moderate temperatures.

“With lighter soils planted early, be aware of potential for large temperature swings that can affect emergence, especially if nighttime temperatures dip close to freezing.”

2. Planting conditions
It is important to ensure soil is not too wet or too dry at seeding time.

“Planting when soils are too wet can lead to compaction and poor emergence,” says Miller. “Conversely, soils that are too dry can have spotty emergence, leading to poor emergence and an uneven plant stand.”

3. Residue spreading
When planting in a field with high amounts of residue, Miller advises harrowing or tillage to spread straw. “This will improve trash clearance and seed-to-soil contact.”

Miller says managing residue will speed up soil warming and drying during the critical planting season. “Well-drained, low-residue fields typically warm up faster and allow for more rapid emergence and seedling growth.”

“Pioneer research has documented that residue over seed furrow can reduce soil temperatures, leading to delayed emergence and possible stand loss.”

Residue can translate into additional challenges for crop emergence and homogeny.

Some of these challenges, according to Miller, are “uneven germination and emergence, the promotion of seedling disease by harbouring disease pathogens favoured by excess water and colder soils, and uneven planting depth and poor seed-to soil contact, leading to uneven emergence and possible appearance of runt plants.”

More from the Grainews website: Three good reasons to test seed lots now

4. Seed selection
When it comes to choosing hybrids, Miller advises selecting certified seed with high germination and stress-emergence scores. This will help reduce risks associated with planting in cold-stress conditions. “Selecting a hybrid with the right trait package for high-residue environments too is key.”

Pioneer assigns stress emergence scores to help farmers choose products for early planting or fields with a history of cold stress challenges.

“Choosing hybrids with higher scores for these traits helps reduce genetic vulnerability to stress brought on by cold soils and high residue environments.

5. Seed treatments
When it comes to planting early, Miller suggests considering seed treatment options.

“Early season insects are often a problem in early planting and high residue conditions — more so if seedlings are weakened by cold or overly wet soils.

“Insecticide seed treatments have proven very effective at protecting stands in stressful environments,” Miller says. “They protect against seedling disease by reducing insect feeding and depriving pathogens of points of entry.”

6. Rotation management
In the end, Miller says, “a good rotation remains one of the best ways to manage crop disease pressure.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a professional writer in Winnipeg, Man.

The post Six ways to reduce early season seed stress appeared first on Grainews.

“Certified seed captures the full benefits of a plant breeding program — not just the first chance to get a new variety, but getting the best of that variety every year,” says Pahl.

“The stringent conditions under which certified seed is produced gives extra assurance of quality, purity, and pedigree.”

That said, not all farmers are going to buy certified seed every year. If this is you, here are some suggestions for making the most from your own seed.

Still want to save seed?

When farmers save production off the field where certified seed was formerly planted to use as seed for their own use, they should be diligent on how that seed is handled.

For starters, ensure volunteers from previous crop use are controlled through proper crop rotation and weed management.

Due diligence on sampling procedures, combine clean out, and proper storage will help ensure quality farm-saved seed.

Risk management practises should include testing your seed for germination, vigour, fusarium graminearum and other pertinent diseases in your area before it’s planted in the spring.

If low-quality seed is the limiting factor on your farm, no matter how much herbicide, fungicide, or fertilizer is applied, that potential is lost.

Whether you are using your own farm-saved seed or purchasing certified seed, ensure you know what varieties are growing in your fields.

Collecting seed

Although using certified seed is one of the best ways to ensure quality, harvesting and replanting seeds from good looking grain fields stands is a regular practice on many farms.

Regardless of how good a seed cleaning job the combine did in the field, the amount of weed seed content left in the crop seed, and whether it will be drilled or broadcast, a grower should have it cleaned.

Extra care should be taken with weed seed infested cereals, particularly if the seed came from another farm or location altogether.

From the Alberta Farmer Express website: Plant diseases to look for in 2014

The collected seed should be dried carefully (to 10 to 12 per cent seed moisture content) soon after harvesting. Ensure the seed temperature does not exceed 32 C, as that may have an affect on germination (ensuring not to over-dry the seed, as it may, again, affect germination). This is a relatively easy task on the Prairies, unless a farmer intends to keep the seed over the summer.

While the seed is exposed to air, it may gain or lose water according to the surrounding air’s relative humidity.

At 50 per cent atmospheric relative humidity, the balance moisture content is about 12 per cent for wheat and rye seeds, about 11 per cent for barley, and about 10.5 per cent for oats.

When the balance moisture content of a small grain seed is exposed to 70 per cent relative humidity, it will be at 15 per cent which is too high for safe storage.

At 90 per cent atmospheric relative humidity, the seed moisture content of several small grain crops goes up to 20 to 23 per cent. Under these conditions, viability and vigour are quickly lost.

The temperature and relative humidity of the space where seed is stored is especially important for summer storage, although these factors are largely out of farmers’ control. However, farmers can choose a storage space where the temperature and humidity are as low as possible during the time that the seed will be stored.

Although small grain seed is usually stored over the winter months in the Canadian Prairies, there is still the risk of infestation and damage from insects, rodents, mould, or moisture leak.

No matter how you store seed — in a bin, gravity wagon, piled on a concrete floor or in grain bags — ensure the storage space has been cleaned of any old grain that could harbour storage insect pests.

Commercial labs offer seed testing services for farmers wanting to grow their own seed.

Have your seed tested for germination, purity, vigour before planting.

Rebeca Kuropata is a professional writer in Winnipeg, Man.

The post Saving your seed appeared first on Grainews.

Canola oil content

Canola oil content varies from year to year, and from farm to farm.

According to Brett Halstead, vice-president of the Canadian Canola Growers Association and member of the SaskCanola board, the average canola oil content was 45 per cent in 2013 compared with 43.5 per cent in 2012. The 2011 average was slightly higher than 2013 — 45.20 per cent oil.

Halstead said his farm’s oil content was actually down this year compared to last year — 42.5 per cent this year, compared to 46.5 per cent last year.

“Generally speaking, Manitoba has lower oil content,” said Halstead. “Saskatchewan is in the middle and Alberta’s is a little higher. Generally, in the Prairies, we’ve been gradually increasing the oil level.

“In Canada, we see a wide range in oil value averages. The low end of that average was 38.3 per cent this year and the high end was 50.4 per cent, so there’s quite a range.”

Halstead has given some thought to the concept of being paid for canola based on oil content.

This is something that is done in Australia.

“Australia typically had an extremely low oil level, so they had to do something to get plant breeding to produce better oil levels and to get farmers to do whatever they could,” Halstead said.

Australia has gone from 30 per cent oil content to currently around 38 to 40 per cent. There is also a narrower range, as compared with oil content in Canadian canola.

“As a farmer, I’d like to think a similar system can work here and help compensate us more directly, like, say, a protein premium on wheat would,” said Halstead.

“We know a little bit more about how to affect protein. We’re still not sure how to affect the oil content. It seems like it’s so much more environmental, but that doesn’t mean there should or shouldn’t be a system to compensate the grower.

“On the flip side, we don’t want a system that would be negative to farmers. Premium payments typically also have discounts on the other side of the scale. When you have 38 per cent oil, they’re going to want to pay you less, too. This year, we’re a little higher oil. Next year, we might not be.”

Another important factor that came to light this year, said Halstead, is a transportation backlog. Growers are bound by the limited available rail transportation, hampering their ability to market their crop.

“In 2012, we had less production and huge demand for a product, and the transportation system could move it when we sold it,” said Halstead. “Farmers got their premium for their oil back, because all export sales for seed would be made based as a certain per cent whatever the importer wanted. If the importer said he wanted 42 per cent oil and you delivered them more, you’d get a premium. If you delivered him less, you’d get a discount from the grain company.”

The issue this year, according to Halstead, is not necessarily whether or not we get paid for the oil. The problem is one of transportation logistics.

“If I want to and sell some more canola next month or today, I might have to wait until May or June to sell it because it’s booked up that far ahead,” said Halstead. “So, if I want to sell it tomorrow or next month, I just better hope somebody will take it. It’s almost like I have no power. It’s not whether I’m getting a premium because I have higher oil or not.

“When the system is working right, when it’s competitive, and when the transportation and logistics system isn’t plugged up, we’re likely getting compensated a portion or most of it.”

“I don’t have all the answers,” said Halstead. “We’re trying to get more answers on this to see if and how adding an oil premium would work and to see if it would benefit farmers. As a farmer, if it would, I’m all for it.”

Growing more oil

Some new varieties that have hit the market contain a higher oil potential. For any new variety to be accepted today, it needs to have a minimum oil level. This leads Halstead to believe that varieties are gradually improving.

“I’ve tried to do everything, agronomically, the best I can, allowing for quite a bit of seed colour change — which I think is the main thing farmers can do to affect their oil,” said Halstead.

Environmental factors, such as heat and sunlight, that occurs during filling, flowering, and, in particular, pod filling, can affect the oil level — though, these factors, producers have little or no control over these factors.

This is where producing oil in canola is currently different than producing protein in wheat. There are proven agronomic methods that farmers can use to influence protein levels. “This may also be applicable with canola, but that’s an unknown right now,” said Halstead.

“When trying to achieve higher protein, there’s so much in your agronomic program you can control, like beating diseases and proper plant. With oil, we don’t know if we can do that. It seems to be about 90 per cent or more environmental.”

According to Véronique Barthet, PhD, program manager of the oilseeds section at the Grain Research Laboratory of the Canadian Grain Commission located in Winnipeg, crop growing conditions are very important.

“This year, crop growing conditions were stellar, with low temperatures, ideal precipitation, ideal harvest conditions, and a warm September with no frost,” said Barthet. “These are perfect growing conditions for canola.”

The year 2013 saw a record high, as high as in 2011, except that in 2013, there were record highs in both oil and in overall crop quality. “This means more canola qualified for the top grade than in 2011,” said Barthet.

Barthet suggested there are many things growers can do to achieve higher oil content, such as getting the right seed for your area, and fertilizing properly.

“It takes energy for the plant to make oil, so whatever is going to divert its metabolism is going to reduce the oil content,” said Barthet. “If you don’t have the right fertilization, there won’t be enough energy to make the oil. If it’s too cold or too hot, the enzymes won’t work at optimal efficiency — so, again, low oil. And, when it comes to disease and insects, plants need to get enough energy to fight them.”

The post Getting paid for the oil appeared first on Grainews.

Along with the potential for increased nitrates comes an increased risk of silo gas, which can be fatal. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a dangerous chemical asphyxiant produced almost immediately after plant material is put into a silo. “Even short-term human exposure can result in severely injured lung tissue and sudden death,” said Joel Bagg, forage specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Nitrates: good and bad

Nitrates are a part of most farmers’ fertilizer plans, being an essential nutrient especially important to getting high yields.

An extended period of dry weather during tasselling and pollination will hinder corn cob formation and grain yield by reducing the plant’s ability to metabolize nitrates and use them for growth.

“If the situation worsens, leaves may turn brown and plants can appear to be dying,” said Bagg. “As this happens, some farmers attempt to salvage this corn by using it as forage for livestock, as corn silage, green chop, or pasture.”

It is critical to be aware that, under certain conditions, this corn can be high in nitrates (NO3), which can lead to death in the livestock consuming it.

“The five to seven days following a rainfall after a severe dry period would have the highest risk of excess nitrates, so avoid harvesting or grazing during this period,” heeded Bagg. “This period following the rain is much higher risk than the dry period itself.”

Although corn is the most likely forage crop to cause nitrate poisoning, high nitrates can also crop up in cereals.

Nitrate poisoning symptoms include rapid or laboured breathing, fast and weak heartbeat, muscle tremors, staggering, and death. Less severe symptoms may include listlessness and other, more subtle symptoms. Chronic cases can produce symptoms, such as poor appetite, reproductive problems (including abortion) and poor performance.

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There are ways to reduce nitrates in corn, so that it can be used and not wasted. For one, fermentation reduces nitrates by 25 to 65 per cent during proper silage fermentation. Bagg recommended allowing at least three to five weeks of fermentation before feeding. Corn silage harvested either too wet or too dry will not ferment as well, which can result in nitrates levels remaining higher than normal.

Secondly, the bottom third of the corn stalk has a much higher level of nitrates. “If high nitrates are a concern, the cutter bar could be raised to leave more of the stalk in the field,” suggested Bagg.

“To maximize yield and manage nitrate risks, a good strategy is to harvest at normal cutting heights, store as silage, analyze fermented silage samples for nitrates, and then manage dietary levels through feeding management.”

Bagg recommended caution when it comes to grazing or green chopping. “These can be stressed by dry weather, which may be an option for some producers facing feed shortages.”

Bagg said, “It’s difficult to predict nitrate levels. The risk of nitrate poisoning while green chopping or grazing this corn is significantly higher during that five to seven day period after a rainfall than it is during the actual period of dry weather.”

Bagg recommended avoiding grazing or green chopping during this period, as nitrate levels can fluctuate daily within the plant, making it hard to assess risk.

“Green chopped corn that is not fed immediately undergoes respiration that converts nitrate to nitrite, so the risk is increased,” said Bagg.

Field sampling and lab analysis for nitrates can be helpful, but it is hard to get a representative sample as nitrate levels fluctuate.

“In a pasture situation, this high nitrate risk corn is likely their only source of feed,” said Bagg. “Turning hungry cattle to a field of stunted, cobless corn following a rain that ends a dry period is very high risk.”

The best time to test for nitrate concentration is after the fermentation is complete.

As a general rule, NO3-N levels should be less than 1,000 parms per million (NO3 levels less than 0.44 per cent) to be without risk. Levels greater than 4,000 ppm NO3-N (more than 1.76 per cent NO3) are potentially toxic and should not be fed.

Grains and concentrates are typically low in nitrates. Adequate non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in rumen assist the conversion of nitrate to ammonia, reducing poisoning potential.

According to Morgan Cott, agronomist with the Manitoba Corn Growers, silage acres have remained fairly steady in the province and do not fluctuate a great deal. “They reflect our beef and dairy herds, which don’t tend to fluctuate,” said Cott.

“Nitrate toxicity has been well-known for a long time and since most producers use silage piles, the risk of toxicity is low. The biggest risk would probably be for new producers, less educated in silaging and/with beef/dairy production.”

In 2012, Manitoba had 273,000 acres of grain corn and 75,000 acres of silage corn. In 2013, the acreage increased to about 342,000 acres of grain corn and 86,000 acres of silage corn. †

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Brent Elliot, program/infestation control and sanitation officer, industry services, Canadian Grain Commission, helped develop this new web tool for identifying insects in stored grain.

“There are actually two tools — two identification keys,” said Elliot.

One identification key is for stored product beetles found in Canada and is a comprehensive list of beetles one may encounter in stored products (predominantly grain, but also flour and other substances).

The other identification key is for stored grain pests. “It’s a very subtle difference in the title,” admitted Elliot. “Pests are much more commonly found either in a prairie elevator or on farm situations. And it’s not just beetles. It’s a little easier to use for the more general public (than is the other one).”

Elliot and team refer to the tool as a “dichotomous key.” He explained, “The simplest way to think of it is you’re looking at it and going, okay, what am I having for dinner tonight — steak or chicken? You make your choice and then go onto the next one — like, am I having broccoli or carrots? You continue in this process until you have a full plate. With us, that means you end up with a complete identification of an insect.”

A farmer who finds a pest or beetle, can go to the web tool and compare photos with what he’s found. The first step would be to check if the pest or bettle is larger than one millimeter. The questions continue on from there.

A hand lens (at least a 10x power lens) is needed to identify the insects, with most being quite small (most are two to five mm long). A photo can also be taken using a smart phone and the photo can be scaled up on the phone (instead of just on the insect itself) to get a better view.

“The best thing about this tool is that, we hope, it will get people checking their grain more often,” said Elliot. “From our perspective, the best thing anyone can do is check their grain regularly – not only for insects, but also for heat buildup and mould.”

Elliot and team are working on developing a glossary of terms, where users unfamiliar with a particular item can just click on it to open up another information window.

“Beetles are most common pest, predominantly in grain, we see in Canada, but other pests include insects like silver fish (sometimes found in elevator grain), moths, mites, and book lice (very small pests),” said Elliot.

Once users get an identification, there is a link to information on that specific insect pest as well as photos to help verify the identification. This information includes pest descriptions, lists of similar species, affected commodities, infestation signs, damage caused and control information.

From the Canadian Cattlemen website: iCalve: a new app for your iPhone

“The type of damage depends on the pest species and whether they feed on the seeds internally or externally,” said Elliot. “The rusty grain beetle is Canada’s most common pest. A couple others you’ll find in stored grain are the red flour beetle and the sawed tooth grain beetle.”

The Canadian Grain Commission uses the terms “primary” and “secondary” pest.

Producers must control a primary pest immediately. These pests are beetles (like the rusty grain beetle, red flour beetle, and granary weevil) that can feed on whole grains, attacking grain that is otherwise healthy.

Secondary pests are typically associated with grain going out of condition. They may be feeding on the grain or just on storage moulds associated with grain gone bad. These do not need to be immediately controlled.

Treatment threshold and control

“Thresholds in stored grain in Canada are very difficult systems to sample,” said Elliot. “You’re looking at a very large, bulk of grain — thousands of tones of grain in the system that’s very difficult to sample.

“So, as far as we’re concerned, if you find an insect pest, you have an infestation. The tolerance is one or — in other words — zero. So, there aren’t different thresholds for different pests. You have an infestation or you don’t.”

Rusty grain beetles are fairly susceptible to various treatment methods, which, in Canada, includes insecticide, fumigation, or removing the grain (as their larvae feed external to the grain). “Sometimes, it’s just a matter of auguring the grain out of the bin (or wherever it is) onto a vehicle and then putting it back to control the population,” said Elliot.

“You can also control it by cooling it down, which can take a considerable period of time. If it’s around 0 C outside, it will take a number of weeks to control the population. But, with our cold Canada temperatures, we can get the grain bin temperature down within a week, controlling the insect population.

“If the temperature is warm, you’re best bet is probably fumigation — unlike in winter, when cooling the grain will work better (as fumigating will not work below 5 Ca).”

Typically, fumigation in Canada is done with an insecticide that has various trade names. It is a pellet you put into the grain that reacts to the air’s oxygen, liberating the gas (an insecticide), which kills the pests. It is recommended to hire a licensed applicator to do this or to get training yourself.

With a secondary pest, control is desired, but less extreme measures are needed as these pests are more an indication that (a) your grain is going out of condition and (b) you have other, more serious problems (such as mould).

The long-range goal, according to Elliot, is to go beyond dealing with adult-only beetles (which are what the tool currently handles). “We’re now looking at the immature stages of the beetles too, as well as moths and caterpillars associated with stored grain,” he said.

“Pretty much all these beetles can fly. The key with pests, as there’s such a huge offspring population, is to bring the bin temperatures down as fast as you can (so they can’t reproduce).

“Most producers check their grain before shipping it. Truckers and elevator operators do too. If an elevator operator finds a pest, the grain is returned to the producer who has to clean it up, control the insect pest. The further it goes into the system, the larger the problem, the more expensive it is to control.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a professional writer in Winnipeg, Man.

The post Identify pests with a new web tool appeared first on Grainews.

Dr. Craig Drury, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Harrow, Ont., research station, and his colleagues have been studying the effects of different tillage systems for 20 years. No-till works very well in some medium and coarse textured soils and in some climatic regions.

In high clay content soils in Canada’s humid regions, cool and wet soils may delay row crop planting. This results in lower crop emergence rates and may also lower plant populations.

“When low emergence and reduced populations occur, yields and amounts of crop residue returned to the soil may be lower than when conventional tillage is used,” says Drury. “In such situations, zone tillage is an excellent compromise. It can improve seedbed conditions and also maintain many of the benefits of no-tillage.”

One example Drury noted is in the case of corn with 76 cm (30 inch) row spacing. The tilled zone is only 28 per cent of the whole area, with the majority of the soil (72 per cent) left as no-till.

The benefits

According to Drury, zone tillage has been found to reduce fuel consumption and labour costs compared to conventional tillage. “Zone tillage uses only about 6.7 litres per hectre compared to 21 l/ha for conventional moldboard plowing,” he said. That’s a difference of 14.3 l/ha, or almost six litres per acre.

“Using a mouldboard plough at a depth of six, seven inches differs widely with the no-till system, but zone till combines the two nicely — leaving 72 per cent of the field. This offers a warmer and drier seed bed plus all the benefits of no-till carbon management.”

While no-till produces a soil surface with very high carbon content, conventional till has the opposite effect, mixing the carbon into deeper depths, while some is lost via mineralization.

Drury and team have found zone till treatment of surface soil fairly similar to that of no-till systems, except the carbon levels at lower depth are similar to conventional till. “When you add up the carbon stored in the entire profile, we found 11 to 12 per cent more carbon storage with zone till than with either no-till or conventional tillage,” he said.

Although both conventional till and zone till systems produce similar crop yields, the overall carbon balance is higher in zone tillage as carbon sources are slower to break down.

“Our carbon inputs are the same (plant residues),” said Drury. “Our carbon dioxide losses tend to be lower and, as a result, we’re gradually building up carbon in soils with the zone till system.”

Nitrogen

In a 13-year southwest Ontario clay soil field study, zone till increased soil carbon storage by 11.2 per cent compared to no-till and by 12.5 per cent compared to conventional till.

Drury and team found that, with zone tillage, there is lower penetration resistance as well as improved aeration. Since denitrification occurs under anaerobic soil conditions (that is, where there are saturated soils with little or no oxygen), zone tillage’s improved physical conditions reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

“In particular, zone tillage resulted in 17 to 20 per cent lower nitrous oxide emissions compared to no-tillage and 38 to 44 per cent lower emissions than conventional tillage in two three-year field trials,” said Drury.

The cost of fertilizer is on the rise, especially when it comes to high nitrogen-demanding crops. “When you start losing it through gaseous nitrous oxide emissions (biological de-nitrification) or by nitrate leaching, it’s both an economic loss as well as an environmental problem,” explained Dr Drury.

When nitrogen was applied at planting alone, it had 33 per cent greater nitrous oxide emissions than when it was added as a side-dress application, especially with conventional till.

Nitrogen, of any source, consistently emits less nitrous oxide when used in zone tilled fields than when used with conventional or no-till, whereas zone till averaged 44 per cent fewer nitrous oxide emissions than conventional till, and more than doubled the reduction achieved by no till over conventional till.

“I firmly believe zone tillage is a viable practice and am now looking at what we can do to make it a more efficient system wherein more nutrients go into the crops, environmental losses are reduced, and farming practices make more efficient use of inputs,” said Drury.

“I believe zone tillage will continue to grow in popularity for row crop production in clay loam and clay textured soils. The improved soil quality, high yields, reduced nutrient losses, and improved fuel efficiency are some of the benefits that make zone tillage a management practice that should be considered. “There are several companies manufacturing zone tillage equipment and it may also be possible to modify existing equipment.” †

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