The Rural Voice, 1999-02, Page 42Getting the Edge
Continued from pg. 23
would offer further rotational
benefits and risk protection from
production losses and low
commodity prices.
Utilize manure nutrients
whenever possible. Manage manure
to reduce nitrogen loss. Test your
manure, calibrate your application
equipment and apply manure based
on soil test recs or crop nutrient
removal. The OMAF NMP computer
program will help you follow Right -
to -Farm management practices,
calculated field -specific manure
application rates, account for residual
nitrogen from previous manure
applications, apply legume N credits
and determine your fertilizer cost
savings from utilizing manure.
Pre-sidedress soil nitrate testing,
as I mentioned before, can be utilized
to measure the amount of nitrogen
available to corn from fall manure
applications. I have used this since
1991 and have many clients who can
attest to its accuracy. Nitrogen credits
can average from 80 to 160 lbs N/ac.,
depending on rates and type. I am
now going over soil test results and
many fields on livestock farms are
coming up with 80 to 100 to 125 lbs
N/ac after the growing season, and
this is in a normal sampling depth of
7". What extra is in the 7" to 12"
root zone is anybody's guess. I
suspect the hot and dry summer has
kicked past immobilized N free, has
resulted in less -than -normal summer
N leaching, and has resulted in less N
usage due to dry weather (depending
where you lived). If these fields go to
corn in 1999, a pre-sidedress N test
will tell us if the N is still there for us
to use and if it is, it will be a frccbce,
at 29 cents per lb N.
Pest Management
Scout fields on a regular basis and
treat for insects and disease only
when it looks like damage will
exceed the cost of treatment. Know
your threshold limits, (both mental
and physical).
Use three-quarter rate
applications of soil insecticides if
you need corn rootworm control.
This is not talked about here in
Ontario for fear of stepping on the
labels toes and the perceived liability
of such. Michigan State has taken the
bull by the horns with producer
funding and has tested the
performance of fgIl vs. three-quarter
rates of their six major insecticides,
Aztec, Counter, Dyfonate, Force,
Lorsban and Thimct. Field trials were
conducted from 1990 thru 1995.
Results of this study and similar
studies conducted in other
Midwestern states indicate that root
protection and consistency ratings of
the three-quarter rates for these
products were similar to the full
rates. Carefully calibrate application
equipment. A three-quarter rate has
no room for error! Using lower rates
than recommended on the label is
legal in Michigan and in Ontario, but
it excludes the user from the right to
make claims of poor performance to
the manufacturer.
Calibrate your sprayer to avoid
over applying pesticides. Surveys
conducted both here and in the U.S.
back some ten years ago revealed
that roughly 48% if the sprayers
tested were over applying by more
than 10%. I'm confident that isn't
going on any more to the same
extent, however if your annual
herbicide bill was 520,000, you
would have been throwing away
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38 THE RURAL VOICE
52,000 each and every year.
Calibrating your own sprayer or
having a crop consultant or your
fertilizer dealer's agronomist help
you calibrate it, is money well spent.
I've done lots of 'em and it's usually
a. 60-90 minute job.
Consider herbicide band
applications followed by inter -row
cultivation. Applying herbicides in a
10"-12" band over a 30" row reduces
herbicide costs by approx. 66%.
However, be sure that you have
enough equipment and time to do this
on a timely basis.
Plan to rotary hoe if you have
not received a 1/2" of rain within 7
days following pre -emergence
herbicide applications. This will
control small weeds that would have
escaped the herbicide and reduces the
need for costly post -emerge
applications. Rotary hoe again in five
days if at least a 1/2" of rain has not
occurred. Even without a herbicide
applied, I have seen rotary hoeing at
weed emergence take out a measured
66% of the weed population. A
timely cultivation seven days after
that resulted in a weed free field of
corn, but you need to pick your field!
A dirty field would likely be a
disaster.
Develop a short-term goal to
control all farm and family costs
for the next two years. Rate every
expenditure to determine what is
needed or desired. •
Share equipment with
neighbours or family members.
Joint purchasing or cash -renting can
greatly reduce your farm's cost of
equipment ownership.
Develop a marketing plan and
follow it. 70% of the grain is sold at
the bottom 30% of the market.
Anyone still holding 1997 corn?
Sorry I mentioned it.
Need assistance? Call your
OMAF Business Management
Specialist, or OMAF Soil and Crop
Specialist, or your dealer agronomist,
or your independent crop consultant
(couldn't resist the plug). It's in
everyone's interest to keep the farm
business viable during the current
economic crisis.0
Mervyn Erb is a crop consultant as
Brucefield, ON. He had many more
tips which we were unable to use
because of space limitations. Watch
for more next month.