Growing An Excellent Silage Crop

Transcription

1 Growing An Excellent Silage Crop 2015 Irrigated Crop Production Update Presented on January 19, 2015 George Lubberts Complete Agronomic Services, Inc

2 Definitions Excellent Silage Quality, yield Protein, starch, fiber Greenfeed Whole plant

3 Statistics Silage Production in Alberta Spring Wheat 21,000 acres average yield 6.46 mt/acre Barley 350,000 acres average yield 7.83 mt/acre Oats 77,000 acres average yield 7.48 mt/acre Mixed grains 41,000 acres average yield 7.37 mt/acre Triticale 2,000 acres average yield 6.74 mt/acre Other crops 0 acres Total silage acres 491,000 Source: 2014 Greenfeed and Silage Production Survey Results Alberta Crop Report Alberta Agriculture website

4 2009 Stats 68,799 acres of silage barley 57,000 acres of silage corn In the 13 irrigation districts in southern Alberta

5 2010 Irrigated Silage Barley Silage Corn Silage 30,149 ha 74,498 acres 23,911 ha 59,085 acres Current Yield 20.0 mt/ha Current yield 33.7 mt/ha About 8 tonnes/acre About 13.6 tonnes/acre Potential yield: 31.4 mt/ha Potential yield: 44.8 mt/ha About 12.7 tonnes/acre About 18.1 tonnes/acre Source: Economic Value of Irrigation in Alberta 2015 AIPA website

6 Corn Acreage Trends* *Source: Potential for Grain Corn In Alberta - AB Ag website

7 Silage Type Energy Protein Fiber Starch production Corn Cereals Legumes Grassy crops

8 Crop Type Annual vs perennial Spring vs fall seeded Hybrid vs open pollinated

9 Energy Production Maximize energy production per acre Harvesting sunlight More growing days means more time to harvest sunshine

10 Manageable Factors Crop Rotation Variety/Hybrid Choice Fertility Moisture (timing) Seeding (rate, date, depth) Seed treatment

11 Crop Rotation (3 or 4 year) Cereal silage, Corn silage, Canola, Cereal (grain or silage) Apply manure after cereal silage Lots of time to apply and incorporate in late summer and fall Corn on manured ground Response well to manure No lodging issues Likes black soil Canola seed or commercial production Broadleaf crop for rotation purposes Cereal grain for feed or back to silage

12 Soft Wheat Yields loss of 10-20% when seeded on soft wheat stubble

13 Hybrid/Variety Choice Depends on your silage needs Energy maximum energy production per acre Corn most often provides highest energy production Winter Cereals triticale, hybrid rye (?), wheat Spring Cereals triticale, soft wheat, barley, hard wheat

14 Fertility Use farm grown products and supplement with fertilizer as needed Nitrogen Corn minimum of 200 lbs (soil + manure/fertilizer) Soft Wheat 180 Barley maximum of 150 On a Intensive Livestock Operation P and K soil levels will be more than adequate from manure applications over time Micronutrients are required by a high yielding silage crop Are also supplied by manure

15 Moisture Less rain is better Especially in June Good irrigation scheduling will result high yields Corn has a lower per day water requirement than barley But has a higher total annual need Corn 507 mm Barley 390 mm

16 mm Water Requirement* May May June 1-10 June June July 1-10 July July Aug 1-10 Aug Aug Sept 1-10 Sept Corn Barley Wheat *Source: Irrigation Management Field Book AB Ag

17 Seed Treatment Need insecticide - wireworms

18 Seeding Date Cereals as soon as the field is fit will germinate just above freezing (3-5) Yields loss per day when seeding after May 1*: Barley 1.0% Triticale 1.1% Soft Wheat 0.9% CPS wheat 1.0% Corn early May needs minimum of 10 degrees C soil temperature for germination *Source: Optimum Seeding Date and Rates for Irrigated Grain and Oilseed Crops AB AG website

19 Seeding Rate Corn 33,000 to 38,000 seeds per acre Assuming 10% seed loss Target stand of 30-35,000 plants per acre Cereals lots of discussion Barley 40 seeds per square foot* Soft wheat 40 seeds per square foot* Triticale 45 seeds per square foot* CPS wheat 35 seeds per square foot* *Source: Optimum Seeding Date and Rates for Irrigated Grain and Oilseed Crops AB AG website

20 Seeding Rate Barley need 40 seeds per square foot How much per acre: 40 seeds/sq ft X 43,560 sq ft/acre = 1.7 million seeds per acre TKW: Vivar = 44 grams/1000 seeds Seeding rate for Vivar to get 40 seeds/sq ft. 1,742,400 seeds X 44 grams/1000 seeds = 76,648 grams/acre = 76.6 kg/acre 76.6 kg/acre X 2.2 lbs/kg = lbs lbs = 3.5 bu of seed per acre

21 Other issues Different crops Sorghum sudan grass Winter wheat/triticale Hybrid winter rye Cereal/pulse mixes Double cropping Forages

22 Recipe for an Excellent Corn Silage Crop in ,500 ppa of Pride 1047, (range 31-35,000 ppa) on 149 acres Seeded early May Manure applied and incorporated fall 2014 Soil test: 147 lbs N (0-24 ), 516 lbs P (0-6 ), 600+ K (0-6 ), 178 S (0-24 ), ph = 7.9 (0-6 ), 4% OM (0-6 ), clay loam soil Timely water applications Herbicide: Focus/Roundup/Pardner Sprouted by May 13 Emerged by May 19

23 Recipe for an Excellent Corn Silage Crop in 2015 Postemerge herbicide applied around June 5 Mid June hail, corn at 5-6 leaf, most leaves shredded June 22 knee high recovered from hail June 29 waist high July 6 eye level July 13 over 8 feet tall July 20 tassels emerging Aug 3 setting kernels Aug 10 filling kernels

24 Recipe for an Excellent Corn Silage Crop in 2015 August 28 starting to dent Silage harvest late Sept Whole field average yield = 23.5 mt/ac Farm name withheld by owner s request