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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-03-31, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2005. PAGE 13. New on-line calculator can help save money By Keith Roulston Citizen publisher A new calculator available on-line from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food could help corn producers fine-tune their nitrogen fertilizer needs to save money in 2005. Greg Stewart, OMAF’s corn lead, told 60 farmers attending a production day in Blyth, sponsored by the Huron County Soil and Crop Improvement Association, tie spreadsheet (found at www.gocorn.net) will help them calculate the amount of fertilizer to apply to get the most economical results. Stewart created the calculator based on research pulled together from the results of small­ plot corn trials from 1962-2002 and looking at all the variables. The first variable is the expected crop yield. If you expect a higher yield you need to increase the nitrogen fertilizer you’ll apply. A second factor is the previous crop planted on the field. Soybeans and, particularly, red clover produce nitrogen credits, meaning less nitrogen needs to be applied. A previous corn crop has no credit. Silage corn, with less stover to tic up nitrogen, has a credit of 14 kg. of nitrogen per hectare. Soybeans and edible beans have a credit of 30 while small grain under-seeded with red clover has a credit of 82 (if plowed, no-till’s credit for clover is just 67). The rate of nitrogen application must increase as the number of crop heat units increases, Stewart said. “There’s a 30 pound difference as you move from lower to higher heat units.” Soil texture, also affects the need for nitrogen fertilizer. Silt loam is the most productive with the least addition of fertilizer. As you move toward clay in one direction or sand in the other, the nitrogen requirements can increase by as much as 30 pounds. Application with a side-dressing of nitrogen can be as much as 20 per cent more efficient than preplantcd but again the soil texture counts. Side-dressing delivers 100 per cent of preplant rates in high sand soils, 90 per cent in intermediate sand and 80 per cent in low sand soils. “It’s the opposite of what it would seem,” Stewart said. “You’d think you would lose more in sandy ground.” Stewart’s calculator also adjusts application rates according to corn prices to deliver the most economical yield. “The more we looked at it (corn price), the more we realized that it had to be considered," Stewart said. In his calculation if the price of corn remain stable at $3 per bushel and the price of nitrogen increased from 27 to 43 cents a pound, the economical application rate dropped by 21 kg per hectare. Stewart tested the calculator on 72 fields and found it came close to the ideal nitrogen application rate. It’S important to krjow the composition of your soil before you try to use the calculator, Slewart said. Attempts Hay can By Keith Roulston Citizen publisher Hay can be a valuable cash-crop, a Teeswater-area producer told the Huron County Soil and Crop Improvement Association’s Production Day in Blyth, March 22. Ken Scott of Riverlodge Farms said 20 per cent of the revenue of his cash-crop and beef farm comes from selling 4,000 large square bales a year. Hay can gross $525 per acre, he said, “but you’ve got to get it off in good shape”. Scott has sold to local customers Johnston By Keith Roulston Citizen publisher Only edible beans can be more profitable for Ontario farmers than growing wheat, says Peter Johnson, OMAF cereals specialist. Johnson told 60 growers at the production day sponsored by the Huron County Soil and Crop Improvement Association that there have been tremendous be valuable cash crop and some province-wide customers but his best returns have been selling to the U.S. via reputable hay dealers. However with the increase in the Canadian dollar, Scott said he has lost his margin and is exploring selling directly to U.S. markets to regain the money lost. There are hay markets listed on the internet and producers should watch the posted prices to gauge the market, Scott said. The best money remains in small square bales but the labour costs are higher so Scott switched first to large round bales, then to large says wheat profitable in Ont. wheat varieties with six years in a row of increases and now spring wheat yields are also beginning to increase. “The genetics are much better the last three years. I expect the acreage will increase this year.” Corn is a marginal crop in most of Huron because of the high cost of drying, Johnson said and farmers should be looking at other grass crops. “Spring wheat is in the ^square bales for easier transportation. He cuts hay quickly using two discbine mower-conditioners. To speed the drying process he uses tedders to turn the hay. You can ted twice as fast as you can cut, he said. He uses the largest rotary rake available to windrow the hay for baling, then bales with a high-speed 8572 Case baler. Hay is handled with two loader tractors with three-spear loaders with a rack for safety. If he could he would take hay off the fields using flat-bed trucks, Scott Johnson urged producers to explore frost seeding of spring cereals. Once the soil is thawed out and dry, look for nights when the temperature is going to drop to minus-five. Use low-pressure tires and start planting as the temperature drops at night. Go all night or stop “when the drill sounds like if is running on a gravel pit.” “We have-10-12-(suitable) nights at any or.e location,” he said. Aim to said, but because he has young helpers without their truck licences he uses wagons instead. Once harvested, the bales are stored on pallets to keep them off the ground so they won’t absorb moisture. His favourite storage is in a Cover-all shelter but he also uses a modified, and strengthened, bank barn and, less satisfactorily, a covered pit silo. There is always some hay that doesn’t meet standards for top prices but it can sold at reduced prices in local markets, though Scott feeds it to his beef cows. plant at one-inch depth. “Frost seeding always gives more yield,” he said of his tests, with a 41.5 percent yield increase recorded last year. As well, frost seeded crops headed out 6.8 days earlier and test weights were 4.7 per cent higher. The protein yield per bushel was lower but the total yield of protein per acre was higher. To get protein back up you need to apply more nitrogen, he said. made to revitalize Soil & Crop Association The production day held by the Huron County Soil and Crop Improvement Association in Blyth, March 22, was the first step in trying to revitalize the organization. Ruth Knight, communications co­ ordinator for the Heartland Region of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, told 60 farmers the Huron branch has not been as active in recent years as it once was. Directors are needed to rejuvenate the group, she said. Horst Bohner, OMAF soybean specialist, outlined several field trials he would like to undertake in Huron but these require the co­ operation of local growers, he said. Deanna Deaville, special projects co-ordinator with OSCIA outlined several grants that are available for doing resea.ch projects in Huron as well as federal and provincial grant programs for individual farmers that are administered by her group. improvements in the yield of winter game. ‘If it’s too wet to plant, it’s too wet to haul manure, Lynch advises farmers Continued from page 12 that are not expensive. It starts with planting early. The soil is in the best shape for planting when it comes out of winter before there have been heavy rains, he said. Plant as soon as the soil is fit but take into account the possibility of poorer emergence. “Plant into good soil bed and get out. Plant around the clock. We’ve got some really good chances in April to get the crop in.” But too often farmers are working in the field when they shouldn’t be and are losing production from compaction, he said. “If it’s too wet to plant, it’s too wet to haul manure.” On the topic of manure, “You have to value manure for what it is. It’s not worth as much as some people think and others don’t think it’s worth as much as it is.” Be prepared for the planting season, he advised. “Have ail crop plans in place. It’s easier to change than to make plans in June and July.” Make sure the corn planter is tuned up. In many fields he scouts he finds seeds too often dropped in doubles. Check all the seed lots to make sure you have what you think you have. Write on the seed bags the field where it is going to be planted. Have your credit in place. “There is more money to be made in marketing the crop than in growing it,” Lynch said, advising farmers to have a marketing plan. He recalled telling farmers last year when the prices were good in the spring that if they were not going to forward contract, at least they should write down the reasons they weren’t doing it so they'd remember why when they were harvesting. “Plant your com as if it were $5 corn and your soybeans as if they were $10. Don’t Jake short cuts. Do it right.” Finally, he said, keep a positive attitude and stay away from negative people. “Don’t listen to the news in planting season.” Despite the troubling conditions today, “we’ve come through worse,” he said recalling drought in the 1980s, the extraordinary weather caused by a volcanic eruptions in 1992 and the high interest crisis of the 1980s. Farmers even survived metric conversion, he joked. z x / / * z /// j TRY CLASSIFIED