Many growers are finding a heavy second flush of weeds coming after their first Glyphosate application.In some fields like that shown above this second flush is very dense and lush.In fields that have already canopied a grower will have no choice but to drop pipe another application of glyphosate.

An overall application of gyphosate at the 8th true leaf stage will not hurt the corn crop but the canopy makes its extremely difficult for the spray to reach its intended target.Glyphosate is a contact herbicide.Several growers have indicated to me that they will not be caught again using Glyphosate as a stand alone product.Instead they will be applying either a residual grass or broadleaf herbicide to go along with their glyphosate when its applied at the 3-4 true leaf stage.

Corn grew at a tremendous clip last week.30C temperatures and good soil moisture conditions made things pop.During this fast spurt of growth
some hybrids had difficulty unfurling their leaves properly. Hybrids that are more prone to having their leaves remain wrapped

during such fast growth expressed whats termed " yellow leaf. " When leaves don't unfurl properly they receive insufficient sunlight to produce their necessary chlorophyll.When these leaves unfurl they will appear yellow for 1 -2 days.There is no worry with such a phenomema as once the leaves do unfurl and they receive sunlight they will produce their chorophyll and turn dark green.I will admit though that it can be an unsettling sight for first time growers experiencing this phenomena.

The growth difference depicted in the two soybean plants above is the result of flooding damage.Though soybeans have a remarkable ability to survive through flooded soils the lack of oxygen in the soil profile hinders root development and stimies growth

The soybeans to the left were nearly covered with standing water for 3 days.Take note of the soil cracking.As you can see they survived nicely but the lack of oxygen in the soil through this period did reduce their rate of growth.This is evident by the soybeans in the photo above from the same field that did not experience this same flooding.

Young soybean plants live off the energy stored in their cotyledons to form their unifoliate and first trifoliate leaves.The immediate shot above shows how a young soybean plant remains dark green until this stage as there are sufficient plant reserves to feed these new developing tissues. The top photo above shows how the cotyledons yellow, shrivel up and start dropping off the plant during the transitional process of the plant living off the cotyledonary food reserves and the soil.It's at this point that growers often comment on how yellow their soybeans appear as plants are now living off the soil and nodules have yet to be formed and become fully functional in producing N.

The spring of 2009 will go down as one of the cooler wetter springs in sometime.Most of the Southern Ontario soybean crop was planted between May 20 and June 15.Cool damp seedbeds have lead to soybean emergence to be very slow often taking up to 3 weeks to establish a stand. This slow emergence has lead to heavier insect pressure than we've seen for years.Wireworm , seedcorn maggot, White grub, millipede, garden symphalian, and slugs have all been reported to be more active.Insect pressure has been so high at times that even Cruiser treated seed has encountered some damage.

These shots were taken on a farm south of Strathroy investigated by Pioneer sales rep Dave McEachren.They serve to illustrate just how heavy slug pressure has been this year.Replanting from slug damage in this case was not required but there were pocket areas in the field where stands were reduced to below 100,000.

Slugs just love a cool damp spring.With lots of residue on the soil surface from last years bumper corn crop these critters are able to hide under the trash in the heat of the day and then come out in full force at night to chew on the young soybean plants leaves.

There was plenty of evidence in this field of where they had chewed the leaves entirely off and killed plants.Slugs can be a real menace in No-till fields especially where heavy residues remain on the soil surface.Couple this with a cool damp spring like 2009 and you've got trouble .Though this grower escaped needing replant many others have not been so fortunate.There is no chemical or seed treatment available today for slug control.Mixed results have been reported in spraying a mixture of water and 28% on slug infested fields at dusk. Some growers have been trying to alleviate their slug problem by using different pieces of equipment to mix and stir the residue to help dry it out and thereby force the slugs deeper into the soil profile.

Aphids at low levels in soybean fields in the London area have been evident since Thursday June 17th.These shots taken near Thamesford Ontario on Wed June 24 show aphid colonies in the hundreds on newly developed soybean leaves.There is no economic threshold level currently established for the early vegetative stage of soybean growth.As you can see the above soybeans were at the second true trifoliate leaf stage.U of G are currently attempting to determine what the vegetative threshold level should be. The hope is that natural predators will begin building their populations and draw down these aphid numbers.We will keep you informed as to what unfurls in this regard.

The ideal planting depth for corn is 1.75 - 2.25 inches deep.The reason for this is that planting depth can vary by as much as 1/2 - 3/4 inch within the row due to field contour, the influence of soil drainage on seedbed particle size , percent residue cover, the bounce of the planter due planter speed and the lack of consistent seed placement in the seed trench furrow due to inappropriate planter levelness and bushing wear in both the parallel linkage arms and depth gauge wheels.Planting at least 1.75 inches in depth helps ensure that all seed will be positioned at least 1.25 inches deep and hopefully into moisture.Seed placed less than an inch deep can be more susceptible to seedbed dessication, greater damage from chemical and fertilizer injury, leafing out underground caused by wider swing temperature fluctuations, animal and bird damage as well as rootless corn syndrome.Every planter tractor cab or planter tractor tool box needs to be armed with at least one seed depth finder.

These shots are of 2 different hybrids.The hybrid to the left is at a low plant stand of 21,000 per acre.As you can see it is tillering profusely.The hybrid above has a final plant stand of 29,000 and is still tillering to some degree.Tillers are nothing more than a sign that the hybrid has plenty of light and good enough growing conditions that it wants to initiate more vegetative growth to absorb more sunlight.Research studies have shown that when radiactive Carbon is absorbed by a tiller that same radioactive carbon can be found in the grain of that hybrid at harvest.So tillers are not necessarily bad, they are more of an indicator that your plant stand is perhaps not high enough for optimal yields.

Corn Row syndrome like that evident in the photo to the left ( taken June 15 ) is likely caused by more phosphorus being available to the wheat crop in the early spring green-up period.The tillage action of the fertilizer - double disk openers may be creating a conduit for moisture migration down through the soil profile after snowmelt thereby causing this area to warm up faster and allow more soil microbial activity to release phosphorus to the new growing wheat shoots.The photo above was taken of the same

section of field on June 21.You'll note how the crop has surprisingly evened out.Will there be a yield difference? Likely, but probably not near as much as you would have first thought.

These 3 shots were all taken on Sunday June 21 the longest day of the year to give you a better conception of soil coverage and sunlight interception by different row width corn.The top photo depicts 38inch row corn.

This middle shot is of 22 inch row corn.As you can see narrower row corn closes over its canopy sooner aiding in weed suppression.

This bottom shot is 30 inch row corn.Research has shown roughly a 3-4% yield increase for 30 inch row corn over 38 inch row corn.However Research data for 22 inch row corn over 30 inch row corn is less predictive.Research at times would support an increase for narrow rows in more northern latitudes of the corn belt and in the 3000 HU and lower areas of Ontario.Best response would be anticipated with shorter statured early flowering hybrids. Late flowering, tall statured full season hybrids in the 3200 HU zone and later have generally not shown any positive response to narrow row corn production.

Where research has supported a yield advantage to narrow row corn production it would require a minimum of 500 acres of corn to justify the added expense of converting over.

These shots were taken near Wallaceburg Ontario on Sat. June 20th,2009.Soybeans can survive under water for roughly 72 hours before they will die from Oxygen starvation.Of course Pyhtopthora Root Rot Resistance( Rps1K) plus an above average phytopthora field tolerance score will improve the odds of survival from phytophora death.

Whats very evident in the above photo is the competitive nature of the heavy weed infestation on this crops performance.Part of the reason growers have been encouraged to keep weeds out of the corn crop between the CRITICAL 3 and 8 leaf stage is that weeds can tie up a lot of Nitogen making it unavailable to the corn crop.Thats exactly what this photo depicts.Research would suggest that a dense canopy of 2 inch tall weeds will tie up 20lbs on N and 4 inch tall weeds will tie up as much as 40 lbs of N.The grower in this case called his rep claiming that the Glyphosate he sprayed was turning his corn crop yellow and that it was dieing.THAT MY FRIENDS WAS ONE BIG INACCURATE DIAGNOSIS BUT IT SHOWS HOW A CUSTOMERS MIND CAN WORK and IT SHOWS HOW A GROWER CAN GET DOWN ON YOUR PRODUCT FOR REASONS OTHER THAN THE PRODUCT ITSELF. ( Compliments goes to Tom Tyhurst of Better Fields Inc. for sending me this shot )

I am seeing more and more growers reverting back to planting soybeans in rows.Two reasons for this.One is the improved metering capability for seed drop acuracy.This helps keep seed costs down.The second is the improved consistency in depth control and uniform emergence that a unit planter offers.The shot above shows a 20 inch row spacing.The recommended seeding rate for a 20 inch row is 180,000 seed drop.At 2800 seeds per lb the required seeding rate would be 64lbs of seed per acre.This would equate to a seed drop of 6.8 beans per foot of row.Best way to measure this is by using Bungy straps to tie up the closing wheels and make a run down a firm headland at normal planting speed.Go back and count the beans dropped in 10 feet of row.( 26,134 lineal ft in a 20 inch row )

Here's a shot of 24 inch rows.There are 21,778 lineal ft in a 24 inch row.At a recommended 170,000 seed drop one would need to drop 60 lbs of seed of a 2800 seed per pound variety to achieve this drop.That equates to 8 beans per foot.

On good productive soils one could get by with dropping only 7.5 beans per foot or only 165,000

seed drop per acre.Both 20 and 24 inch rows will help achieve more sunlight penetration to dry the soybean canopy after rains.This is very important along with better air circulation to reduce the incidence of white mould should white mould be a menace of yours.

Here's a shot of the Grand Daddy of them all WIDE ROW SOYBEANS - 30 inches.One only needs to drop 140,000 seeds per care in wide rows.Thats 8 beans per foot of row ( 8 x 17,423 lineal feet = 139,384 seeds per acre ) Seed costs

here would be minimized as you only need to drop 50 pounds of seed per acre based on a 2800 seed per pound seed size. ( 50 x 2800 = 140,000 ) I have seen up to 70 bu per acre soybeans grown on good productive soils in the Kent Essex area of Southwestern Ontario in a 30 inch row. The growing season is much too shorter in areas of 2800 HU or less to do this as well.

The final plant stand of the field shown above is 252,000 per acre.The rotation is soybeans following wheat. Soil type is a Brookston silty clay loam.For the soil type involved and an average seed size of 2800 seeds per lb this grower has seeded nearly 20 lbs heavier than he needs to.The debate has gone on for years as to what the proper seeding rate for No-til soybeans should be. Research would support that unless you have serious crusting problems the optimum economic seed drop is 210,000 per acre.There are 69,692 lineal feet in an acre of 7.5 inch rows.That means that a seeding rate of 210,000 seeds per acre seed drop would equate to 3 beans per foot of row.

The field above has a final plant stand of 240,000.The rotation is soybeans after corn.This grower has also seeded nearly 15 lbs heavier than he needed.Given that the average unit of RR seed costs approx. $46 per unit and a unit contains 140,000 seeds this grower has essentially seeded his crop at at cost of $13 per acre more than he really needed.



This bottom field was seeded at the recommended seed drop of 210,000 and has a very satisfactory final plant stand count.The moral to the story is that far too many growers are dropping more soybean seed per acre than they need to. As the majority of Pioneer soybean seed sold is treated with Apron,Maxim and Cruiser there is no need to push seeding rates beyond those recommended.Farmers could generate far greater returns if they were to place the additional cost they are putting into unnecessary soybean seed into corn seed and drop an additional 4,000 seeds of corn per acre.

This soybean planting date study is being conducted by Pioneer at the Chatham,Ontario demonstration farm.Row width is 20 inches.The bottom shot depicts a May 12 vs a May 19th planting date.The middle shot depicts a May 26 vs a June 4th planting date and the top photo shows a June 4th vs a June 13th planting date ( photos were taken on June 17 )

Historical planting date studies have shown that early May planted soybeans can be expected to outyield late May planted soybeans by roughly 8% while mid June planted soybeans can only be expected to yield roughly 80% of Early May planted soybeans. To achieve maximum yield opportunity a soybean plant needs to have produced 6 fully expanded trifoliates before flowering.First flowers will be initiated during the last week of June to the first week of July depending on a soybean varieties maturity.

To optimize the yield performance of mid June to later planted soybeans seeding rates should be increased by 20% and row widths narrowed to 7 .5 inches.

Later planted soybeans grow shorter,flower closer to the ground and produce fewer flowers per plant.Going to solid seeded beans at higher populations will increase overall plant and podding height for better harvestability AND improve yield potential by increasing the number of pods produced per acre.

The corn crops demand for N up to the first 3 true leaves is minimal.Once the crop hits the 4th true leaf stage as shown in the photo above, N demand begins.

This is usually about 28 days after planting.Its best to try to have all your corn sidedressed before it reaches the 6 True leaf stage.Corn begins its grand flurry of growth after 6 true leaves and N demand picks up markedly every day through to tasselling.The

OMAFRA Corn N Calculator can be a useful tool in providing you some guidance on rate

application

Sidedressing N is the most efficient way of feeding the corn crop.Less total N is required to produce a crop as you reduce the possible losses of N through leaching and denitrification that can be caused by heavy early season rains.

These shots were taken on exactly the same day.The grower above was going to apply his Glyphosate the following day. I asked him why he was in such a hurry.He commented that the corn was going to be getting past the Critical 3 leaf stage and he felt that he shouldn't wait any longer.I remarked that it was true that you should apply your Glyphosate by the 3 true leaf stage but that was based on the prescence of significant weed pressures ( like that showing in the bottom shot). If you don't have significant weed pressures there is no need to rush your application.Apply your Glyphosate based on when weeds start showing up. KEY LEARNING :Though the key to maximizing yield potential is keeping your crop weed free from the 3-8 true leaf stage base your post emerge spray application on weed pressure prescence and not stage of crop growth.

Planted June 4 Pioneer brand 35F44 had 2 true leaves on June 17

Planted May 26 Pioneer brand 35F44 had 3 true leaves on June 17

Planted May 19 Pioneer brand 35F44 had 4 true leaves on June 17

Planted May 9 Pioneer brand 35F44 had 6 true leaves on June 17

This plot location was at Chatham, Ontario

These planting date shots are all of the same Pioneer hybrid 35F44.Growers are often intriqued by how the same hybrid responds differently to its environment as it is planted later.The same hybrid planted later will adjust the amount of heat it requires to reach flowering. As much as 125 fewer heat units may be required for the same hybrid planted 3 1/2 weeks later to reach silking.

Later planted corn will tend to develop slenderer stalks and grow taller than early planted corn.A taller slenderer stalk usually implies less stalk quality and more potential for standability issues.Early planted corn will generally produce 2 more rows of kernels around the cob and be much more tolerant to leaf diseases.

Later planted corn will also run lighter in test weight.Experience has taught us that there doesn't seem to be any yield advantage to planting corn earlier than April 20th though it will run 1/2 - 1 point drier in moisture at harvest.Its not so much the first day you start planting thats important as the last day you stop that really matters.

The above photo depicts a corn planting date study being conducted by Pioneer at the Chatham Demonstration farm.The corn to your furthest left was planted May 9 ( its was at 6 true leaves on June 17) , the next 4 rows of corn were planted on May 19, ( this corn was at 4 true leaves on June 17, the adjacent 4 rows were planted May 26 ( this corn had 3 True Leaves on June 17) and the smallest corn to your right was planted on June 3.It had 2 true leaves on June 17 . All plantings are of the same hybrid - Pioneer brand 35F44.
It takes roughly 75 Ontario corn heat units for the corn plant to produce a new leaf. By evaluating true leaf formation you can estimate that the May 9th corn must have received close to 300 more heat units than the June 3rd corn given that on June 17 it had 4 more true leaves .Long term planting date studies would lead one to believe that the May 9th corn will outyield the June 3 corn by somewhere between 20-25bu/acre and run 2-3 points wetter at harvest.We'll see how yields and moisture compare this fall. TO VIEW THE ABOVE PLANTING DATE STUDY IN CLOSER DETAIL JUST DOUBLE CLICK ON THE ABOVE PHOTO AND MANEUVRE AROUND BY ADJUSTING YOUR SCROLL BARS.

I’ll give you the empiracle formula for working out the area of a circle.
From that you can figure out the area of any size Hula hoop you have and then
you can calculate your multiplication factor.
Area of a Circle in square ft = 3.14 x ( Radius of the Hula Hoop in Inches ) Squared
144 sq inches
EXAMPLE = If you have a 24 inch hula hoop which means it is12 inches in radius
The Area in sq ft of your hoop = 3.14 x ( 12 x 12 ) = 3.14
144 sq in
The sq feet in an acre is 43, 560. So to equal the square feet in an acre, given that there are 3.14 square feet in your 24 inch diameter hoop, you would need to multiply by

43,560 sq ft in an acre / 3.14 sq ft in your hoop = 13,872.

If you have a 27 inch diameter hoop you’d do this :

Your Area in sq ft = 3.14 x ( 13.5 x 13.5 ) Your Multuplication Factor for this diameter of hoop
144 sq inches would then be : 43, 560 / 3.97 = 10,972

= 572.26
144

= 3.97 sq ft


In the 24 inch hoop below there are 19 beans.The multiplication factor is 13,872 so there would be 19 x 13,872 = 263,568 beans per acre if every hoop thrown gave this kind of reading.
You need to do a minimum of 10 readings to give you any kind of reasonable average.

Here’s a formula you can chuck away in your wallet, day timer or notebook that will help you determine what the lineal feet for
1/1000th of an care is for whatever row width you may encounter.
( 30 / Row width you are assessing ) X 17,423 = Lineal feet in 1/1000 of row
For that row width.
EXAMPLE : You are at a growers farm and he indicates that his corn is in 28 inch
Rows.
Here’s what you do :

( 30 / 28 ) X 17, 423 = 18,667 lineal feet for 1/ 1000th of an acre

You would measure off 18 ft 8 inches and do your stand counts.

Lets say you go to a grower and he’s planting in 22 inch rows.

( 30 / 22 ) X 17,423 = 23, 758 lineal feet for 1 / 1000th of an acre

In this case you would measure off 23 ft 9 inches and count plants.

As always the more counts you do the better overall assessment of
Stand count you’ll come up with.