Agronomy Zone 15

Authors

• Jeff Anderson (12)
• Clint Bounds (1)
• Dustin Ellis (1)
• John Furlong (11)
• Brian Hartman (9)
• Rich Howe (3)
• Brad Johnson (3)
• Bill Kessinger (13)
• Dave Koehn (6)
• Tony Lenz (20)
• Doug McCleary (2)
• Tony Pleggenkuhle (11)
• Matt Raml (1)
• Kyle Ross (16)
• Jim Rowley (15)
• Kevin Ryan (15)
• Todd Schomburg (6)
• Doug Score (2)
• Stine Seed (21)
• Trevor Stockstad (3)
• Louis Sutton (18)
• Kenneth Wolf (3)

Subscribe to RSS Feed

« Return to Blog Main

Winter months are learning months.  I attend several educational events each year, and some are more worthwhile than others.  The Conservation Tillage Conference at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio is one that I feel is well worth one's time.  For more information click here to go to their web site.  For those of you in the eastern Corn Belt, although as a Purdue grad it pains me to say this, the Ohio State University does a very nice job of putting on several events during the winter months. Click here to view a calendar of upcoming events that Ohio State University extension is involved with. 

Whether you work in the Ag industry, or you are a farmer yourself, there is a lot of information (as well as misconceptions) in agriculture, and I encourage everyone to get out and get some quality information to help make 2011 a success.

Regional Sales Agronomist Bill Kessinger suggests that growers start mixing up their chemistries to fight resistance.

As harvest begins in some regions of the country, Stine Regional Sales Agronomist Bill Kessinger recommends that farmers walk their fields and do a “pinch test” on their stalks to determine crop standability. Areas with weaker stalks should be harvested first to minimize yield loss. To learn more, watch the In the Field with Bill Kessinger – Pinch Test video clip.

In the Field with Bill Kessinger -- Pinch Test

Across Central Indiana and Ohio we have a wide range in corn maturity from tasseling to knee-high to bare soil. The corn that did not get damaged by the heavy rains in May and June is tasseling and looks tremendous. With the rapid growth experienced in June and wet field conditions, some growers struggled to get nitrogen applied and had to revert to using drops.  Farm programs with high amounts of N as starter and preplant N are suffering from denitrification, with many corn fields already showing signs of nitrogen deficiency. Above-normal levels of Grey Leaf Spot and rust have the planes out spraying in full force. As a whole, the corn looks good but most fields still show signs from water damage.

Soybeans are in the same condition as corn. Some of the soybeans planted in April look excellent, but many fields were replanted or planted for the first time over the July 4th weekend. We have experienced ideal conditions for seedling diseases this spring, with Phytophthora still causing plant death, especially in Southern and Central Ohio. Due to the wet conditions, rapid growth, and increasing herbicide resistance, weed control has been another tough issue growers are trying to overcome. The soybeans planted a couple weeks ago are beginning to take off. With some luck--and rain--in July and August, a decent soybean yield is still possible.