Agronomy Update from Steven Regan
Agronomy Update 9/11/20:
Good Afternoon –
I haven’t had the chance to sit down and send an update in over a month and it certainly has been a busy few weeks with Dealer Open Houses, Customer Appreciations and Plot Tours.
As we wrap up “Plot Tour Season” and rapidly approach the harvest season I keep saying we are in the 9th Inning and the crop is pretty well made. With that being said one of you politely reminded me that the game is not over and we’ve seen the Twins blow it in the 9th inning now and again. In other words, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Corn:
The weather/precipitation over the last 6-8 weeks has led to “The Tale of Two Crops.” I still believe we overall have a good crop coming, but some areas across SWMN took on more heat and stress while missing some key rains. Six weeks ago I thought that kernel fill was going to be deep and heavy for corn, but after the heat and lack of precipitation I believe we are back to ~90,000 kernels per bushel and more “average” test weights. The areas that received those timely rains will be a different story and based on yield checks, tonnage reports, and initial high-moisture corn harvest, there will be some areas with very good yields.
We need to keep an eye on stalk quality after dry conditions (limited K uptake), finding more stalk cannibalization and I am finding some poorer ear-shank quality than I would expect this time of year. Both stalks and ear-shanks likely used up carbohydrates to maximize yield and compromised themselves in the process. This may lead to a need to prioritize harvest based on field level conditions. Be on the lookout for Anthracnose based issues (stalk rot and top dieback), they are more prevalent this year than some folks may think à Anthracnose Diseases in Corn. Another good article to refresh our knowledge on is à Managing Stress and Stalk Issues.
Soybeans:
Initial early maturity soybeans 0.6-1.3 RM that have been harvested have had good yields, likely the early maturity lined up better for when we were receiving moisture. On the other end of the spectrum, Group 2.0 RM soybeans and later were likely still accumulating dry matter and have a good chance to still benefit from the few rain events in the last week. Soybeans overall are made in August and rains were fairly sparse, pod counts look promising, seed size will be the determining factor between great yields (above average) or good yields in my opinion.
Relatively low levels of White Mold in 2020 as it took a backseat to other yield robbing stresses and diseases this year. Mid-August was a big eye-opening time across SWMN where stress from lack of rain started to show on the hill tops, and Sudden Death Syndrome foliar expression was showing across other parts of farms. 2018 and 2020 have both been more severe years for SDS, with that being said it will continue to be something we need to select Varieties with strong tolerances for going forward in years to come.
The 2020 and 2021 Launch Classes of XtendFlex Soybeans look to be bringing great all-round agronomics to the line-up. Stay tuned.
GDU Update:
We are over 300 GDUs ahead of last year to date. I found my first black layered kernel on Sept 2nd in some April 21st planted DKC47-27. Since then I have found several fields of early planted DKC44-80, DKC47-54, and DKC49-44 with black layered kernels. This week we accumulated very few GDUs, but the forecast looks favorable for good heat and moderate humidity to continue maturing and drying down the crop.