The Rural Voice, 1999-02, Page 26MEMBERS: National Alliance Of Independent Crop Consultants
Mervyn Erb, CCA
at
HURON
AgVise,
Brucefield, Ont. NOM 1J0
(519) 233-7100
Jim Grainger
Bayfield, Ont.
(519) 274-2920
and
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
CROP ADVISORY SERVICES
Michael Hunter, CCA
at
BRUCE
AgVises
RR 4, Ripley, Ont. NOG 2R0
(519) 395-0254
CROPw I
PRORT
F
STRATEGIES
GROWER PESTICIDE
SAFETY COURSE
Currently, there must be one certified
grower per farm unit to purchase/use/
store Schedule 1, 2 & 5 pesticides.
To pick up your course manual and
information about courses in your area,
contact your local Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Office.
Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs
22 THE RURAL VOICE
lbs/ac will cost you $8.00 per/ac.
You will need to increase seeding
rates by 10 per cent when planting in
adverse conditions or when planting
late in the season. No one needs to be
planting 120 lbs/ac although it is
regularly done.
Wheat should be planted at
1.6 to 1.8 million seeds/ac
when planting early and
increased to 2.1 million when
planting late. Wheat planting rates
are already adjusted for germ. Whcat
seed will run anywhere from 14,000
to 20,000 seeds per Ib. Your supplier
can find out how many seeds/lb.
Increase stand establishment
uniformity in corn. Plant Variable
Spacing (PVS) was extensively
studied across Indiana from 1987
thru 1993 (sorry, no Ontario data).
The results of that research indicated
that about 2.5 bu/ac are lost for every
1 inch increase in the standard
deviation of the plant -to -plant
spacings. An acceptable standard
deviation is about 2". Sixty per cent
of the fields studied could improve
yields from 5 to 7.5 bu/ac by simply
improving the uniformity of plant -to -
plant spacing to a standard of 2".
Follow all adjustment instructions
and service schedules listed in your
planter operator's manual.
Plant Emergence Variability
(PEV) is another yield -robber. A
consistent soil moisture zone (proper
seedbed prep) and attention to
consistent and proper planter
operation (worn discs openers,
coulter down -pressure, closing wheel
performance, trash, etc,) will result in
minimal PEV. Documented yield
losses in Indiana and Ohio trials due
to controllable PEV were 6-9%.
Keep your planters tuned up. To me,
they're no different than a drag car
and the best wrenches I know of are
at Kearney Planters near Thamesville
@ 519-678-3206.
Never, never plant less than 1 1/2"
deep, and the preferred depth is 1
3/4" to 2" deep. It is certainly
permissible to plant corn 2 1/2" deep
like we did in 1998, to get to
moisture. A corn plant has five nodal
roots and if a corn seed is planted
less than 1" deep, then the nodal
roots originate at or just below the
soil surface. Corn nodal roots
exposed to a hot, dry soil surface will
exhibit short, nubby, "clubbed" roots,
often referred to as "floppy corn