H O T, H O T, H O T! Newsletter for the Southern Piedmont of North Carolina

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1 Newsletter for the Southern Piedmont of North Carolina Volume 1, Issue 5, July 2008 Inside This Issue Wheat Variety Test Results/ Multiple Yr Avg. Featured Element-Boron(B) Grasshoppers in Soybeans Featured Weed Profitability of Fungicide Sprayed on Wheat Contact Us Shannon Braswell Extension Agent-Stanly Agriculture Tom Pegram Extension Agent-Union Agriculture CAUTION: Information & recommendations presented are applicable in the Southern Piedmont of NC & may not apply in your area. Consult your local Extension agent. Distributed in furtherance of the acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status or disability. In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating. Stanly County, E Newt Road Albemarle NC Union County, 3230-D Presson Road Monroe NC H O T, H O T, H O T! We have experienced some unseasonable warm temperatures over the past few weeks, not only does the high temperature slow us down, it does the same for many of our crop. Soybeans, like many other plant species, cannot translocate enough water to keep up with the evapotranspiration demand that temperatures over about 95 degrees creates. So with temperatures over 95, soybeans will wilt in the heat of the day regardless of how much water is available to them. They close their stomates (tiny opening or pore that is used for gas exchange) to dramatically reduce water loss from the leaf, but this also closes the stomates to carbon dioxide getting into the leaf, so little or no photosynthesis takes place while the stomates are closed. If water is available to the soybean roots, the plants will tend to recover significantly when temperatures drop down into the 80s, and may well look pretty normal before nightfall. If water is not available to the roots, however, it will take them longer to recover. It s possible to kill soybean plants with a combination of little moisture in the root zone with high daytime temperatures, but soybeans can tolerate more of this situation than many other plant species can. If soybeans have not started blooming, there is probably little long term effect other than having lost a few potential growing days. If soybean are blooming, or past blooming, they will tend to abort whatever reproductive structure is being developed at the time (e.g. flowers, pods, or seeds), which won t necessarily be too serious, if they have time to put on more flowers/ pods/seeds. Recommendations for the use of chemicals are included in this publication as a convenience to the reader. Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement or imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms by North Carolina State University, North Carolina A & T State University or North Carolina Cooperative Extension nor discrimination against similar products or services not mentioned. Individuals who use chemicals are responsible for ensuring that the intended use complies with current regulations and conforms to the product label. Be sure to obtain current information about usage regulations and examine a current product label before applying any chemical.

2 Wheat Variety Test The following tables are the results of our area 2008 wheat variety testing program and multiple year averages. This years test was conducted in cooperation with Everette Medlin and was established as a strip type test, it was not replicated therefore caution should be taken when evaluating these yields; this data is from only one test at one location. We recommend that interested producers obtain a copy of the 2008 Small Grains Official Variety Testing booklet (green book) before making variety selections. The 2008 Small Grains green book should be available by mid July. VAREITY SEED/PD (1000) SEED/TRT 2008 WHEAT VARIETY PLOT PLANT HEIGHT (Inches) HEAD LENGTH (Inches) DISEASE % LODGE MOISTURE TEST WEIGHT 1. FFR RTS 38 3 L < USG RTS L < Panola 14.3 D L Coker D L Dominion 15.6 DX L FFR ? L < Tribute 12.9 DX L USG RTS 41 3 L FFR ? 34 3 L P-26R UNTR 38 3 L McIntosh 12.9 DX L Neuse 12.8 RT 34 3 L Coker D L < Roane 16.8 BAYTAN/T L P-26R UNTR L FFR 8302?? L P-26R87 9 UNTR 36 3 L YIELD R = Raxil T = Thiram S = Storicide DX = Dividend Extreme (2oz) DX2 = Dividend Extreme (4 oz) UNTR = Untreated 2

3 Wheat Variety Test Results & Multiple Year Averages - continued 4 YEAR WHEAT YIELD AVERAGE FOR WHEAT VARIETY TESTING PROGRAM UNION COUNTY VAREITY 2008 YIELD 2 YEAR YIELD 3 YEAR YIELD 4 YEAR YIELD AVERAGES AVERAGES AVERAGES 1. FFR N/A N/A N/A 2. USG Panola Coker Dominion N/A N/A N/A 6. FFR N/A 7. Tribute USG FFR N/A N/A 10. P-26R N/A 11. McIntosh N/A N/A 12. Neuse N/A 13. Coker N/A N/A Roane N/A 15. P-26R FFR P-26R N/A N/A N/A F e a t u r e d E l e m e n t : B o r o n ( B ) Soybeans are relatively tolerant of B deficiency, which typically occurs in alkaline or strongly acidic soils in areas of low rainfall and in soils high or very low in organic matter. Symptoms of the deficiency include shortened internodes and yellowing or reddening of the upper leaves. Flowers fail to develop, particularly in dry weather. Boron deficiency may be confused with leafhopper injury and K or Ca deficiency. Boron deficiency is rare on soybeans in the field. Adjusting the soil ph for maximum soybean growth ( ) usually will provide enough B for normal growth. The range between Boron deficiency and toxicity is narrower than for any other micronutrient. The most common fertilizer sources for Boron are sodium borates and/or boric acid. Care should be employed to avoid excess Boron since toxicities can occur. 3

4 Grasshoppers in Soybeans Featured Weed: Lambsquarter Over the last few weeks we have received several calls regarding grasshoppers in soybeans. Currently, fields that have been planted no till into standing grasses or heavy weed cover are at the greatest risk. It is not the no-till planting that is important but rather the burn down of the grass/weed cover. Typically, the problem results when fields are infested with hoppers in the weed cover (which no one notices!) The fields are planted in soybeans, and a burn-down herbicide is applied. As the herbicide kills the weed cover, the hoppers look for something green to eat and that is usually the emerging soybeans. If you are experiencing the young wingless juvenile grasshoppers, then be aware that they normally don t travel great distances. The result of this can be considerable feeding pressure to emerging beans in confined areas. This problem is generally not an epidemic occurrence, but rather catches farmers off guard in individual fields. So definitely be aware of planting back in old pastures as well as fields with heavy grass borders! The following is a list of insecticides labeled for us in NC. In many cases spot treatments or border sprays may be the most economical approach. Also keep in mind early morning applications are normally preferred. Chemical Acephate (Orthene97) Chlorpyrfos (Lorsban) 4EC Amount of formulation per Acre Active Ingredient (lb) per Acre 0.25 to to to 1 pt 0.25 to Minimum Interval between application and harvest This summer annual is often seen in soybean fields this time of year. In many cases this weed is often misidentified as redroot pigweed. The cotyledon stages of the two weeds are very similar. However, redroot pigweed cotyledons have a prominent mid-vein while lambsquarter cotyledons do not. Leaves are rounded triangular shaped, almost Christmas tree shaped. In Roundup Ready Soybeans lambsquarter is not usually a problem with timely spray applications of Glyphosate. However, Harmony GT gives excellent control as well. Are Fungicides Sprayed on Wheat Profitable at Today s Commodity Prices? The price of wheat has risen dramatically in the past two years. Do these prices make regular fungicide applications more economical? To answer this question 40 fungicide tests were conducted in North Carolina and Virginia over the last 14 years. All of these tests were high yielding, with an average yield of about 80 bushels per acre. When summarizing results fungicides were divided into three classes: Strobilurin fungicides-quadris or Headline, Strobilurins plus propiconazole-quilt or Stratego, and fungicides containing only propiconazole-tilt or Propimax. The result from these tests was very similar to what many 4

5 continued from page 4 Are Fungicides Sprayed on Wheat Profitable at Today s Commodity Prices? of you have seen with fungicide applications this spring on your wheat. The results from these 40 trials suggest that if a producer sprayed a strobilurin every year on all of his wheat acres then he would expect to see an average increase of 5.5 bushels/acre, for a strobilurin plus propiconazole about 5 bushels/acre and for a propiconazole 3.6 bushels/acre. So with that being said is this a profitable practice? According to data collected the most profitable approach is still to scout fields regularly, and more importantly correctly identifying the presence of a particular disease, before applying a fungicide application! Review this table to see how good scouting practices and use of thresholds can make fungicide use profitable. 5

6 Volume 1, Issue 5, July 2008 Newsletter for the Southern Piedmont of North Carolina Last Chance 2008 Recertification September 16, 2008 Stanly County Agri-Civic Center This will be it! Private Pesticide Safety Training Two (2) hour credit for V Category 10 am - 12 Noon Pesticide Specialty Training Two (2) hour credit: A B G H I K L M N O T D X Categories 1-3 pm You MUST bring your card to training!