YIELDS AND WHEAT QUALITY BOTH EXCELLENT
Pioneer brand 25R39 is a new soft red winter wheat for 2010 fall.It has performed extremely well in both on farm plot comparisons as well as the OCCC Winter Wheat Trials.Pioneer yield data would support 25R39 as the highest yielding soft red winte wheat variety that has ever been released from Pioneers wheat breeding research.
Pioneer brand 25R56 is also a relatively new Pioneer soft red winter wheat that has also performed extremely well.Both varietes have greater genetic yield potential than Pioneer 25R47. 25R56 is a bit shorter soft red wheat than 25R39.No-til farmers preferring less residue may have a preference for 25R56 while those liking more residue or baling their straw may prefer 25R39.Both varieties should prove to offer additional yield
opportunity for the Ontario farmer.

MY SOYBEANS APPEAR TO BE STALLED OUT COMPARED TO MY CORN CROP.WHY IS THIS ?
You will hear growers up and down the back concession roads questioning why their soybeans appear to be stalled out compared to their corn.The answer is pretty simple.The average planting date for corn this year was April 27th while the average planting date for soybeans was closer to May 25th.This big difference in planting date is showing up in the crops growth and development.I don't think its so much that anyones soybeans have stalled out as much as its a reflection in how much additional growth corn has been able to make due to the extra sun and heat it has accumulated.You must remember that when corn hits the V7 stage of growth its growth rate appears to take on an exponential rate of development.Many soybean fields on the other hand are only in their 3rd to 4th trifoliate leaf stage and their growth by comparison seems relatively slow.

MY SOYBEANS DISPLAY DIFFERENT SHADES OF GREEN - WHAT CAUSES THIS ?
The above colour difference is due to a recent herbicide application.Under certain environmental conditions there will be a lightening up in the chlorophyl concentration and a so called limy green or yellowing observed.It generally lasts for only a temporary period.
ON the other hand mottled shades of green across a field is generally an indication of different N rate availabilities caused by differences in root nodulation and Soil N mineralization.
Temperature differences across a field due to differences in residue coverage,soil texture differences,internal drainage differences, top soil depths and Organic matter differences are what makes differences in soil N mineralization and nodulation take place which in turn causes a crop to take on different shades of green colour.
The less N being made available is generally a big factor in why the crop appears lighter in colour.With time these colour differences will disappear and the crop will seemingly even out.
Then again differences in green colour across a field can be nothing more than the differences in the chlorophytic green expression that different soybean varieties can express at an early growth stage.The above photo is a good illustration of this as it is actually a soybean plot that shows a big contrast in green between one variety and another.

FINE TUNING N APPLICATIONS
Growers continue to struggle with knowing just how much N is being made available to their crops from the fall and spring manure applications that they've made.Well the above piece of equipment is meant to help resolve some of those concerns.By passing through the crop at V8-V11 light sensitive chlorophyl meters can help detect the plants N status
Light sensitive meters read the chlorophyl content of the crop on the go across the field.Low chlorophyl readings will cause an increase to the application rate of 28% that is injected between the rows.On the other hand if chorophyl readings are satisfactory no additional N will be applied.

Ideally a grower needs to incorporate a few higher N rate check strips across his farm as a comparison to his standard manure applications.With repeat chorophyl meter
readings a higher degree of confidence can be generated with the manure N levels that are being achieved to support the crops growth.This can in the long run lead to better N management and better soil water quality conservation..

HORMONAL HERBICIDE INJURY
Every year some farmer somewhere will experience hormonal herbicide injury like that shown in these photos.
Hormonal herbicide injury is a function of rate, application timing ( crop size ) and weather both at and following the timing of application.
The knarling of a crops brace roots like that shown can lead to lodged corn if and when severe windstorms strike throughout the growing season.
I recognize that growth regulator herbicides can play an important role in providing growers residual herbicide activity BUT they certainly have to be used with a degree of caution.

SOYBEAN CYST NEMATODE ALREADY ACTIVE
If your soybeans start to express a lightened up yellow colour in areas of fields that have GOOD DRAINAGE and friable soil structure you may want to start doing some probing in the root zone.
Fields that start looking yellow this time of year in areas of fields that you wouldn't expect to see off colouring may be giving you the hint that cysts are already active.
Cysts siphon off nutrients making the plants roots and nodules less functional.As a result you will often see areas of fields begin to lighten up in colour and show more of a yellow
cast much like the above photographs depict.SAMPLING YOUR SOIL and sending it off to a lab is the surest fired means of determining whether you hve cysts or not.Many a field gets overlooked every year and its unfortunate that more growers don't take the hint to test when they see this.

UNLIKE CORN SOYBEANS ARE A DAYLENGTH SENSITIVE CROP
Soybeans are photoperiod dependant crop.What this means is that once daylengths start to shorten after June 21 soybeans are triggered into flowering.If you have several different soybean maturities planted you will find that they will flower at different times.Your earliset maturing varieties will flower first followed bu your later maturing varieties.The key to maximizing the genetic yield potential bred into any variety is to maximize its vegetative growth before flowering occurs.What this means is that you should attempt to have 6 True Trifoliates established before flowering begins.Larger vegetative plants have more carbohydrate reserve to reduce early pod abortion when plant stresses set in.This ultimately leads to MORE YIELD.

Lets consider what it takes to make 6 True Trifoliates happen before first flowering occurs.To put it into perspective I'll use a timeline chart :

Grower A – Plants His Soybeans May 5

2 weeks to emerge – May 19 ( VE )
5 days for full development of Unifoliates – May 24 ( VC )
6 days for 1st true trifoliate ( V1) May 30 } Nodules are forming
6 days for 2nd fully developed Trifoliate ( V2 ) June 5 } Limy looking beans
6 days for 3rd fully developed trifoliate ( V3 ) June 11
6 days for 4th fully developed trifoliate ( V4 ) June 17
6 days for 5th fully developed trifoliate ( V5 ) June 23
6 days for 6th fully developed trifoliate ( V6 ) June 29

Voila! To maximize soybean yields means you have to start thinking about planting soybeans when you start planting corn.

THE ART OF FARMING
Mid to late April plantings are just fine provided soils are suitably fit for planting.
The unfortunate part is that there may be areas in large 60-70 acre fields that are not fit.
When you proceed to plant these areas anyway you run the risk of creating subtle compactive zones in the soil profile.Sidewall smearing can become a real issue in restricting early season root development as well as lower seedtrench compaction which will restrict a young seedlings roots from penetrating to lower soil depths.
The result is a lack of even crop development.Certain tight areas may exhibit yellow due to slow N nitification or slower seedling root development.Other even tighter areas may exhibit N denitrification due to cooler and pastier soil conditions.These tighter soil condition areas will also be slower to drain when any rainfall event occurs.You must be cognizant of the fact that the roots of young corn seedlings will not grow into cool,moist pasty soil conditions.They will produce as many lateral roots as they can until soils dry enough that they can grow deeper.The unfortunate part of this is that any soil restrictions impeding lateral root development will stall out a young corn crop hurting its yield potential.

WHAT IS IT ?

Wheel Traffic Compaction - Agricultures #1 Enemy
The plant on the left in the above photo comes from an 100 ft section of row where the tire of the row crop sprayer unit ran.
If you double click on the above photo and check out the centre corn row you'll see where the tire of the sprayer unit ran on the corn row.
The above photo is a side angle shot of the same corn row showing stunted smaller plants that are expressing a purple florescence because of their restricted root development.
Tightened soil consolidation caused by the sprayers weight load is making these corn plants find it difficult to find air space in which to push their roots.This points out very clearly how crucial it is to avoid soil compaction.

SIDEDRESSING SHOULD ALWAYS BE COMPLETED BY 6 TRUE LEAF CORN
To optimize corns yield performance sidedressing should always be completed by the 6 true leaf stage.
The above grower is cutting it pretty close.There is always a short lag time between the application of sidedress N and the uptake by plants.
By the time corn reaches 6 true leaves growth is becoming much more accelerated and Nitrogen usage per day is reaching 3+ lbs.It is important that the crop is on full feed by this time.

Not only is corns N use requirement growing but the cell division of ovules determining kernel row set occurs within a week to 10 days of corn reaching 6 true leaves.Better kernel row set is initiated when corn has all the N requirement it needs at this time.


Another good reason for making certain that sidedressing is completed by the 6 true leaf is to avoid root pruning and the increased loss of headland plant stand that can occur with late sidedressing.When sidedressing starts at the 3 true leaf stage it provides a good safety measure in assuring that all your corn will be sidedressed by 6 true leaves and on full feed to optimize yield performance.

PURPLE CORN GENERALLY SIGNIFIES SOMETHING RESTRICTING NORMAL ROOT DEVELOPMENT
Anything that restricts normal root cell divison can cause a hybrid to cast a purplish flourescence
in its upper canopy.Cold soils, wet soils, compacted soils, root pruning from insects, fertilzer burn or anything else that can restrict a plants root development
can cause a hybrid to express PURPLE CORN SYNDROME.
The corn in the above photo is expressing a purplish fluorescence because of all the wet weather we've been experiencing in the last 3 weeks and the side-hill seep that is occurring because of it.Side-hill seep will keep soils much cooler and wetter than other areas of a field and the plants root growth and development will be slowed.As a consequence the anthocyanin genes that a hybrid carries will cause the accumulated sugars in the above ground tissue to trigger a purplish florescence to be cast.
The amount of purplish florescence cast is a result of the number of anthocyanin genes a hybrid carries.Hybrids can carry anywhere from 2 to 8 genes.Those that carry more will cast more purplish florescence than those that carry fewer.
When growing 2 hybrids side x side it is possible to have one hybrid express a lot of purplish florescence and the other one to express very little.When you see this don't get caught up into thinking that the hybrid expressing less puplish pigment is not being hurt by whatever soil stress is causing the slower root growth.Labratory work has shown that hybrids that don't express much purplish florescence in their canopy under the prescence of root restrictions are slowed in their above ground cell divison to the same degree as hybrids that express a lot of purple anthocyanin expression.The key is to assess what factors are causing the corn to purple in the first place.Once you resolve those factors you will be on your way to producing higher yielding better performing crops.

ASSESSING OFF COLOURED FIELDS
A number of corn fields across the countryside are expressing a degree of yellow and shorter statured growth that has many growers asking what is going on with their crop.In many instances this yellowing takes on the presence of what visullay appears as Mn, Zinc , S, or Mg deficiency.

Though the crop may be currently expressing what appears to be a micronutrient deficiency of one kind or another I don't believe that most soils are actually short of these micros.What I do believe is that the crop is temporarily experiencing an environmentally induced micronutrient deficiency.

The abundance of rain that we have been receiving over the last 2-3 weeks has temporarily curtailed downward root growth thereby diminishing the plants ability to extract the necessary nutrients for normal growth from the total soil volume.When this occurs the reduced uptake of N as well as micronutrients makes the plant take on a pale green to limy yellow colour.

Don't be overly alarmed at this temporary yellowing in your corn crop.Roots just need to be given an opportunity to explore more soil volume to search out the necessary nutrients that will turn your crop back to a vibrant rich dark green.



Give the crop a week to 10 days of drier warmer weather and voila roots will proliferate to a deeper depth finding more available micronutrients and utilizable Nitrogen

Growers will be amazed at how readily the crop will take on a new resurgence of growth and turn from a dreaded off coloured limy green to a rich healthy vibrant green.